If a mole settles in the garden, it quickly creates an extensive cave system of up to 2,000 square meters. On its patrols, the cute furry ball devours snails, vine weevils, crane cranes, masses of larvae and pest eggs. At the same time, the insectivore loosens the soil deeply. A blessed activity – if it weren’t for the countless molehills. No hobby gardener wants to accept that and strives for a targeted expulsion. Although a mole can hardly see, it has a highly developed sense of hearing, smell and taste. Sophisticated deterrence strategies use this circumstance to gently drive away the protected mole. Learn about the best home remedies below.
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Worth knowing details
- European mole is assigned to the insectivores
- Grey-black or brown fur with a body length of about 15 cm
- 6-jointed hands shaped like digging shovels
- Significant sense of smell, hearing and taste
- Mainly traveling as a loner
- Eats up to 30 kilos of insects and earthworms per year
- High metabolism causes starvation after 12-24 hours without food
- Average life expectancy is 2-5 years
- Raises up to 20 molehills daily
According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act, the mole is protected from any stalking. The misunderstood beneficial must not be hunted, caught, injured or even killed. Anyone who violates this law must expect a fine of up to 50,000 euros. According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act, only gentle eviction from the property is tolerated. This results in a rethinking among hobby gardeners in the direction of traditional home remedies that conform to legal requirements.
Acoustic methods of expulsion
A mole does not need his eyesight underground. He’s not completely blind; with his tiny eyes he is the only one capable of distinguishing between light and dark. As can often be observed in living beings with limited sensory organs, other functions compensate for this deficiency. A mole is able to hear even the tiniest of sounds. The plagued hobby gardener uses this circumstance to scare the nuisance with noise and row the way out of the garden.
- Stick metal rods into the ground at various points and hit them with a hammer
- Dangle empty tin cans from a T-shaped iron bar
- Do the same with cutlery such as spoons and forks
- Stick bottomless glass bottles upside down in the ground to create whistling wind noise
- Push the waterproof speakers into the aisles, connect them to the radio that’s turned up
Generating noise once is usually not enough. In order for a mole to actually run away, the methods presented must be repeated.
Drive away with smells
Not every hobby gardener wants to make a contribution to modern noise pollution. Therefore, using intense scents to repel moles is high on the list. If the extremely sensitive nose of the uninvited guest is exposed to the following scents, he will quickly leave. The following home remedies have been tried and tested for generations to drive away moles in the long term.
- Pour alcohol down the aisles in any form
- Infiltrate spoiled buttermilk
- Put cloths soaked in vinegar essence in the tunnels
- Place fish heads in the opened mounds
- Cook the elderflowers into a brew and let it ferment
- Bring dog hair and dog feces into the cave system
- Plant lily bulbs throughout the garden
- Mix spicy horseradish with water and pour into an open mound
- Place mothballs at all suspected mole locations
- Soak old towels in kerosene and stick them in the corridors
- Use horse droppings and plant manure preferably as fertilizer
A long thread of patience is required if you choose this kind of gentle mole repellent. Continuity pays off sooner or later when using these home remedies. There must be no pause in the development of the smell, which could signal to the talented tunnel builder that he has won. Instead, apply the substances until there are definitely no more molehills.
Effectively scare away with butyric acid
If you are confronted with a particularly stubborn specimen, you often have to resort to more radical home remedies. Butyric acid is at the top of the list here, also known as butanoic acid. If you have ever been attacked by rascals with a stink bomb, you should be familiar with the unbearable smell. So far, the mixture has proven itself to scare off an odor-sensitive mole. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that your sense of smell will also be affected. You can buy butyric acid or make it yourself as a home remedy with just a few ingredients and a chemical kit:
- Butter
- denatured alcohol
- hydrochloric acid
- sodium hydroxide (caustic soda)
- Gown, gloves, respirator and goggles
Put a pinch of butter in a test tube and pour 2 milliliters of denatured alcohol over it. In addition, 2 grams of sodium hydroxide come from the pharmacy. The mixture is heated with a boiling rod for 2 minutes. The test tube would burst over a Bunsen burner. Open flames must be avoided at all costs during this process, because the evaporating alcohol is of course flammable. Discard any sodium hydroxide that has not dissolved after 2 minutes. A little water and a drop of hydrochloric acid are added with the pipette. The strong odor is now so present that the solution should be poured immediately into a secure container to be stored until use. The quantity produced is sufficient to sprinkle several woolen cloths, which are put into a frequented tunnel.
Successful expulsion is only possible in an active tunnel
If you spot one or more molehills in the garden, that does not mean that there is an active tunnel underneath. Before you resort to home remedies and start driving away, you should make sure that the underground corridor is actually being used. The distinctive mound is made from the excavated material left over from the construction of the cave system. The mole pushes it with its head until the accumulated mass becomes too heavy for it. Either he continues digging, or the hill marks the end of the tunnel. To determine if it is an active gang:
- Crush one or more molehills above the tunnel
- The most suitable time of day is late afternoon
- If a new hump forms by the next morning, the runway is active
Even if it has been proven that the mole is up to mischief in the garden, it is advisable to repeat the little experiment at short intervals. In fact, moles have a very short lifespan. As field tests showed, 75 percent of all animals are younger than 1 year. The majority of the population falls prey to cats, dogs, foxes, owls and other predators. The causer of yesterday’s molehills may already have died today, so you can save yourself the effort of evicting them with home remedies.
Prophylactic mole control
Anyone who has ever had to deal with a stubborn mole should think about preventive measures when laying out a new lawn or garden. There is actually a whole arsenal of effective techniques available so that you don’t even get into the embarrassment of thinking about gently expelling the nuisance.
- Favor a rock garden or gravel beds
- Lay out a knot-proof mole grid before sowing the lawn
- Do the same under ornamental and kitchen gardens, as well as rolled turf
- Basis weight of the grid: 500 g/m², with a mesh size of 11×11 mm
- Install vertical mole barriers in existing gardens
It is important to note that flat materials are laid with overlaps of at least 15 cm, horizontally and vertically. Moles are clever and will discover even the tiniest loophole.
Live trap only with special permission
Objectively speaking, it makes sense that the mole has been treated as a species worthy of protection by the Federal Nature Conservation Act since 1988. With its busy digging activity, it loosens the soil, which optimizes the supply of oxygen and nutrients to plants. It should not be forgotten that the cuddly fellow either devours the real pests or at least drives them away, like the vole. As an insectivore, the mole never touches plants. Where it exaggerates its burrowing activities, the local conservation authority may issue a live capture special permit. For example, if the animal causes sinking in the ground, which leads to serious injuries, the authorities may follow the arguments and authorize the use of a live trap. With simple manual skills you can build the trap yourself, from a wooden box with a lid and a flexible plastic hose. A flap that can only be opened on one side serves as the connection between the box and the hose.
- Demolish a molehill to access an active tunnel
- Launch the flexible plastic hose into the corridor
- Put nesting material and food in a wooden box, such as earthworms
- Drill several small air holes in the wooden lid and the side parts
- A plastic foil serves as a loose rain protection over the wooden box
The trap must be checked twice a day, because the food is by no means sufficient to keep a caught mole from starving to death. Captured animals go in a bucket filled with leaves. They can hide in it, which significantly reduces stress. Ideally, they are released in a deciduous or mixed forest, far from the nearest town.
Vole sample exposes voles
At first glance, a molehill can be mistaken for a vole mound. Voles are among the real pests, because they mercilessly attack ornamental and crop plants. They may be hunted down and killed instead of driving them away. In this case, stronger preparations are also permitted than gentle home remedies. Experienced hobby gardeners investigate in advance what they are dealing with. The so-called verwuhlprobe quickly provides information. To do this, lift the mound of earth aside with a spade and take a close look at where the entrance to the tunnel is. A mole always lifts the soil at a slight angle to the side, a vole vertically.
Conclusion
If a mole settles in the garden, it’s annoying. The numerous molehills deface the lawn and the beds. Nevertheless, the visit of the uninvited guest is not a drama, because the insectivore does not cause any real damage. Instead, it aerates the soil and devours real pests by the kilo a year. A little persuasion is required to deter the property, because the mole is under the protection of the Federal Nature Conservation Act. Only expulsion by gentle methods is permitted. The project is most effective with the help of loud noises and intense smells. A whole list of proven home remedies is available for this purpose. Only as a last resort should you consider using butyric acid. It spreads a terrible stench,however, is associated with the highest success rate.
