Talpidae (Moles)

Moles.   Official name Talpidae.    They are omnivores, i.e. they eat animals and plants.  They are also a threatened species, although I cannot see this happening in England, considering the enormous number of mole hills distributed around the farms. 

Impressed?  Well I am, except we have one back in our back garden again.   Although they are a threatened species,  I could cheerfully murder the ones that live in our garden.   Not that I would do anything really drastic, mind you, except moan about them.   But I must admit that I did not feel even a little bit sorry for the previous mole that ended up as dinner for the local foxes.

But of course we have what must be equivalent to a mole castle under our back garden.   And this castle is full of luscious worms.  Mole paradise.  So after the last mole disappeared it did not take long for another mole to move in, and quickly clean out the tunnels.   And again the garden looks like a miniature version of the Battle of the Somme, without the bodies of course, but plenty of tunnels underground. On the first day I counted 26 mole hills on the grass and around the garden beds.

 So I decided to use the internet to investigate 'garden moles'.   Interestingly I did this two years ago, when I was determined to find a cure for the problems, and up popped my blog about moles.    Not very useful, I might add.  

For the information for those people, who live in mole free countries, moles are small mammals, 12 to 15 cm long, with velvety fur, and very long paws, which they use very efficiently to create long tunnels under the surface of the earth.   The hills that appear above the earth are their entrances, although another site said that their worm larders are underneath the hills.   Apparently moles have excellent smell and hearing, and can detect a worm metres away.  Their saliva contains a toxin which poisons the worms.    They are normally solitary creatures, but apparently get together each year, in early Spring, in order to create baby moles.    The babies are kicked out of the nest when only a month old.    Moles are not sociable creatures, regardless of how A.A. Milne describes Mole in 'The Wind in the Willows'.   Although Mole did spend most of his time spring cleaning, being a solitary mole, before he got sick of it, and met Ratty.   .

But back to our mole, which after two months, is definitely still in the garden, busily clearing out tunnels, and lying on its back devouring worms from our lovely garden rich in compost.    Our local fox/es who live in the woods. but use our garden to moon bathe, and as a public toilet, tried unsuccessfully to dig out our new mole.   The hill in the photo below is very trampled.    Now for those people, who think 'poor mole', it is natural for a fox to catch and eat a mole and preferable to raiding suburban rubbish bins.   This is the natural order of life in the wild, although I am sure that mole lovers would see the fox as being a predator, and destroyer, of the darling mole.

     

The moles tunnel down hill too, as can be seen by this small hill at the bottom of our steps.    We also have a hill underneath the tap, by the back wall of the house.

However, for all that I complain about the moles in the garden I do not fancy getting rid of the moles by using traps, baiting, or pouring Jeyes fluid down their tunnels.   Ugh!  Nor do I fancy digging in bottles, little windmills or pieces of rhubarb into the tunnels, which would actually make the garden look worse than the mole hills.

Apparently, according to the information I read on the internet, moles improve drainage, break down organic matter and help support a healthy top soil.   This is not evident in our garden, as the myriad of tunnels act as underground tunnels to divert the water, and compost, away from the top garden to the roadway below the house.    The tunnels also cause the plants to disappear, and to make the grass undulating when it should not be undulating.   No bowling green lawn at our house.   The soil from the hills is apparently so fine, that it can be used as potting soil for seedlings.    Not in our garden, our soil is full of stones, so if I sift it, than what do I do with the left over stones.    Build mini castle walls to keep moles away?

But one suggestion I did find useful.    Instead of stomping the hills down, thereby causing a hard circle of earth in which no grass grows, and which also does not help the undulating effect, I need to sweep the soil up, together with the stones, and put it in the compost bin.    No bare dirt patches that look like mini flying sauces have landed in the garden.

So next year I will go out each morning, with my broom and dustpan, and sweep the lawn.    Then the mole and I can live in harmony, happily together.  Forever.  

However, I can feel an obsession setting in here.   Sweeping lawns, every day.   Interesting!