The mole is actually very useful. However, its mounds drive many garden owners insane. My 8 tips will help drive away the mole.
They are useful, they are also cute to look at - but please not in your own garden! We're talking about moles. With their tiny shovels, moles create an underground tunnel system that many hardly believe possible. The result is unloved mounds of earth on the lawn of the garden. Our 8 tips explain how to fight moles, or rather drive them away.
You can't kill a mole, because it is a protected species, but you can drive it away. At least you can try these options:
Tip 1: Pour sour yoghurt or sour milk into the aisles
This classic household trick requires you to clear the mound of earth and uncover the mole hole. Then simply tip the sour yoghurt or sour milk into the mole tunnel. Then put a little earth on the household remedy so that you are not bothered by the smell yourself and repeat this for as many holes as possible. If you're lucky, the mole will soon get fed up with it.
Tip 2: drive away moles with a bang
Invite a lot of children or at least do a lot of tinkering in the garden, especially several days in a row. Moles love the quiet. Constantly disturbing them might drive away the little dredges, too.
The classic among the products in this context is certainly the "mole deterrent" (available here), which emits vibrations into the ground every 40 seconds and in this way drives away moles, voles and co.
Tip 3: Drive away moles with empty glass bottles
Here's how it works: dig the empty bottles into the ground near the molehills and let the neck of the bottle protrude about 10 centimeters. The wind now creates sounds that the moles don't like and they might move.
By the way: Purchased remedies that emit sound waves or scents are not only expensive, but usually also ineffective. If you can live with the mole and the mounds, you shouldn't drive the beneficial insect away, because it eats soil pests.
Who the aboveIf the above-mentioned remedies against moles are not enough, you will find further ways to drive away moles here.
Tip 4: Catch a mole with a live trap
The live trap enables the animals to be caught gently. It doesn't matter if it's a mole or a vole. However, the moles must then be released unharmed at another location, because they are under nature protection - information on this can be obtained from the responsible nature conservation authorities or the local forest ranger.
In addition, live traps that have been set up must also be checked regularly by the garden owner - several times a day - so that the wild animal does not have to remain trapped for too long or could ultimately even die in the live trap.
Tip 5: Submerge molehills
Another way to drive them away is to flood existing molehills. The garden owner should make sure that he thoroughly washes in the soil and treads a little firmly. However, be careful that the mole is not directly in the hill area at this moment.
In the case of stubborn animals, this process must certainly be repeated several times before they usually finally run away.
Tip 6: Construct scent barriers
Constructing different scent barriers in the aisles has proven to be very effective for driving moles out of your own garden. Spreading out a tuft of human hair is usually enough.
If the garden owner doesn't want to sacrifice his own hair for this, he can also try garlic (also pickled garlic), homemade soapy water or a mixture of milk and whey. Alternatively, buttermilk would also work.
Specialist retailers even have special mole stones (or scent drops) ready for this purpose, which have already been soaked with these scents and can be laid out in the aisles without any problems. These then quickly drive the mole, irritated by the unfamiliar smells, to flee.
Alternatively, a mole pesticide can be used, which only scares the animal out of the garden, but is otherwise completely harmless to it - it is by no means fatal.
Update 2011:
Through one of our advertisers we came across two more ways to avoid molehills in the garden.
Harald Unger,Co-owner of the supplier, told us about a great many phone calls he made to desperate garden owners, confirming the ineffectiveness of noise generators and gassing agents. They damage the environment, annoy the neighbors and are a useless expense. He recommends two products that really help:
- Mole Net
- vertical lock for retrofitting
Tip 7: Mole Net
The mole net, a horizontal barrier, is installed when the lawn is newly laid. This environmentally friendly product has been helping optimally for almost twenty years. The little burrowers can build their tunnels unhindered under the grating, but the unloved molehills are safely prevented from being pushed up. At the same time, the aisles cannot be dented when walking on the lawn. The lawn stays as beautiful as it is. Robotic lawnmowers are not affected by the plastic grid.
By the way: Due to the many years of good experience, the supplier has now even extended its guarantee to 25 years.
Tip 8: Vertical lock for retrofitting
Another product is a plastic bubble wrap to be used as a vertical barrier. The special pointed knob foil is intended for subsequent installation. Many sports fields have already been permanently freed from the mole problem.
Classic dimpled tracks are approx. 1m high. However, to secure a lawn against the intrusion of a mole, a 0.5m high barrier (I recommend this product) that you insert into the ground is sufficient.