How to get rid of moles and mole rats - differences, measures of struggle

How to get rid of moles - a very frequent question, sometimes not even a question, but a cry of the soul... How to make sure that these vobschem something useful animals forgot the way to our site? My experience suggests that it is more possible to reasonably limit the number of these underground inhabitants than to completely get rid of them. But how to do that? There are a lot of ways. About them the conversation is lower.

.

But in this article I would like to talk about another underground pest, about mole rats. Why? And because they very often confuse these two kinds of animals - a mole and a mole (blind man). But these are completely different animals. The main difference is that they eat different foods. The first feed on worms, larvae. But the latter can leave you without harvest - carrots, beets, potatoes - their favorite delicacy. They, in my opinion, bring much more harm to the garden. First we find out who the moles are.

1. Moles

.

Moles are mammals of small size living underground. They have velvety fur, tiny, almost invisible ears, eyes, shortened rear, powerful forelimbs with large paws, adapted to dig holes.

Mole, in comparison with other mammals, can live where there is a high content of carbon dioxide, since its blood contains twice as much hemoglobin. Therefore, it is able to survive deep underground - where the oxygen content is minimal.

.

Although these underground diggers are a scourge of many gardeners, truck farmers, lawn owners, they make a significant positive contribution to the health of the garden garden soil. Their numerous tunnels, hillocks improve the aeration of the soil, its drainage. They also eat garden-garden pests - larvae of garden long-legged legs, snails, slugs, which bite roots, feed on plant leaves, but the roots of plants do not touch.

Moles spend almost all of their life underground. Their velvety fur can be adjusted to any movement of the animal - forward or backward. Wide front paws, turned outward, end with thick, strong claws. They are blind, but have an extremely acute hearing, a sensitive sense of smell.

Lawn at the cottage is all open

Most of the underground passages of this animal consist of numerous tunnels. These tunnels they can use repeatedly or, conversely, only once. They prefer a moist soil full of larvae, earthworms. If it has rained, then their courses are located close to the surface of the earth, and during the dry period or in winter they go deep down - after the earthworms. When the soil is wet after rain or after watering, moles dig the earth close to the surface of the earth - they search for worms, insects, they can damage the root system of plants, causing them harm. This is not liked by many gardeners.

The mounds of the earth are molehills

The fact of finding these underground inhabitants confirms the presence of various mounds of freshly dug earth of different heights (5-60 cm). The number of hills is not equal to the number of animals, this is only an illustration of their activity.

Moles do not feed on roots. They undermine the roots of only those plants that are already inhabited by pest larvae. Unfortunately, people do not have enough understanding of the importance of finding these animals on the site. Before you decide to fight them, make sure that their number is really critical. Often there is enough action to scare them off your site.

↑ back to content ↑

Ways to get rid of

How can I frighten them? You can do this in various ways.

1. Moles spend all the time underground. Darkness is the usual habitat for them. They are blind, however, the perfect sense of smell fills this deficiency completely. By the way, it will help you reduce their number. Use their sensitivity to certain flavors. Repellents (substances that repel insects, mites, mammals, birds) that contain castor oil are sprayed along all lines of tunnels. The recipe is this: prepare a mixture of 2 tablespoons of any liquid soap or dishwashing detergent + one glass of castor oil. Add to this mixture, a liter of water. Shake well, spray on the surface of the soil along the tunnels. Repeat this every month - the entire garden season, and after every rain.
2. Moles scare off black beans. So put them on the perimeter of your site - they will leave. Only to plant it is necessary "Russian black beans this is the sort. Other legumes will not cause such a reaction. Beans, planted every 30 cm, will help you drive away uninvited guests.
3. Moles are not rodents, they do not eat grain, nuts, etc. Therefore, pickled grain lures are not effective against them.
4. Stores for gardeners began to offer "Deterrent" for the German firm Detia Degesch Gmbh. This is a natural remedy, environmentally friendly. It is a ball of yellow color, including lavender extract, various bioactive substances, essential oils. Animals do not like the smell of lavender. Manufacturers recommend laying balls in rows on the ground or deepening - one bead - 1 m². The depth of the immersion of the ball is 20 cm. As I understood from the instruction, they do not need to be pawned inside the moles. Moles have a very sensitive sense of smell, and the smell of lavender will be an obstacle to laying new moves along the site.
5. About 3-4 years ago, my neighbor in the countryside "decorated" his site with metal rods (there are about two dozen) with a height of about a meter. Each pin was crowned with a metal beer can. Even the slightest whiff of the wind causes the light beer cans to oscillate. Sounds on a metal stick spread on the ground. All these 3-4 years of mole hills almost did not have either him or me. Or rather, they were acceptable, but they did not interfere with us. The same action has a variety of self-made rattles or turntables.

   Beer cans against mole hills

6. In stores for gardeners sell ultrasonic, electronic repellers, which periodically produce vibrating sounds - underground diggers leave a noisy place.

   Electronic repeller

↑ back to content ↑

Electronic mole repeller - recall

Electronic scarers come in different capacities - vibrating sounds spread over the earth. The area of ​​vibration propagation depends on the power. The number of repellents to be installed depends on the size of your site, the power of these devices. Install the device in early spring, leave it there until the end of the season. But there is one feature. This is already from the experience of another my neighbor.

.

The peculiarity is this: once you install a repeller, he will start to emit vibrating sounds - it's not so much frightening the animals as it will alert them. First around the electronic chaos, the number of dug mounds will increase. Therefore, install them where there are no cultural plantings. This will continue for two weeks. And then you'll notice that the new mounds stopped appearing next to the device. A neighbor, for example, noticed that in two weeks they (there were 2-3 of them) were already dug further - 7-10 meters to the repeller. He installed two more where he noticed the fresh mounds. After a while, there were no more new hills.

I consider that the plus of these scarers is the humane attitude to these animals. A minus such - the process of frightening stretches sometimes for several months. I'll see how his neighbor will do next, whether he helped the electronic scares or not.

.

This year (2015) again were installed electronic repellers, although in the spring the molehill was not seen with a neighbor. Installed three medium-power deterrents (one battery type Krona) - the distance between them is 10-12 meters. New mounds appeared, unfortunately. The distance is about 15 meters from the repeller. But nothing was planted there, so no more measures were taken.

By the way, there is one drawback with electronic repellers. At first use, the battery charge lasted three months. And then I had to change them every month. This is a minus.

There are also similar devices on solar batteries. If someone used these, drop a couple of lines below, how comfortable they are, are durable.

It can be concluded that the effectiveness of electronic repellents is sufficient.

↑ back to content ↑

How to get rid of moles by folk remedies

I propose to try the following old, time-tested ways:

• In molehills pour balls of fresh goat or pig litter, as well as pour the herring brine or a mixture of kerosene and water.
• Cut the branches of gooseberries chop, bury along with the manure.
• Stakes of bird cherry sticks in moles or near them.
• Animals do not like the smell of onion, garlic. Cut them finely, put them inside the moleholes. The more such moves you fill with this mixture, the faster the animals will leave your site.

↑ back to content ↑

Overpowered moles, what to do?

Somehow I got a letter-a question about e-mail. The author of the letter writes: "Tortured moles, they overcame what to do? They rooted the roots of roses, shook the bush, how to strengthen it? "Here is part of my letter of reply Moles could not rooted roots of roses, any other plants - they feed on worms, larvae - plants, vegetables, roots they do not are eating. Most likely, roses are sick. Roots are damaged by pests. It is their larvae that are the subject of attention of underground inhabitants. Carefully bare part of the root, carefully examine it, if my assumption is true, then the roots of the rose need to be processed.

There are a lot of wreckers - one of them is a horsetail - a larva of the May beetle. You yourself could bring it along with humus.

.

A nematode can also damage the roots of roses. If you notice a white-pink plaque on the roots - this is a cluster of nematodes, small worms (they can only be examined with a microscope or a strong magnifying glass).

Each pest has its own means of struggle. Improve the plants - the mole will no longer disturb your roses. Whatever the result of examining the root system of roses was not, pour them Kornevin (Heteroauxin), which stimulates the growth of new roots - the rose quickly enough to recover, therefore, it will strengthen itself in soil. "

There are other ways: physical destruction, crooks, etc. But these are absolutely inhuman methods of struggle. I do not want to talk about them. Still, to completely eliminate moles, I think, should not. The benefits are greater than the harm. One should not just allow their uncontrolled reproduction.

And here's another way to protect yourself from underground residents. According to the author of the video, this is a very effective method.

↑ back to content ↑

2. Mole riders

These underground inhabitants are planting vegetable gardens, the fields are much more harmful than moles. If moles irritate us only by leaving hills of the earth, then mole riders plus this can deprive us of part of the harvest of potatoes, carrots, other root crops. Moles are insectivorous, they feed on insects, worms, and larvae, and mole rats are rodents. Getting rid of mole rats is very difficult.

↑ back to content ↑

What is the difference between a mole rinder from a mole

Moleh (blind) refers to a family of mole rats. It is a rodent adapted to an underground way of life. He is completely blind. Instead of eyes, he has a thick fold of skin, densely covered with stiff, bristly hair. Tail, ears are underdeveloped. The front paws of mole rats are small. They are not at all like digging organs - the front paw brushes are small, all five fingers with small claws.

The mole swallows the earth with teeth-wide incisors. In fact, he gnaws it with incisors. Behind the incisors, and they are as if outside, he has multi-folded lips that cover the mouth opening. Therefore, the land does not fall into the mouth. Head broad, flattened. The body length of the mole rat is 15-35 cm. Skull of a special, unique shape.

The main habitats of forest belts, fields, steppes from the western regions of Ukraine to the Volga, the Western Ciscaucasia. His settlements are divided. The greatest density of its settlement (Ukraine) is reached on virgin lands adjacent to them sowings of perennial grasses, crops of grain crops, close to beams, forest belts, forest edges arrays.

Illustration from The Scientist June, 2012

The burrows of the mole rat are located in several tiers. A complex system of horizontal moves is laid shallowly - a depth of 10-25 cm. These are fodder courses. They lead down to the deep tier where there are 1-3 nesting chambers. The depth of their location can be different - 80-120 or even up to 320 cm. The diameter of the moves is from 5-6 to 11-12 cm. When laying passages through temporarily arranged bearings, the earth is thrown to the surface, forming a pile 10-25 cm high, with a diameter of 20-30 cm to 240 cm.

↑ back to content ↑

How to get rid of mole rats

It is difficult to get rid of mole rats. Most often used strong poisons, the same as for rats. This is quite effective, it often really helps. But you need to apply them very carefully - after all, the garden, the dacha, the garden is the place where children, pets play.

You can put traps, but it's a troublesome thing, since all this construction should be deepened, located near the entrance / exit of the burrow. Moreover, it is not necessary that the mole rider will use this move. According to gardeners, mole rats are smart. If one of the mole rushes into the trap or trap - others will be warned about the danger - no more will get caught. Most often they bypass traps, traps by side.

There is another way. You can get rid of mole rats by an ordinary cat or cat. Best if the cat had already caught rats before.

The course or burrow of the mole rat can be easily identified by the underground passages - the earth falls through under the weight of the passing person. Then you need to dig a hole (half a meter along the path of the hole) - expect when the mole rat starts to clog the ground with the outlet. He does not tolerate a temperature drop or access to fresh air, immediately begins to push out portions of the earth, thereby hammering out the output.

.

At this time, it is necessary to prepare the burrow for the next operation. Above the exit of the hole make a depression of centimeters 30 (bayonet spade), expand to half a meter on the sides - to expect a reappearance of a mole rat at the exit with a cat or cat. With her help you will be freed from the malicious uninvited guest.