It happens that one day dacha find in their garden earth mounds, dug underground tunnels, when you walk on the site, and your foot suddenly falls down ankle or even below. Often the first thought that came to mind is moles! But it is not always the case. We will not diminish the "merits" of the mole in this case, but today we will talk about a member of the mole rats family. The mole rat, whose photo will be presented below, differs from the mole in appearance, food preferences.
.- What does the mole rat eat and how does it look like
- Moles and struggle with them, methods, means, traps
Photo of the mole rat:
↑ to the contents ↑.What does the mole rat eat and how does it look like
In fact, mole rats bring more damage to the garden than moles. Insectivorous diggers are annoyed by the fact that they are digging hills, mink on the site, but mole rats are very real rodents. They are very fond of eating root crops: potatoes, beets, carrots, do not deprive the attention of stems with leaves, and they like flowers with bulbous root system. Closer to winter, the mole rat makes considerable reserves (about 10 kg), he is active all year round, does not fall into a hibernation, but closer to winter, it becomes a little calmer.
He is often confused with a mole, even often even so called - mole-mole rat, but this is a wrong name. A mole is a mole, and a mole rat is a mole rat. He is much larger than his "colleague". The mole digs the earth with its paws, while in the mole rat they are poorly developed (five-fingered, with small claws), so it digs tunnels up to 450 meters long with its powerful teeth. With wide incisors the animal gnaws the earth, the lips are behind them, they have many folds - this nuance helps to avoid falling into the animal's mouth. His head is flat, spatulate, his eyes are reduced, in their place there is a fold of skin. The ears and tail are also weakly expressed, the entire body is covered with a dense, dense hairline.
.Molehill, photo:
The habitat of the rodent is steppes, fields, virgin lands, forest belts, beams. An ordinary mole rat digs multi-tiered holes with a complex system of moves. The so-called fodder aisles are located at a depth of 10-30 cm. From them branch deeper fragments - nesting, pantry compartments, located at a depth of 80 cm to 3 m. During the digging process, the animal throws a heap of earth onto the surface, which can reach impressive dimensions. Getting rid of a mole rat is fraught with certain difficulties, since most of the time he is under the ground.
Traces of activity of mole rats, photo:
↑ back to content ↑Moles and struggle with them, methods, means, traps
An effective way to combat the pest are strong poisons, similar to those used for baiting the rats. But in this situation there is another side to the medal - pets or even children can suffer. The installation of traps or vivacity will require you to have time, prudence, since the mole rats are smart enough, often avoiding dangerous places. Old seasoned mole rats differ in their senses, they often circumvent clever traps, they can even show aggression - grow a growl at suspicion of a threat to life. Traps should be placed near the entrance to the burrows.
Trap, photo:
.If you have an active cat or cat, previously successfully hunting for rats, you can try to add them to the hunt for mole rats. This method was successfully and not once tested by summer residents. This is done in this way: the place of the rodent's underground walk is determined (the soil fails under the feet), approximately half a meter of the lap breaks off with the help of a shovel. Since the mole responds sensitively to the change in temperature, a draft, it soon appears to fill the ground with an open entrance. After that, do not waste time, in the area of exit from the burrow, dig a wide pit (50 cm), about 30-40 cm deep, after which take a caudate partner and wait for the appearance of the rodent. Young individuals are less agile, they are easier to catch. By the way, dogs are no less reliable assistants in this matter.
Experienced mole riders can be hooked. To do this, again, the entrance to the hole is excavated, a long wire with a hook at the end is inserted inside (it is possible with two or three hooks). At the other end of the wire there is a loop, with which the hook is fixed in the hole (so that the mole rat not accidentally dragged the trap). Having reacted to a draft, the rodent rushes to the exit and gets hooked, any movement to the sides will only aggravate his situation. When you come to inspect the burrows, you can remove the animal, remove the hook - then decide its fate at its discretion.
Captain, photo:
.How to catch a mole rat with water? In this case, you will not get one or two buckets. Well, if you have a long irrigation hose, otherwise you will need about 10 buckets of water. First you need to determine the tunnel leading to the hole. Ordinary moves can be calculated by the type of land that is found in the form of hills. The leading course in the burrow will be distinguished by the presence of clay in the hill - nests of mole rats are located at great depth, where clay is present.
You need to excavate the cliff near the clay embankment, direct a continuous flow of water deep into the course. Such holes usually have a screw-like depression, if the water is generously poured in them, the mole rat pops out sooner or later. Grab the animal and follow as you see fit.
Shotguns, traps, poison are methods that lead to the death of a rodent, water and an electronic repeller (for example, the "Tornado") are more humane. Sometimes on the forums you can see recommendations about "smoking" a mole rat out of the hole with a hose connected to the exhaust pipe of the car. This method helps for a couple of months to drive the animals off the site, but because of the tangible soil contamination, I would not recommend it.
The electronic repeller of moles and mole rats gives a very good effect - rodents do not tolerate vibration, try to get out of the site as soon as possible. In this case, the main thing is not to skimp on the scarers themselves (it's better to have a lot of them), to high-power batteries to them.
.Moley, whose photo now does not allow you to confuse him with another animal, is a voracious pest that, besides, is a long-liver. To save your harvest, choose the method that you prefer.
