European garden moles – also known as the Talpa Europaea.
They might look cute, with their little hairless hands, tiny eyes and stocky little bodies, but they can be a menace! An utter pain in the proverbial who pops up (literally) at the most inconvenient times!
If your business has a beautiful lawn or carefully planted woodland area, you want it to stay looking good all year round. But if your lawn is packed full of moist, rich soil or inundated with earthworms and other insects, you may have inadvertently created a tourist attraction for garden moles. They won’t be paying your full entrance fee, that’s for sure!
While playing a game of “whack a mole” might be tempting, it’s not the best moles deterrent – trust us, we learned the hard way! We are much better suited to dealing with moles in your garden than we are at the nearest arcade.
There’s not a lot we don’t know about moles – in fact, our inner geekiness means we can talk about moles for hours on end. It often surprises us that there are so many misunderstandings about European garden moles (they aren’t rodents, and they aren’t actually blind), so let’s find out more.
The anatomy of a garden mole is seriously impressive.
If you referred to a person as having mole-like features, it would probably be taken as an insult.
But we think that moles have incredible physiology.
Their downturned noses protect them from the soil as they dig through their burrows. They might have extremely poor eyesight, but their sense of smell and touch allows them to find what they are looking for underground. They use vibrations in the soil to help them move around undetected.
They may be small in stature (usually around 15cm long, weighing 70-130g), but their upper body strength is phenomenal – thanks to their paddle-like forearms, they can dig up to 20 meters a day. That’s 133 times their body length!
Let’s face it: there are a lot of people in the gym who wish they had the strength to dig 20 meters by hand every single day. In fact, a quick Google search suggests that it would take an average person between one and three days to dig a 20m trench by hand!
Moles spend their lives underground.
Many people think that moles are nocturnal, but that’s not true. In fact, they are cathemeral, which means they are equally active during the day and night (disclaimer – while we think that is a fun fact, we can’t guarantee it will come up on your next pub quiz.)
With an average lifespan of 3-4 years, moles are rarely seen as they spend all of their time burrowing deep underground.
While their resulting mole hills can be a pain to deal with, really, we should see moles as a valuable helper – their constant digging will aerate your soil for you. Not only will you benefit from far better drainage (resulting in fewer puddles), but that aeration makes your soil a haven for stronger plant growth, encouraging more worms and insects.
We’ve seen people pay a fortune to have their lawns aerated – and the moles are there doing all the work free of charge!
Moles are great architects – their burrows are complex.
Moles are solitary creatures – they tend to live alone for the majority of their lives, so they get to design their home according to their exact preferences (we should be so lucky!). In fact, the only time that moles tend to search for another mole is during mating season (ahem…)
A mole burrow is highly complex – they love tunnelling through moist, rich soils. Their burrows can be as long as 70m. Some of their tunnels may be just below the surface; others might be as far down as 70-80cm. Within their burrows, they’ll create dedicated chambers – some areas will be close to the surface where they can search for food, while other chambers will be designed specifically for nesting.
Baby moles are adorable.
Did you know that the gestation period of a mole is just four weeks? Breeding usually takes place in the spring, and litters are usually between two and seven babies. These little pups are ever so cute, but they don’t stay with mum for long. After just four to six weeks, they are weaned before leaving to establish their own territory.
While they are infants, moles are most vulnerable to birds of prey, stoats, weasels, foxes and cats.
What do moles eat?
The varied diet of a mole is undoubtedly impressive. They are considered to be insectivores, which means they mainly eat insects – which they usually find within their own tunnels. Common meal choices will typically be earthworms and insect larvae. But they can also feast on leatherjackets, cockchafers, carrot flies and even slugs.
If moles are so helpful below the surface, why are they a problem?
As you can see, moles are really helpful little underground workers.
But we can see why you wouldn’t want your beautiful lawn or woodland area decimated by the resulting mole hills that they cause. Not only do they cause damage to your lawns (which can be expensive to repair), but their tunnelling can destroy plant roots while also loosening up stones and other debris. This could damage your machinery or underground irrigation systems and result in costly repairs.
If your business relies on beautiful landscaping, the last thing you want is an unsightly mole problem, even if they are doing you a big favour down below.
What can you do to deter moles?
We’ve already determined that whack a mole isn’t a solution – not because another one will pop up elsewhere (remember they live alone), but because the complexity of their lengthy burrows means that they will almost certainly have an escape route planned.
The internet is full of ‘useful’ tips that promise to remove garden moles – but those tips have no scientific backing whatsoever.
For example, someone might tell you to use a hosepipe to try and flood a burrow. But that won’t work – moles are great swimmers. All you would be doing is flooding your lawn and creating another expensive problem that you need to fix.
As commercial mole pest control specialists, we know everything there is to know about moles repellent.
How to get rid of moles in the garden
Try to remove food sources.
Moles are attracted to soil that is full of worms and insects. If their dinner is already on their doorstep, they are unlikely to move willingly (who would?)
One solution is to try to remove the food sources. By disposing of moss and weeds, you’ll naturally decrease the number of worms and insects in your soil (therefore naturally encouraging moles to establish a territory elsewhere).
But that will only have a limited impact as, realistically, you want to encourage worms and insects to increase the health of your soil.
Fencing could be an option.
Like rabbit burrows, you could install mesh wire fencing that moles cannot squeeze through. But it would need to be buried deep underground – and there’s no guarantee that a mole wouldn’t carry on burrowing further underneath to pass through.
Trapping and fumigation from professional mole control services is your best bet.
While moles can be an irritant (especially on those newly laid pristine lawns), they aren’t a pest in the same way as other animals like rats or rabbits. They don’t carry diseases, and they are unlikely ever to be seen, so you might have a certain level of tolerance (and even affection) for your mole – especially with how carefully they are looking after your soil for you!
But if your business is being adversely affected by the presence of mole hills, then it’s crucial to speak to our professional mole pest control experts, who can identify the mole burrow on your property.
Typically, the only fail-safe way to ensure mole removal is to invest in either trapping or fumigation methods. Our experienced mole deterrent team will know what is best for your property and your mole problem. We can get rid of garden moles humanely, with highly targeted treatment aligning with the latest BPCA (British Pest Control Association) regulations.
We’ll talk to you about your options, giving you the latest technical information on pest control and mole deterrents. If you’re lucky, we’ll even share more of our knowledge of how much we love these little creatures!
All you’ve got to do is pick up the phone or send a quick email.
