Re: Moles + wildlife and gardens in general

**"Peter Loewer" t*@earthlink.net**

Back to garden writing. The following is my latest mole essay.

Last year when the snows of winter melted, the gardeners of the colder parts
of the country were confronted by a wealth of damage to plants caused by
voles-that's right, voles not moles.
 This year there was another loud cry of despair heard echoing from hill to
hill as everyone went out to the back yard and were suddenly aware that
their once even lawn is now traversed with tunnels dug by moles--along with
an occasional shrew--and now resembles the B & O Railroad Yards and not a
swath of peaceful green.
 The last few years have certainly been called some of the worst mole years
on record. One way you can tell is by those tunnels but the other is from
various garden writers and extension agents who attack these poor creatures
in print as though they were furry drones sent over from one of those
so-called enemy states to pillage the American way of life. Instead of
trying for a little understanding, we get bumper crops of mole death
machines ranging from irritating them with pounding machines to a fast
demise with dollops of Tabasco Sauce and chili powder to chewing gum,
mothballs, and castor oil, then finally hooking up a hose to the exhaust of
a car then gassing them to death with carbon monoxide--messy to the lawn and
dangerous to everybody.
 But the surfeit of moles is always tied to a bumper crop of grubs,
especially Japanese beetles.
 Moles are little mammals with tiny eyes, small and virtually concealed
ears, and very pretty, soft iridescent fur. They live almost entirely
underground, feeding on smaller animal life, especially earthworms and
grubs. I repeat moles do not eat bulbs or roots. They will chew through them
if the plants are in the way but they do not ingest the results of their
chewing. They are generally beneficial to gardens especially when it comes
to consuming vast numbers of vociferous grubs. I do admit that in their zeal
to devour they often do some damage by heaving up the soil, causing the
grass to dry out quickly and creating unsightly ridges or tunnel-tops: A
sight that irritates some people more than paying taxes.
 Now there are many methods used to remove moles but outside of cyanide
gas--dangerous to both the mole and the man-nothing is sure. Catalogs sell
windmills that feature spikes in the ground and supposed to make a rumbling
noise in the earth, scaring them away but I've never seen it work; they
still dig tunnels and hunt for food but perhaps move out of the area only to
dine.
 Recently a garden writer told me of either putting a dead mole back in the
tunnels or a hunk of odiferous cheese but he has no proof that works either.
And there was no hint given on how to obtain a dead mole to begin with,
although steel traps are also offered for sale by some catalogs.
 Poison bait isn't such a good idea especially if you have a cat, dog, or
child that is valuable to you. But there is an effective biological control
called Milky Spore Disease that inoculates your soil with a fungal disease
that infects the grubs but bothers nothing else. The problem with this
product is the time it takes to effect the cure, at least a year or more.
 So before going out and putting a toxic waste dump in your back yard to do
away with the little pests, or driving up the family car to gas them out,
how about thinking ahead to next July and the damage done by the beetles to
the garden and the favors the moles have done for you. It should be
remembered that the number of moles is in direct proportion to the food
supply and if your back yard and garden has a surfeit of moles, it probably
needs them.
 Instead buy a pair of those plastic shoes with spikes used to aerate the
lawn (not as someone thought, to kill the moles) and walk over those
tunnels, then plant some grass seed, rake it up a bit, and by mid-May you'll
never know they were there.

----- Original Message -----
From: <Jemsharp@aol.com>
To: <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 28, 2002 8:11 AM
Subject: Re: [GWL] Moles + wildlife and gardens in general

> I couldn't agree w/Marge more. I had moles in my front and back lawn last
> year, even though I have a dog. The moles dig where it is easy. All I did
was
> walk on the tunnels every day or so. I didn't lose a blade of grass. My
> research showed they were carnivores, so I figured they were eating grubs,
> which, as Martha would say, is a good thing. I didn't treat for grubs,
either.
> The soft, furry creatures weren't here this year.
>
> jems
> Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
> Garden writer, speaker, photographer
> Phone: 317.251.3261
> Fax: 317.251.8545
> E-mail: jemsharp@aol.com
>
>
> In a message dated 9/27/02 11:14:30 PM, mtalt@hort.net writes:
>
> << But, the main point is that humans need to learn to live with the
>
> other creatures on this planet, no matter how many legs they have.
>
> And, IMO, it is part of our job to help educate our readers to do
>
> this. >>
>
>
>
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