Re: Moles
- Subject: Re: [SG] Moles
- From: C* P*
- Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 01:22:23 EDT
In a message dated 7/18/01 12:30:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
taeking@ENDLESSHEALTH.COM writes:
<< the moles. Over the course of several years we have tried 3
> different styles of metal traps and 2 or 3 kinds of poison. I
> know we have never killed a single mole with a trap and the
> poisons have not seemed to have an effect either. Has anyone
> found a trap that actually kills the darn things? How about a
> poison that is specific to moles ( as opposed to the type that
> kills off all the worms that the moles feed on)? >>
Hank,
You maybe driven nuts by moles this season or last but these animals are
cyclical in some ways so a few years may be without a lot of moles and then
there may be a build up when you notice them more often.
I have never lived in a house with a lawn that did not at some time have
moles tunneling around. No garden can be blitzed with something every time a
pest turns up. Some are just to be borne with patience. I don't consider
moles a pest and we have our share. We rake out the piles of soil left on
the grass and flatten the tunnels when we see them.
Just now in the Northeast we have the annual plague of Japanese beetles. I
thought I outwitted them by pruning all the roses back to around three feet
and not allowing any rose bloom after the 4th of July but they have found
other things to eat in absence of the roses.
These are the most disgusting pests in any garden. They are immune to any
kind of spray as new ones emerge every day. I have pinched to death many,
many of them and tried to ascertain what plants they love best and isolate
that type of plant, a sort of Japanese beetle garden. I guess my point is
that you cannot cure all the ills in the garden so pretend the moles are
minor earthquakes and be glad it is just one plant. After all the gardener
must have something to do.
We do not grow TB iris as the iris borer prevalent in the Northeast destroys
most of the plants. We can grow roses as they bloom in June and the JB's
don't arrive until July. We plant only cheap assortment bulbs as they are all
eventually eaten by voles. A woodchuck has to be persuaded to leave the veg
patch every few years. Still the garden has many wonderful plants that have
few pests and it is my favorite place while grumbling and occasionally
muttering worse.
Claire Peplowski
NYS z4
