Moles

[Smooth Hound]

They have been going mad in my garden, not too worried at the moment as its the lawn not the veg patch, but my problem is is that as soon as the weather warms up in the spring, i am putting up a 12 ft by 25 ft polytunnel which i will be digging in, . Is it likely that they could come up under the plastic where it is buried and ruin the polytunnel, or inside the polytunnel and ruin my plants / I am not sure what to do, i would like them to move really, but will they be having bbies at the moment, does anyone know how to discourage them from staying , with out harming them? and when it is reasonable to do so? oh and i did a search and there was a thread on moles which eventually ended with the lady buying a solar demoler, but no report of the effectiveness, has anyone else tried them ? or any other method that worked, or didnt work come to that?

[red]

we got a solar powered mole deterant. and it did seem to work. or at least the mole hills stopped appearing.

[Thurston Garden]

i am putting up a 12 ft by 25 ft polytunnel which i will be digging in, . Is it likely that they could come up under the plastic where it is buried and ruin the polytunnel

Kill two birds with one stone - get a timber base rail kit. The moles wont damage the polythene and your tunnel will look better and the skin will not sag after the first high wind. See my rant here. Go on go on go on goo oon!

Someone will no doubt have thoughts on moles - a molehill appeared on my lawn today. At the very least, the mole hill soil is worth lifting as it's good quiality!

[Stonehead]

All our work on improving the fertility of the soil here has had one unforseen result — dozens of moles. They've been moving off the neighbouring farms, attracted by the masses of earthworms, grubs, larvae and the like.

I didn't mind when we had three or four of them. But now we've got dozens and it is becoming a problem.

They've tipped over saplings in the copse we're establishing, churned up the over-wintered vegetables, made some areas dangerous for the pigs (pregnant sow with a leg down a mole hole is not good) and are turning some areas into mini-replicas of the Somme.

So, I'm just deciding what to do about them.

We're having similar problems with sparrows and blackbirds. After four years of improving fertility, allowing weeds and grasses to flourish in various areas, and providing more cover, we now have more birds than is good for the place. We have 50+ sparrows wintering here and about 20 blackbirds, but they're eating everything in sight, infiltrating all the buildings and chicken runs, and making a mess.

There are downsides to being environmentally friendly!

[Smooth Hound]

They can be a nuisance, ill have to see how much one of these solar things is, at the moment ive got empty bottles sticking out of all the mole hills, well you never know it might work, when its windy that is, at the moment its never been so still

and off thread a bit here, the polytunnel , i was thinking about doing the board method, but am worried it is likely to lift in the wind as the bars are only banged in 2 ft odd into the ground, and thought if it was buried it is more likely to stay put, the other thing is slugs, would i have a constant problem with them getting under the board, ? plus its a bit extra expense. ill have to have another think about it now.

[Millymollymandy]

I've got sticks stuck in every mole run in the veg patch, with plastic bottles with cuts in them to make them supposedly flap in the wind.

Believe me, it doesn't work. At all.

[Peggy Sue]

Someone advised me to get a childs windmill. It did work, but you need a few to keep them off you allotment as the range only seems to be about 6ft. Sadly if you get alot of still days on the trot they may come back but we did save the vast majority of the veg he was up rooting as a result of a visit to the seaside by the MIL!

[red]

the solar thingy did seem to work.. but should add, our cat brought in 2 huge dead moles.. so maybe a cat is a better answer!

[Smooth Hound]

so all ive got to do is find somewhere in the winter to by a dozen kiddies windmills, now theres a challenge

[Ellendra]

We're having similar problems with sparrows and blackbirds. After four years of improving fertility, allowing weeds and grasses to flourish in various areas, and providing more cover, we now have more birds than is good for the place. We have 50+ sparrows wintering here and about 20 blackbirds, but they're eating everything in sight, infiltrating all the buildings and chicken runs, and making a mess.

Have you considered becoming a falconer? Or at least inviting one over to feed his bird on your sparrows?

Just keep the chickens inside if you do!

-Ellendra

[Stonehead]

We have a goshawk living in the area. He's tried to take the chickens twice - got caught in the netting over the main pen once and was chased off by our broody bantam the other time.

Unfortunately, the blackbirds and sparrows (and other birds) are generally too smart for him.

[ina]

I thought sparrows were supposed to be a rare bird nowadays?

We have a colony living in one of the sheds, but not a lot in the garden!

Now where did I read that: Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum in the mole runs is supposed to keep them off. My theory is that they love the taste of it and gum up their insides! Never tried it - the moles go mad in the field next door, but so far have kept out of my garden.

Has anybody tried the chewing gum method?

[Stonehead]

I thought sparrows were supposed to be a rare bird nowadays?

They are. When we took part in the RSPB's Birdwatch, they didn't believe our figures for sparrows and crows while they don't even have goshawks on their list. I'd got in touch with them so I could have the goshawk noted down, but I was told it was probably a sparrowhawk (not so, I've actually held him after freeing him from the netting over the chicken run).

When I told the the lady I spoke to about having 50 sparrows in and around the steading, she said she doubted it. I told her that if she doubted it, what would she make of a murder of crows so large that it turns the sky black?

Her disbelief was clear.

But we really do have that many sparrows and for a couple of weeks had upwards of 200-300 crows on the hill. We're down to 40-50 at the moment.

It does leave me wondering just how accurate bird counts are if sightings of large numbers are discounted.

[ina]

True. We always have around 15-20 sparrows living here. The colony doesn't seem to grow over the years, though. There's loads of crows, too - not 100s, thank goodness!

[Ellendra]

If sparrows are a "rare bird", I'm sure we could send you some. They're a pest bird in the US, there's too many of them.