Now the moles

[Lori]

Getting sick of it and wishing I had purchased a https://youtu.be/CgztUzqaL3E years ago. The Rodenator. Expensive but effective.

Good grief !! I'd worry about blowing up underground pipes, septic lines, etc. I can see how it would be incredibly effective on terrain not near a house.

[Quiksilver]

I have two of them, been using them in an unsuccessful battle for years. I'd happily sell both of mine for €60 but we are hundreds of km away from Dordogneshire.
[/quote]

Thanks so much for letting me know. I won't bother with it then.
[/quote] That's a shame @Lori, because as you've seen from the reviews and several recommendations on here, they really do work when the instructions are followed to the letter. It's important to identify the right molehill to excavate, though, which can be tricky if the mole is allowed to romp around a big area. The average time it took (takes) when there's only one run was (is) 2 hours.

[Lori]

There must be more than 100 holes. I've long since lost count. I'd have no way to know where to start. And those petards are not cheap. I'd need so many of them.

And some folks who have similarly large problems don't think they work well enough to erradicate the critters.

[exile]

Moles are solitary (except for mating of course). Moles are territorial. So if you eradicate one, when there are lots around, another will just come in and take over the runs.

Their eyesight is poor and they rely on smell and hearing to survive.

They are sensitive to strong and persistent smells and strong noises. Noises perhaps fails to work because we too would object to the semi-continuous noise you would have to create.

So smell: Dog and cat poo has been suggested but after a day or so the smell is largely gone and 100 holes would be a street sweeper's worth of poo. If you have an old fashioned type of iron monger, you might still be able to buy calcium carbide (carbure) in lumps. [The last time I did this was quite a few years ago and the 3kg was handed over in a rather flimsy paper bag. Rather interesting given the thunderstorm in force at the time.] Calcium carbide reacts with water to release acetylene gas in a very impure form and this gas stinks of garlic/rotten onions. A lump dropped into each hole will react with the small amounts of moisture in the soil and air and will release the noxious smelling gas over days, possibly weeks. No need to add water. It has worked for me with individual runs.

[exile]

A quick internet search shows carbure de calcium is available through a number of outlets including Amazon - so more widely available than I thought but the price has gone up a lot from the 8Ffr/kg I last paid!

Also found this:
https://jardinage.ooreka.fr/fiche/voir/ ... les-taupes

[Quiksilver]

Moles are solitary (except for mating of course). Moles are territorial. So if you eradicate one, when there are lots around, another will just come in and take over the runs.

As mentioned above, that doesn't seem to be the case if you leave the corpse in the run
Sorry, Bayleaf I'll drop the subject now I know what works for me.....

[Char]

I've moved the mole related posts from the dandilion/covid thread and merged them into this one.

[niemeyjt]

Collect all the soil and use it to make some John Innes - much better than ordinary potting compost.

[Bayleaf]

Collect all the soil and use it to make some John Innes - much better than ordinary potting compost.

Did just that this morning. Skimmed off the tops of some molehills in the animals' paddock, and mixed it with compost created from the dung heap. Luvly jubbly!

[niemeyjt]

Yes - and far better for your seedlings - it wont dry out as much (unless you leave it too long, obviously)

And if I dare bring rhubarb into a thread on moles - sow some rhubarb seed - it germinates well - and given the garden centre by the station were selling it for nearly €18 a plant you'll make a good saving.