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  • Moles

  • Moles

    This can be a difficult pest to control. But with the right knowledge and process, it's fairly straightforward to resolve.

    Moles are not rodents, and about 5 to 8 inches long, with short velvety fur. They are active day and night throughout the year.

    You'll get two types of tunnels - surface ones, denoted by ridges of soil on the surface, and then deeper tunnels, denoted by molehills (heaves) - which can be anywhere from 5 to 20cm deep.

    MG Pest Control have some experience at tackling mole issues, but being an urban pest control firm, we don't get many calls for moles (they tend to be more of a rural pest). Therefore we recommend you use a firm with lots of experience at dealing with moles, and particularly look at the following link. Assuming you want to pay someone to sort the issue for you.

    https://www.guildofbritishmolecatchers.co.uk/

    Usually they can be caught fairly quickly using mole scissor traps. They tend to live on their own, so it is likely only a few visits are needed to sort things out (depending of how bad the issue is of course).

     

    Want to do some DIY?

    If you are happy to try yourself, go for it - it's not that difficult actually. Buy a set of 4 mole scissor traps, on line, about £15 (for a set of 4) off Amazon.

    Then cut a small hole down through the smaller heaves (these are likely the ones they are currently working in), using an old bread knife, but the hole needs to be large enough (and not too big) to allow the scissor trap to be placed inside, and be able to work ok (open and close, so you can set it, and it activates ok).

    NOTE - I was trained in 2010 to locate the mole tunnels (using a dibber - type of stick) between 2 heaves. However, haven't had much success doing it that way, hence decided to go down through the heaves, which has worked very well.

    SO, go/cut down carefully through the heave(s) you select, until you reach the tunnels, feeling as you cut/go down. Once you feel the tunnels, at the edge of your cutting, only then go down to just below the base of the tunnels, so your hole bottom/floor (you are cutting/making through their heave(s)) is just a bit below level with the floor of their runs/tunnels. The trap can now be set up with the downward jaws in line with the tunnel, and the pressure plate (disc) across the tunnel, for them to run into, to activate the trap. Clear any debris, loose earth etc.... as the idea of the trap, is the moles run through their tunnels in the dark pretty quickly searching for worms, beetle grubs, ants and other animals found in soil, and will hit the pressure plate of the set trap, and be caught hopefully, as the jaws close, the plate having been knocked out to activate the trap. The best months to catch moles tends to be October to April, when they are more active.

    Once the trap is set, cover as best you can (with thick opaque plastic/cloth bag, or a sod of turf, with the soil side downwards), so the trap still freely works, but you also stop any light (and debris) getting down into the tunnel. Good luck.

     

    Give MG Pest Control a call for guidance, firstly whether it is a mole issue - send us pictures of what you're seeing and we can advise you for free.