Molehills - what to do?

Jnhuk

Jnhuk

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My field has been rested for awhile and suddenly have a lot of molehills appearing (well before they were hidden by the snow) which has never been a problem up to now.

Do I need to be concerned with them? What is the best thing to do, just spread the earth about or should I be doing something regarding moving the moles on? Hoping now that the horses are now back on the field, that this will discourage the moles back to the neighbouring (sheep farmer) fields.
 
Snowedinuk said:
My field has been rested for awhile and suddenly have a lot of molehills appearing (well before they were hidden by the snow) which has never been a problem up to now.

Do I need to be concerned with them? What is the best thing to do, just spread the earth about or should I be doing something regarding moving the moles on? Hoping now that the horses are now back on the field, that this will discourage the moles back to the neighbouring (sheep farmer) fields.
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Odd that you should post this. I saw a van yesterday with decals advertising the driver as a mole-catcher. Not heard of that for years. Might be the answer to your problem

There are gadgets that emit a loud noise only audible to moles which are supposed to send the moles running away screaming but my cousin, a professional gardener, says they don't work.

Strychnine was formerly used to kill moles but has now been banned, I think. Not sure what other poisons have replaced it.

Don't use traps unless the horse are kept out of the field for the duration as they have to be left partly protruding from the ground and could injure the horses.

Best thing to do, I think, would be to ask the advice of a local farmer. Don't send them into the sheep field though - the soil in the molehills is likely to be infected with nasty organisms which can be picked up by the sheep.
 
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I've got the same problem and am thinking that at least with the holes they are creating it will be extra drainage?!
But the amount of earth they turf out is annoying so I was thinking of scraping this up and chucking it in with the poo picking. There's a lot of earth though, but can't think of anything else. I don't want to kill them.
 
Where about are you??
We use a mole man and he uses traps and no they don't stick out of the ground, heathen uses his gps to find them again.
He keeps coming here because he's got 500 acres to clear.
 
I use mole traps in areas horses aren't in and harrow the field on existing ones.
The yard I used to be at used a noise one and the horses hated it, would all leg it over where it was, wouldn't touch them near horses now!
 
My cousin is a mole catcher, and very good at it too, but the traps he uses stick out above the ground (as someone has already mentioned).

My dad calls himself the 'mole assassin', his method is with a shotgun. I know of a few farmers around here who do it this way, but it takes a lot of time and skill. One guy was simply sticking his shotgun into the rising molehill, with varying degrees of success (my dad declared this to be madness). My old man stalks the whole farm, notes molehill patterns and returns in time to catch the little b*ggers. He's all but eradicated moles off a 200+ acre farm, although it has taken him several years (only shoots in the winter) and we'll never be completely mole-free as all neighbouring farms are completely infested.

Sorry, that's probably not much help. I guess my point is you may never be able to get rid of moles completely, but you may wish to get someone in to reduce the number/temporarily shift them?
 
Thanks for the replies

Think will ask one of the local farmers. The neighbouring sheep farmer has lot of moles in his field so I am all for encouraging them back there but if it has to be the moleman, so be it maybe I am being a wuss but I would rather not kill them unless have to. Probably comes down to reading the Duncton Wood books by William Horwood.
 
I had a real problem here on 30 acres. Bought 50 traps on Ebay and was going round them three times a day. I soon cleaned them up. Unfortunately, they are back again -- and I sold most of the traps!

Wasn't there a king who was killed when his horse stumbled on a mole hill? Yes, here it is, William lll of Orange, "In 1702, William died of pneumonia, a complication from a broken collarbone following a fall from his horse, Sorrel. Because his horse had stumbled into a mole's burrow, many Jacobites toasted 'the little gentleman in the black velvet waistcoat' ".

The moles do seem particularly active just now and I am seeing new heaps where I have caught the last lot of moles. If they are left, they will grass over and you will have a corrugated field which will be difficult to get level again. Harrowing will flatten them while they are still fresh.

Mole trapping is coming back again because, as someone has said, strychnine has been banned. There is no effective substitute. I trap with horses in the field without problems but use Talpex/claw type traps which are set below ground level.
 
They do provide good drainage and also areate the ground.

I just kick over the hills as Im poo picking so they dont freeze into big humps you fall over.

If you get them gassed in mid-late spring you get a rest from them over summer, but if theyre in your area a new lot will move back in come autumn. Usually there are only 2 or 3 moles in a 4 acre field, theyre just v busy!
 
Poor old moles! I just kick the soil about.

A kid's windmill stuck in the ground in their area will deter moles, they don't like the vibrations.
 
Moles are quite tenacious little creatures so will put up with any amount of efforts to remove or kill them because the land you have abviously suits it will attract more.

I've found those ultra ( could infra ) sonic gadgets really do work - they put out sound inaudiable to us but drive the little varmits away. Bearing the sort of herding thing in mind - you need several of these thing to do the shusshing - off into someone else's field!

Oh btw - although a horse could trip over anything I suppose, I really doubt that one could put a foot down a mole hole - if you're carefull in removing a hill, you can find the hole at ground level - it's very small.
 
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