Video Paddock Molehills

[Shysmum]

I'm plagued by them ! The ponies skirt round them, and are in at night so won't hopefully tread on one. I flatten them down, and the holes are tiny, but I understand the underground tunnelling can be dangerous for horses. Advice welcome ? Excuse Pepsi's shocking clip, he had a skin infection.

Watch "Paddock Molehills ?" on YouTube

 

[dorsetladette]

We're the same. My field looks like the surface of the moon in places. Our neighbours had a mole catcher out and watched what he did. Once he'd caught a couple they bought a few traps and set their own. We've bought some the same and have caught quite a few. I'll see if i can find the link to them.

 

[Lady Jane]

We're the same. My field looks like the surface of the moon in places. Our neighbours had a mole catcher out and watched what he did. Once he'd caught a couple they bought a few traps and set their own. We've bought some the same and have caught quite a few. I'll see if i can find the link to them.

What do you do with the moles when you have caught them?

 

[PurBee]

When i was a kid my dad would get me to help him uncover them, find the hole, so he could pour jeyes fluid down into them. The fact we constantly did this seems to suggest its not a reliable method!
From an organic land management perspective jeyes fluid is certainly bad for soil health and microbes.

Our siamese cat would hunt them, so maybe consider a good hunting male cat?

Our gardens were really quiet, not near any roads etc, so the moles favoured that peaceful land. Im sure if you had some impractical vibrating ‘device’ (generator, tractor engine etc) sitting on that patch a mole would never dare to burrow up.
Being nearly blind and prey animals they navigate by smell, sound and vibration and would certainly avoid any land with lots of activity on it.

What you need is a large herd of horses stomping about constantly, to scare the moles from your land onto more peaceful meadows! ?

Maybe these days there are humane mole lures/traps to assist with the issue. You’ve probably got only a small family of them, so if you catch and relocate them, you could well find you’ve solved your problem.

Apparently moles come to the surface to collect nesting materia, feed when the ground is dry, and youngsters relocate from the mother’s burrow.
So maybe where you’ve got your hay parked, they’re attracted to the area as they can collect dried hay to build a nest?
Do you have issues with moles in other areas of your land aside from hay feeding areas?

 

[The Xmas Furry]

What do you do with the moles when you have caught them?

I shove them back in the run before tamping it down.

I was on a roll in one paddock but having the Dickens of a job to get 1 persistent mole in the adjacent one before I start on lower paddocks.

 

[Shysmum]

When i was a kid my dad would get me to help him uncover them, find the hole, so he could pour jeyes fluid down into them. The fact we constantly did this seems to suggest its not a reliable method!
From an organic land management perspective jeyes fluid is certainly bad for soil health and microbes.

Our siamese cat would hunt them, so maybe consider a good hunting male cat?

Our gardens were really quiet, not near any roads etc, so the moles favoured that peaceful land. Im sure if you had some impractical vibrating ‘device’ (generator, tractor engine etc) sitting on that patch a mole would never dare to burrow up.
Being nearly blind and prey animals they navigate by smell, sound and vibration and would certainly avoid any land with lots of activity on it.

What you need is a large herd of horses stomping about constantly, to scare the moles from your land onto more peaceful meadows! ?

Maybe these days there are humane mole lures/traps to assist with the issue. You’ve probably got only a small family of them, so if you catch and relocate them, you could well find you’ve solved your problem.

Apparently moles come to the surface to collect nesting materia, feed when the ground is dry, and youngsters relocate from the mother’s burrow.
So maybe where you’ve got your hay parked, they’re attracted to the area as they can collect dried hay to build a nest?
Do you have issues with moles in other areas of your land aside from hay feeding areas?

Moles all over the place even in the garden !

 

[PurBee]

Moles all over the place even in the garden !

would those frequency emitting gadgets to repel rats/mice work on moles? Not sure if your other animals would be bothered by the sound tho’.
perhaps humane traps/bait is a better option.

It could be worse....you could have these devilish looking naked mole rats living under you...at least moles are fluffy and kinda cute ?

 

[Parrotperson]

advice. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/foxes-moles-and-mink-how-to-protect-your-property-from-damage#moles

 

[twiggy2]

Maybe these days there are humane mole lures/traps to assist with the issue. You’ve probably got only a small family of them, so if you catch and relocate them, you could well find you’ve solved your problem.

Apparently moles come to the surface to collect nesting materia, feed when the ground is dry, and youngsters relocate from the mother’s burrow.
So maybe where you’ve got your hay parked, they’re attracted to the area as they can collect dried hay to build a nest?
Do you have issues with moles in other areas of your land aside from hay feeding areas?

Please don't consider relocating moles, its not ethical, they are very aggressive and territorial and will fight to the death. It can also spread disease from one mole population to another.
I spent the last 3 yrs doing a lot of mole catching and I got on best with the tunnel traps, there are lots of videos on YouTube about finding the tunnel and setting a trap, the best tip j had was wear gloves and only use them for mole catching, keep traps and all equipment away from anything else especially dogs, cats etc as moles with stay away from unusual smells.

 

[Shysmum]

would those frequency emitting gadgets to repel rats/mice work on moles? Not sure if your other animals would be bothered by the sound tho’.
perhaps humane traps/bait is a better option.

It could be worse....you could have these devilish looking naked mole rats living under you...at least moles are fluffy and kinda cute ?

View attachment 67179

Oh God, aliens ?

 

[dorsetladette]

What do you do with the moles when you have caught them?

They get flung on the muck heap. Apparently they used to be hung on the fence. It was a sign of good land management if you had a few dead moles hung along your fence line for all to see.

 

[Dasher66]

My best tip is to spend time raking all the hills flat. That way you can see where the mole activity is and target those hills with the traps. Also you’ll know when they are all gone because one day there won’t be any new ones.
You only need one trap to catch a mole but if you have three you can catch them faster.
Bad news is that other moles will move into the your newly cleared runs when they find them. Having moles is a sign of healthy soil.

 

[Amirah]

I have never heard of a horse falling into a mole tunnel in all my years of horse ownership and believe that the tunnels are beneficial to drainage and very deep.

Here is some interesting information on moles by Dr Rob Atkinson

"Each mole lives at depths of up to 150cm (5ft) in a network of tunnels more than a kilometre long, all packed like spaghetti into a territory only 30-40 metres across.
A few of its peripheral tunnels are shared with adjacent moles - offering vital information about the neighbours. Moles, being highly territorial, scent-mark the shared tunnels in warning.
If a mole dies, its neighbours detect the absence of fresh scent, and move into the empty tunnels within 24 hours, mopping up the new abundance of food in the vacated tunnels".--

And -
"Moles contribute to the health of the soil, turning it, draining it and mixing its nutrients, while their molehills are nurseries for wild flowers.
Even on farmland, moles have a role, aerating soil and eating crop-damaging larvae, and they were once deliberately introduced to control cockchafer beetles"

 

[rextherobber]

I have never heard of a horse falling into a mole tunnel in all my years of horse ownership and believe that the tunnels are beneficial to drainage and very deep.

Here is some interesting information on moles by Dr Rob Atkinson

"Each mole lives at depths of up to 150cm (5ft) in a network of tunnels more than a kilometre long, all packed like spaghetti into a territory only 30-40 metres across.
A few of its peripheral tunnels are shared with adjacent moles - offering vital information about the neighbours. Moles, being highly territorial, scent-mark the shared tunnels in warning.
If a mole dies, its neighbours detect the absence of fresh scent, and move into the empty tunnels within 24 hours, mopping up the new abundance of food in the vacated tunnels".--

And -
"Moles contribute to the health of the soil, turning it, draining it and mixing its nutrients, while their molehills are nurseries for wild flowers.
Even on farmland, moles have a role, aerating soil and eating crop-damaging larvae, and they were once deliberately introduced to control cockchafer beetles"

Agree - we have an area much loved by moles, all I do is rake the molehills down so they don't freeze into a trip hazard. They only seem to be actively digging at certain times of the year (now!) the rest of the time, you'd never know they were there...

 

[NinjaPony]

I’ve got some at the top end of the paddock. I just kick them flat so they aren’t a trip hazard but otherwise don’t worry.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Traps, a book on tanning, and sewing patterns for moleskin waistcoat and trousers.

 

[HBB]

Moles have an acute sense of smell, so rake the mounds flat, locate the hole/tunnel and put a few drips of this in to all the mound entrances and cover the hole back up.
It's bone oil and it stinks to high heaven, do not get it on you as it smells like a knackery on a bad day. The moles will move on to another area, so be vigilant and keep repeating the above to any new mounds in your paddock/garden, they'll soon move on.

https://www.decathlon.fr/p/emouchine-forte-equitation-cheval-et-poney-500-ml/_/R-p-X1684453

 

[Marigold4]

Poor moles!

 

[blitznbobs]

There was a great Jasper carrot skit about this in the ‘80s

‘there’s only one way to get rid of a mole’

 

[Red-1]

We had them and called a pro in a couple of times. It was expensive, so Mr Red qualified as a certified mole murderer. We had issues for a few years, dealt with them and now don't seem to have such a problem.