Taupes Répulsif…

This entry is part 5 of 12 in the series Animals

The only thing that spoils the pristine garden view from my front door is the regular appearance of great piles of rich dark soil on top of the newly mown grass. C’est la taupe! Despite having, literally, thousands of acres of farmland around my garden in which to create their havoc, the local mole population has homed in on my patch like precision guided ordnance. What is to be done?

Moles are remarkable little mammals; about 180mm long and with a mass of just 120g, they are strong for their size. They have eyes that are permanently covered over so they do little more than distinguish day from night. They feed voraciously on invertebrates such as insect larvae and slugs but their favourite food is the earthworm. Their digestive system is so active that they have to feed every few hours or they starve to death. They eat roughly their own mass in food every day. Their saliva contains a toxin that can paralyse a worm, so they store live food in underground larders when worms are plentiful to feed off them in leaner times. They are extremely sensitive to vibration and use this ability to track the movement of their prey and to avoid danger.

Moles build complex networks of tunnels and chambers beneath the ground. The molehills that appear are the soil from excavated chambers used as larders or as nurseries. They breed between March and May (producing up to seven young that will leave their mother after five weeks) but otherwise live solitary lives of just 3 years or so. Although their territories may overlap they tend to keep away from one another. Two males will often fight if they meet and this can lead to one of them dying.

Now that we understand a little about the mole, can we develop a plan to make them leave my garden? There are a huge number of strategies that have been tried over the years. Records of professional mole catchers go back centuries (ask Mr Woolley what happened to William III in 1702) and it is certainly true that an expert can trap and dispose of moles very effectively. I don’t want to employ an expert; I want to sort it out myself.

Poisoning is out. Strychnine was banned in the UK in 2006 as in many EU countries.
Electronic mole deterrents don’t work very well where moles are used to other sources of noise such as lawnmowers.
Gassing is difficult and unpleasant.
Trapping is highly skilled as any human scent on the trap will cause the mole to detour around it.
Direct action: sit outside, wait for movement and launch a garden fork at the moving ground.
Other suggested solutions include smoke, mothballs, broken glass, Jeye’s Fluid, diesel and chewing gum – little evidence exists to demonstrate efficacy for these.

My current strategy is to set mole bombs. They are not legal in the UK but widely available in France, if rather expensive. They are bangers, encased in hard plastic and detonated electrically. Moles are easily stunned and the locals swear by them.

Ultimately, it may just be necessary to learn to live with them. Many people sweep up the molehills to stop them killing the grass and leave them be. Moles aerate the soil, improve drainage, keep some garden pests at bay such as leatherjackets (which metamorphose into daddy-long-legs) but if they reach my croquet lawn I shall go ballistic!