Hi all. I would like to introduce myself and say hi, and also needed to ask a question, hoping to find some help. If you want to know more about me and my challenges, please feel free to check my blog (http://mrbnatural.blogspot.com/) Now, on to my question. I hope it is not too stupid: I have a fairly large melon and cantaloupe patch in my backyard which is very sunny. I want to keep this message short so if you want you can see details and pictures in my blog. Anyway, my garden has moles in it. Last year I found small "volcanoes" and also long shallow tunnels all over the place. I have read that it doesn't have to be many moles as a couple of moles can dig a lot of tunnels, plus they are loners. The soil in my garden is hard clay, with lots of grubs in it so I understand why the moles like to live there. But they dig a lot and I am afraid my melons which have sensitive roots will suffer. I live near a train track and the garden gets a tiny and brief earthquake whenever a train passes by, which is 3-4 times an hour. So I know whatever mole lives here is not afraid of vibrations. I set out a trap in an active tunnel but all it did was to rust. I did by chance come upon one of the moles one morning and got rid of it (Again, I won't go into details. Details are all in the blog) but I am still finding new tunnels especially in my melon patch. Very worried. Does anyone here know if the melons will survive moles, and I am worrying too much? Or if melons will be affected by the moles, does anyone have a suggestion how I can get rid or the remaining mole/moles? PS. My cat patrols the garden frequently but I guess he is not interested in moles
Hi and welcome first you have my sympathy for having to deal with these nasty pest! Yes they will destroy your melons. the tunneling will damage enough of the roots it will kill off the plants. I have been battling them for several years but I had shrews not moles I guess. or maybe both but I think mostly shrews... which are supposed to be solitary mammals but I trapped 5 in the same area this Spring. I used peanut butter on the tongue of the trap and placed the traps at the entrance of each and every tunnel I could find. If you smash sticky candy like caramels on the trap that might catch them too. you have to experiment with the "lure" to find an effective one.
Hi there and welcome to the group !! I have never lost a single plant to gophers or moles and we have quite a few here ! We treat the pasture for them but I am not so good with the yard ! And since our garden ( one of them) is right behind our house they do tend to migrate into it. But they are hunting for worms and grubs I guess and never have bothered our plants. They do sell things that will eliminate them and something that will make them move but I forget the name of it ! Its a repellent of some type ! Can look in the garage tomorrow !
Please read this article MrBNatural before trying to kill the moles in your garden. https://hartley-botanic.com/magazine/801409421-moles-can-benefit-gardeners/ It's more likely to be voles or mice using the moles tunnels that will damage your plants as they will eat the roots. A simple way to deter moles is to flatten their mole hills (by stamping heavily on them) which will cause the tunnels to cave in. I did it in my own garden and the moles moved elsewhere.
@carolyn , Thanks. I will try out any tips you give me. Hopefully will catch them soon... It sounds pretty awful the way you describe their damage. @mart , Please let me know if there is a repellent. I hope it is not too "chemical" because as you may have gathered from my blog, I want to BeNatural , hehe @eileen , I have tried stomping and flattening their tunnels all year last year, but unfortunately they kept fixing the tunnel back again, in the same place. Their tunnels are pretty shallow, so that is what makes me afraid that my plants and vegetable roots will be hurt from their digging... I think I have a mole living right under my chicken coop too. I have seen a tunnel opening there. Wonder if the mole is afraid of the chickens and will move elsewhere... My chickens are ... very chicken in lack of a better word. They panic and run away even from small birds who fly in sometimes to eat from their food.
I wouldn't try to kill any moles as they do very little damage to plants or their roots and are beneficial to your garden in many ways. If you still believe it is moles you have then I would trap them humanly and remove them to somewhere well away from your garden. Look at this link for humane mole traps. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pest-Stop-...d=1529054553&sr=8-3&keywords=humane+mole+trap
