Learn more about mole control
Moles are a pest and a problem in Brighton and rural areas of Sussex. Learn more about moles and getting rid of a mole problem.
Moles are a pest in rural areas of Brighton and Sussex.
The mole are members of the mammal family Talpidae in the order Soricomorpha. Although moles burrow, some species are semi-aquatic. The moles found in Brighton and its surrounding towns and cities are the burrowing type. Moles have cylindrical bodies covered in fur although the ears are generally not visible. They have small or covered eyes and can probably still tell night from day, although they are otherwise blind. Moles eat small invertebrates living underground.
A mole’s diet primarily consists of earthworms and other small invertebrates found in the soil. The mole may also occasionally catch small mice at the entrance to its burrow. Because their saliva contains a toxin that can paralyze earthworms, moles are able to store their still living prey for later consumption. They construct special underground “larders” for just this purpose; researchers have discovered such larders with over a thousand earthworms in them. Before eating earthworms, moles pull them between their squeezed paws to force the collected earth and dirt out of the worm’s gut.
Moles are considered to be agricultural pests in some countries, and this includes Sussex in the UK. Problems cited as caused by moles include contamination of silage with soil particles making it unpalatable to livestock, the covering of pasture with fresh soil reducing its size and yield, damage to agricultural machinery by the exposure of stones, damage to young plants through disturbance of the soil, weed invasion of pasture through exposure of fresh tilled soil, and damage to drainage systems and watercourses. Other species such as weasels and voles may use mole tunnels to gain access to enclosed areas or plant roots.
Moles burrow lawns, raising molehills, and killing the lawn, for which they are sometimes considered pests. They can undermine plant roots, indirectly causing damage or death. However, contrary to popular belief, moles do not eat plant roots.
They are controlled with traps such as mole-catchers, smoke bombs, and poisons such as calcium carbide and strychnine, which is now banned in Britain. The most common method now is Phostoxin or Talunex tablets. They contain aluminium phosphide and are inserted in the mole tunnels, where they turn into phosphine gas. More recently high grade nitrogen gas has proven an effective remedy, with the added advantage of having no polluting effect to the environment.
Other common defensive measures include cat litter and blood meal, to repel the mole, or flooding or smoking its burrow. There are also devices sold to trap the mole in its burrow, when one sees the “mole hill” moving and therefore knows where the animal is, and then stabbing it. Humane traps which capture the mole alive so that it may be transported elsewhere are also options.
However, in many gardens, the damage caused by moles to lawns is mostly visual, and it is also possible to simply remove the earth of the molehills as they appear, leaving their permanent galleries for the moles to continue their existence underground.
Mole Populations
The JNCC UK Mammals: Species Status and Population Trends report said there are over 31 million moles in the UK.
With a life expectancy of 3 years and a breeding season between March and May. It is shortly after the birth of the new moles that the mole becomes a pest. They will dig more and more tunnels in the search for food.
Mole Behaviour
Each mole has its own burrow system, a network of firm-walled tunnels. The tunnels are about 5cm wide, 4cm high and may be over 70 metres long; they vary in depth from just beneath the surface of the ground to about 70cm. When digging close to the surface, the moles push the displaced soil up vertical tunnels and these form the familiar molehills. The territories of several moles may overlap, but the residents avoid each other if they can, except in the breeding season. If two males meet, they may fight fiercely, which can result in death.
Moles are active by day and by night, almost continuously digging their tunnels and searching for food. They are active for about four hours at a time and then rest for a similar length of time. A mole will die of starvation if it does not eat every few hours.
It finds food by running along its tunnels and eating up any earthworms, beetle larvae, slugs etc, which have fallen from the walls. A mole probably eats at least half its own body weight a day. When earthworms are plentiful, during autumn and winter, the mole makes stores of them, biting off their heads and pushing them into the ground for eating later.
When tunnelling, a mole uses one front foot to push soil upwards into a molehill while it braces the other, and the hind feet, firmly against the tunnel walls. The long claws on the front feet help it to dig.
A mole’s velvety fur lies backwards or forwards so that it does not become stuck against the tunnel walls when squeezing through them. It also allows the mole to move easily through its network of tunnels backwards or forwards.
The eyes of the mole are very tiny but sight is not important to an animal that lives in darkness for most of the time. It does not have a good sense of smell or hearing but it is extremely sensitive to touch and can sense vibrations in the soil around it. Sensitive whiskers help it to find its way about and detect food and water; it is also helped by thousands of very sensitive, tiny hairs which cover its long nose.
Moles are sometimes seen above ground. They come to the surface to collect nesting material and to look for food when the soil is dry. Young moles come to the surface to look for new homes when they leave their mother’s burrow. Moles emerge mainly at night but they are still vulnerable to predators; some mammals find them distasteful but many are eaten by tawny and barn owls.
Treating a Mole Problem
As with all pest problems, prevention is better than cure.
The best way of dealing with moles in the garden is to prevent them from setting up home in the first place. Moles do not like noise or disturbance and there are several vibration and electronic buzzing devices which you can buy from your garden centre which, when strategically placed, can drive moles mad and soon have them scurrying away from your garden.
Some gardeners choose to devise their own makeshift devices out of things like buried empty bottles which, when the wind blows, causes vibration or they might plant a child’s toy windmill close by. You can also buy electronic probes which emit a sonic pulse and there are other repellent solutions available at garden centres where you’ll be able to obtain advice.
Moles have a dislike for stony soil, heavy clay or areas of soil which have been compacted. This is because they use their heads to tunnel with and because their skulls are quite frail, any resistance in the soil is likely to put them off digging there.
