I don't want to kill them....

[Bren In Pots]

Good luck getting rid of your moles.

Can I ask is there anything special about the soil they leave above ground ? Reason is that a friends mum asked for a wheelbarrow full of mole hills for her birthday, me I thought it was just ordinary soil.

[Nicos]

Maybe one of these could be useful???

[roitelet]

Hi Bren in Pots, the soil that the moles throw up in the mole hills is usually very fine and can be used as a base for potting compost but it needs to be mixed with leaf mould and some sand to stop it compacting. I use it but it needs to be sifted first.

Thanks Nicos, where do I find one?????????????????????????

[Polly Fouracre]

Keep rolling your lawn,moles like peace and quiet and will soon move next door!!

[roitelet]

Keep rolling your lawn,moles like peace and quiet and will soon move next door!!

It's not really a lawn Polly, just an enormous area of mown weeds and grass, all 2,500 sq metres of it and I had got it into a mowable condition. However the fuses seem to be having some sucess at the moment. Where I have put them the moles aren't digging and they are moving away so I am just hitting them where the new activity is and although I don't think that I am killing them they seem to be put off by the smell

As soon as the grass/weeds are dry enough I shall put the mower over it and disturb them even more.

[roitelet]

The fuses are working

Although the activity has not stopped completely it is drastically reduced

Still getting the odd hill but nothing like before.

Just going back to the most recient thread on moles, you could try wine bottles burried in the runs. They seem to have some effect and are much cheaper than the thumpers and much more pleasurable 'cos you have to empty the bottle first.

As the moles are in the flower beds I am going to sink some, hic, in them. It's not practical in grass!

A point of interest - it seems that if you kill one mole then another will take up residence in the runs. So it would seem that the best option is to make the area as unatractive to moles as possible.

[bwfc07]

I can always send you some ferret poooo or a baby ferret when she has them..........

[jeannine]

Oh I'd love a ferret, one of our friend walks her (rescued) ferret in the park next door on a lead. Don't think our chickens would be keen though!

Roitelet have you tried lion poo? You can buy it from zoos and it's smelly enough to keep most things away!

[roitelet]

Thanks for the suggestions regarding poo.

Here in deepest france we just don't have zoos! The local wildlife is enough to contend with !

I would love a baby Ferret but think that there would be some serious import issues

[Geo]

Pet cats, dogs and ferrets - Moving to France on a permanent basis

>>Here<<

Geo..

[blackkitty]

we used to have a mole problem in Cape Town years ago until one of the furry ones (cats) worked out that it was much easier to dig a hole in a mole hill than anywhere else. The moles decided they didn't like their tunnels being used as a litter tray and moved on.

[roitelet]

I THINK THAT I MIGHT BE WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!:

The moles are back! Working on the principal that it is smell that deters them and finding that the smokes are becoming more and more expensive I thought that I would try petrol. I soaked some strips of cotton rag in petrol and shoved them down all the mole holes under the hills and, Hey Presto, it seems to be working. I started about a month ago and where I have put the rag the mole activity has dimished if not gone all together. Not entirely eco friendly I know but I just have to discourage them and persuade them that it is much more pleasant to live in the field next door

I suppose that anything that stinks would work. Someone told me that rotten mussles work, Yuck Think I might avoid that one.

[Hilary B]

Renardine (fox repellent) might work. It is intended to be used the way you are using petrol (and is probably safer). I think it contains some of the same chemicals as ***** Fluid. Can you buy the cat repellents made from lion poo (eg Silent Roar)? The smell needs to be STRONG, but not necessarily one that humans would find unpleasant. (strong disinfectant smells might be ideal, if you can find a long-lasting form)
When we kept goats I read all the books, and one of them said that a molehill was the best source of earth for when goat-kids reach the stage of eating earth for the mineral content. We never had moles so it didn't get tried.