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August 2, 2008
MOLE PROBLEM IN BACKYARD HELP!
Hi Brownstoners
We just discovered what looks like a small hole and pile of dirt made by a mole. Our small yard is mostly covered with bluestone patio with small planting beds on the perimeter.
How do we get rid of this creature who is upheaving our garden/yard?
Anyone have a method that worked? Pls. no snarky comments about using a bb gun rifle etc to kill em:)
Thanks
Comments
I know I will be derided (to put it mildly) on this blog, but I wonder if sometimes we could reconsider and not kill animals who are doing us no real harm, when we have crowded out the habitats of wild animals (and as far as cats, we are responsible for abandoning them and causing their massive proliferation and suffering). The mole is not in your house, and though your yard is rightfully important to you, would it be possible to coexist with the mole? Thanks.
Posted by: Gloucester at August 3, 2008 12:53 AM
I won't deride you at all, gloucester. I think the same myself (er...except for certain insectoids). I was thrilled when we had a raccoon visiting for awhile. He seems to have moved across the street. I guess we weren't providing enough upscale table scraps. I have been taking a course in TNR for the backyard cats, and as I can getting them fixed. So I am totally with you on this.
Hope you can work something out, renomom. Unfortunately the only things I've heard about involve poison.Even a mole's life is worth something in the scheme of the universe (and that'll probably get me a little derision on the blog too I guess, but that's how I feel.)
Posted by: bxgrl at August 3, 2008 12:32 PM
I agree too, we ignore the squirrels who chomp on our garden and use only cayenne pepper to try and keep them away. Our cat has other ideas and once killed one. Now I shoo the squirrels away if he's lurking around.
TNR?
Posted by: cmu at August 3, 2008 1:26 PM
trap, neuter, return. Many people on my block take care of feral cats, who are extraordinarily friendly for the most part and since reading up on the advantages of keeping a feral cat colony in place are many- especially in regards to mice and rats. Once I finish the course I'll be able to et access to a number of vet resources so it will be a lot less expensive to get them fixed too. I'll find the link and post it for you- there's a good organization in Park Slope that has a free course.
Posted by: bxgrl at August 3, 2008 2:20 PM
I would think it's a rat, not a mole. As you must know, rats are a lot more common in Brooklyn than moles. You could try flooding the tunnel with a garden hose.
Posted by: GUESS at August 3, 2008 10:11 PM
GUESS
The holes left around the patios are the size of a quarter too small for a rat (I think) plus the dirt hills left near the holes after some research look exactly like the ones from moles.
Thanks
Posted by: renomom at August 3, 2008 10:53 PM
I wonder if Riddex works to send out sound waves which annoy rodents. A friend suggested this for the squirrels which congregate in my huge tree. I never had anything against squirrels or thought much about other rodents until I started having trouble with squirrels. Aside from the annoying habit of digging up my bulbs, eating the tops off my lillies and making holes looking for food in my potted plants, I lived with them. Then one got in my house though a spot on the roof and got into my apartment and trashed the place. I was flabbergasted. This little bastard ate through every single set of wooden blinds in my duplex, ate chocolate candy from my pantry bringing it up to the living room and eating it on the WHITE couches, leaving squirrel chocolate paw prints everywhere, ate a cake and ate through the slats on my original shutters. Catching it took two days with the help of Guido, my favorite exterminator, and a cage trap and peanut butter and crackers. Guido saved the little bastard's life by getting it out of my place before I could finish it off. So much for my former St. Francis of Assisi approach to animal life. Anyway, it cost me almost 2,000 bucks after all was said and done. I had to get the roof fixed, the couches cleaned, pay for the exterminator, get new blinds, get a person to repair where it clawed the window frames. So much for loving rodents.
But I digress. I have a live and let live attitude toward rodents -- just stay away from my damn house. So, I back to the original question -- does Riddex work? I am thinking of plugging one in the back yard to discourage squirrel nation from using my backyard as a community center. Good luck anyway.
Are they doing any damage other than leaving little holes?
Posted by: donatella at August 3, 2008 11:35 PM
Bxgrl - Beware the TNR Expense. I went that route with the Humane Society and beleive me it will most certainly end up costing you much much more than you anticipate...
Thats OK if you have the cash to burn and it is a worthy cause - But beware of these vets and their "Low Cost Spay/Nueter".
I took 2 cats in for a $48 spay that turned into over $200 each...Here is how:
"Oh she is a little older than we thought", Plus $40 for pre-spay lab work. "She had a Uterus infection" Plus $40 for the procedure and "She needs to Stay overnight" Plus $20 for the stay and Plus $35 for "Hospitalization". "We also charge extra for Waste Disposal" Plus $25...Plus, Plus Plus...
Also be aware they will not advise you of these costs until after everything is done with or will make vague references to extras without gving you the slightest clue it is not part of thier standard $48 fee.
I am not saying these programs are not good. But unless you are prepared to prove you are on public assistance, it seems they tack on as much as possible to help offset their costs in other areas or subsidize low-income pet owners.
Definately a noble cause, but just be aware of the expense you may be in for in your good deed, I cetainly was not.
Posted by: newsouthsloper at August 4, 2008 8:19 AM
Have you noticed these holes before? If they've only appeared in the past month, they could be from Dog-Day Cicadas, which began to emerge at the beginning of June.
Another possibility is that it's the burrow of a Cicada Killer, which are also active right now. They leave distinctive, asymmetrical piles to one side of the entrance.
To find out if these holes lead to active burrows, just fill them in and see if they get re-opened, or if new holes appear nearby.
Posted by: Xris at August 4, 2008 8:33 AM
thanks newsouthsloper. It's good to be aware of that. f that's the case I'll just keep taking them to my own vet who has given me incredibly reasonable prices. He's a great guy- been taking care of my cats for years.
renomom- did I understand correctly? The holes are the size of a quarter? Are moles that tiny? Maybe Xris is right- insects.If its insects you can forget all the new age fauna can't we all get along stuff I said earlier- invest in cases of Raid. No quarter to exoskeletons! :-)
donatella- I know it's awful of me but I laughed so hard at your story. Sometime ask Montrose about the attack of the frankensquirrel. It was posted once ages ago but I can't find it.
Posted by: bxgrl at August 4, 2008 9:33 AM
XCHRS. Thank you so much your the best! Yesterday I saw this massive cicada crawling into one of the holes. I had no idea they existed underground.The noise they make at night is loud. So you are 100% correct. Are they harmful to gardens?
Posted by: renomom at August 4, 2008 10:24 AM
It's just a mole, nothing more than a rodent. Squirrels are the worst. No squirrel is worth $ 2,000. When they get indoors, we use a pellet gun. Just trap it and be done with it. Or if you are lucky, some cat will get it.
Posted by: Iknow at August 4, 2008 10:45 AM
Actually it was funny after it was all over. Everyone laughed. The first day I was stunned. I thought someone broke in but the second day I cried. Hey, but then my whole brownstone experience is tragicomic. Cicada holes sound reasonable. I wasn't aware that there were a lot of them now, (they live on 17 year cycles I thought) but I remember them from my childhood -- one year there was a kind of plague in NYC, they were everywhere and that is what they did. They bore small holes everywhere. I haven't seen any myself though.
Posted by: donatella at August 4, 2008 2:34 PM
I have been seeing small circular holes in my yard too this week. There are long claw marks around them. I think the squirrels that live in the trees in the yard might be buying acorns. Do they really do that?
The yard is home to squirrels, pidgeons and cats that were TNR by a neighbor. Someone in the apt building next to us throws shelled peanuts at the same time twice a day into the alley and they all line up in the yard waiting for them. My yard is full of the empty shells. I wonder if the squirrels are burying the peanuts??
Posted by: premadas at August 6, 2008 12:10 AM
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