Moles
A humane way of capturing underground animals
A sure sign that a mole is operating on the site will be from nowhere that appeared heaps of loose earth, which cover the entrance to the holes. How can a blind animal harm a gardener? The animal finds food, guided by its ideal sense of smell and hearing. Since in the soil treated with various fertilizers, the percentage of population with worms, midges, and beetle larvae is much higher, mole families settle near the "feeding trough".
The myth that moles are vegetarians does not correspond to reality, since their main diet is insects or mice, and the mole family can harm the growth of the crop with a dug network of passages and manholes in fertile soil.
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Mole traps come in several varieties. If the settlement of pests on the territory is small, then humane options, such as homemade plastic traps, are suitable to solve the problem.
A question point-blank - to eliminate or not to eliminate
Now let's move from lyrics to business. No matter how pleasant the mole is to the sight and no matter how much pity we feel for it, we need to get rid of it. Get rid of it - the garden and your crops will breathe a sigh of relief. Do not get rid of it - it will rid your site of worms, and here difficult times will already come. It is not at all necessary to kill the animal, it is enough just to catch it with one of the traps and carry it as far as possible from your site. Catch it - and you can show the animal to your children, who are always interested in such finds. In general, the process of catching can also be made pleasant, especially diluted with the knowledge that you are now providing great assistance to your site.
There is no doubt that mole traps are the best way to get rid of moles. Unlike chemical preparations, they do not scare away the beast, but physically eliminate it or simply capture it. It all depends on the type of trap installed. Traps can often be purchased at garden stores, but you can also build something yourself. We bring one of these homemade products to your attention. It is easy to make yourself, and the efficiency with proper installation will delight you.
Working mechanisms
If the population of moles exceeds 5-10 individuals, then traps are indispensable. They work flawlessly. You can make structures yourself, but it is preferable to purchase spring triggers in specialized stores. Thus, you will not get hurt during the manufacturing process, the structure will be durable, and in the event of a breakdown or failure to perform functions, you can always order repairs under the warranty card.
Trap for an underground animal
A mole trap is a ready-made device, upon contact with which the animal is killed by strangulation, a fracture of the cervical vertebrae. The base for the traps is a wire base.
It is possible to free territories from moles with a scissor trap, plunger mechanisms, all kinds of strangleholds, crossbows.
Catch with a scissor trap
By choosing a scissor-like trap, you will surely know that it worked.A mole catcher of this type is quite famous among gardeners due to its advantages:
- It's easy to install. You need to insert the handles into the soil, cock the mechanism.
- You can even see that the trap has worked from afar.
- The sensitivity is adjustable.
Disadvantages of the pest control method:
- The small size is sometimes not enough for placing the device in a tunnel at a depth.
- If you do not adjust the sensitivity, it works on foliage, stones, nuts.
- Frozen handles do not function in cold weather.
Since the main harvest time is the summer-autumn season, and fresh passages are near the surface, the minuses will not play a decisive role at the time of purchase.
Skat-1 system against a blind beast
Plunger designs
In terms of efficiency, plunger structures are not inferior to scissor traps. There are two main types: "Skat-1", "Skat-2". The mole trap, regardless of the type, is designed to kill underground inhabitants.
The principle of operation of "Skat-1" is similar to the operation of a crossbow. To get started, you need to stick the legs on the sides of the mole's hole into the soil, and cock the spring that introduces the gatehouse into the hole.
Rearing the gatehouse, a spring is triggered, which releases three needles into the mole, killing the animal.
How does Skat-2 work? Catching occurs similar to the first plunger structure, only, having touched the gatehouse, the staples clamp the pest, breaking the ridge or limbs.
This method of struggle is considered professional, although live traps will bring more results, since after the plunger mechanism is triggered, the spring must be re-tensioned, but a large pipe can fit 2-3 adults at once.
Will the loop trap work?
A choke trap for a mole is made of wire. This loop is easy to make yourself. If there is not enough time, then similar mechanisms can be found in agricultural stores, the price relative to other traps is not so high.
As with any type of trap, the wire loop is set in motion. Crawling through the round hole, a mechanism is triggered, and the mole is squeezed by a deadly loop.
The device is designed for reusable use, so by purchasing several traps, it will be possible to clear the land of moles that prefer to settle in families.
Harpoon fishing
Another type will be various crossbows... This rather laborious process of catching moles can even harm a person. How does a mole trap work?
Harpoon for capturing an underground animal
- In the course, a pipe filled with gunpowder and shot is laid, sealed on one side.
- A nichrome wire is brought to the gunpowder.
- In the same way, a motion sensor is connected at a distance of 20-30 cm from the crossbow.
- Passing by, the sensor, the wire heats up, the device kills the animal.
The absolutely inhumane method of struggle is not only laborious, but mostly useless, because if the mechanism does not work, then the animal is injured, it will die for a long time and painfully.
A mole is not a fish
Especially "sophisticated" hunters advise catching moles with a hook. Such an action, in its essence, is useless, since the animal is injured and eventually dies. How do you catch moles with hooks?
Triple fishing hooks on the line are lowered into the hole, bringing the rest of the line out. Making its way in search of food, the mole runs on sharp hooks that pierce the skin. Trying to free itself, the animal begins to move convulsively, thus moving the stick to which the fishing line is attached.
It is almost impossible to pull out the hook, which has caught on the muscle fibers of the animal, and the mole slowly dies for several days from the injuries and lost blood.
Cylinder mole trap - easy and effective
One of the most common types of mole traps (and not only) are cylinders. It is easy enough to make them and it is not at all necessary to run after them to the store. The advantage of these traps is that they are not disposable, like many of their other counterparts, and allow you to catch a mole in unlimited quantities.
We take a piece of plastic pipe as a basis - the diameter does not really matter, but you should not buy too large, and too small simply does not make sense. Many of us have an excellent idea of the size of the mole, and the diameter of the holes found on the site makes them easy to determine. We also need galvanized sheet metal and wire. We cut out two plates from a piece of tin, which will become the shutters at the ends of the pipe. One damper will be "blind", that is, firmly fixed like a wall. The other will be a movable door through which the welcome guest will enter the trap. This damper should only move inward, otherwise the entire trap effect will disappear. The very essence of it is that the mole enters the pipe, opening the damper slightly, finds itself inside the trap, and cannot go back.
The wire will help us fix the door so that it only opens in one direction and nothing else. For this, holes for the wire are made in the pipe and in the planes of the plug. As a limiter, a wire is placed in the upper part of the pipe in the area of the damper, which will not allow the door to open outward. There are a lot of options for fixing the dampers, you can create a whole wire system, it all depends on your imagination and skill. The main thing is to allow the shutter to safely return to its original position immediately after the mole is trapped.
Protective grooves
At the summer cottage, the green zone surrounds the entire arable land and constantly steps on it. From here, grass and weeds, especially wheatgrass, run their roots on arable land, and this has to be dealt with every year. The simplest and cheapest remedy against the onset of weeds on arable land is the device of a barrier groove around the perimeter of the arable land.
A multifunctional protective groove around the perimeter of the arable land is dug to a depth of approximately 20-25 cm and to the same width. Digging it in loose soil (after plowing) is not difficult.
How do such grooves fight moles? Imagine that an animal makes its nest in a green area, somewhere under bushes or trees. From this "den" at a depth of about 10 cm, forage burrows diverge. Through such a hole, the mole falls into my groove and, frightened of the open space, returns back to its hole. Why?
It is known that moles see poorly, therefore, in an open space, which they feel, as they say, with their body, they lose a sense of security, realizing that great dangers await them here: predatory animals (cats, dogs), birds, and even summer residents armed with shovels , flat cutters or pitchforks! The mole will not risk his life, he will turn around and hide in a hole.
I am convinced of this every time, inspecting the grooves along the entire perimeter of the arable land and noticing traces of "attempts" on the "border" I created. This is shown in Fig. 1. A round hole (hole) can be seen in the groove wall, and a small pile of loose earth at the bottom.
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Installing a wire trap for a mole (video)
Now let's talk about those traps that have stood the test of time and are easy to get in stores. One such device is a wire mole trap. It makes no sense to paint her dignity and appearance - one picture will say a lot. Our task is to tell you the basic principles of its installation on the site to achieve maximum effect.
It is always easy to find the moves of a mole - molehills (hills of earth in the area of the animal's exit to the surface) give out the enemy's work. There is always a direct connecting tunnel between adjacent molehills.To install the trap, you need to cut out a layer of earth. If your soil is not loose, this will be easier. Take a knife and plunge it into the ground, then move it until you feel like you have found a cavity in the ground. As soon as it is found, move the knife along the course until you cut a layer up to half a meter long. You will need to place two mole traps in the designated place. It is desirable that the earth layer has a conical shape - this will make it more convenient to use. The entire operation is performed with the utmost care.
When installing the mole catcher, it must be cocked using the lower spring, which lifts up until it is locked with a lock (this process can be viewed in the video). As soon as the mole is in the affected area and the lock is pushed, the spring will work and the enemy will be caught. This trap usually turns out to be the last in the life of a mole, so be prepared for the fact that in the morning when checking the traps, you will find an already lifeless body. Cruel, but effective. It is important that the bottom of the ring is slightly below ground level, for which, when installing, you need to slightly press the trap into the ground. Also, the lower part of the lock should not rest on the ground. As soon as you install the mole trap, you need to cover it from above with a cut out layer of earth and mask this place, marking it for yourself for easy checking. Often a rope or wire is tied to the mole trap so that it can be used to pull the triggered traps out of the ground. Gardeners often use a file or pliers to correct minor defects in traps if necessary. If done correctly, traps will begin to bring considerable benefit to your farm. The main thing is to remember all the intricacies of their installation. To expose an animal to mortal danger or to give it a chance to survive is up to you when choosing the type of trap. The main condition is getting rid of the pest from the site.
In the green zone
The green zone is the main habitat of moles, where their family nest is located at a depth of 0.5 to 1 m. To protect the site along the perimeter of the green zone (near the fence), protective grooves must be dug. Here, this work is more laborious than on arable land. But this is a one-off affair. The grooves will last for many years to protect against new mole invasions.
After that, it's worth working as a cultivator. But you don't need to plow deeply. It is enough to drive the machine over the green zone in the transport position. The wheels of the cultivator do not have a motor drive, the transmission rotates only the cutters, due to which the cultivator drives itself, it only needs to be supported. As a result, only shallow traces remain on the green zone from the blows of the blades of the cutters. But if there are many mole "volcanoes" somewhere, then it will be useful to use a cultivator to level the area.
In general, it is necessary to develop a scheme for bypassing the green zone, outline the places where the noise should be longer, etc. The consumption of gasoline by the Fermer FM-633M cultivator during plowing is about 1.4 liters per hour, and at idle speed it will be much less ... Note that it takes a little time for the cultivator to drive around the green zone in transport mode.
After the end of the one-time noise procedure, it is necessary to bypass the traps installed in the grooves around the arable land. Are there any prey in them?
Then it is worth inspecting the new grooves on the outer border of the green zone. If traces of moles are found here, then additional traps must be installed. Then, the next day, the noise detour of the green zone must be repeated and the traps must be examined again. So it will be possible to completely get rid of moles on the site.
Reference by topic: How to deal with moles - ways and methods of struggle
How to install correctly
The homemade mole trap must be installed in a new mole trap. When a blind man moves along it, he leaves a small bump of earth 10 cm high, which can be seen if the tunnel has not yet been strengthened.
The bump of earth is carefully torn apart, being careful not to damage the walls of the tunnel. A mole trap is placed in the formed depression and sprinkled with soil.
It's important to know: the mole completes the hardening of the passage in about five nights. It is during this period that a mole trap must be installed.
If you haven't found any new moves, try setting a trap at the exit of the tunnel. There is always a small mound of land near the exit.
