I never hear anyone speak well of a mole. All I do hear is complaints about the damage the moles do with their tunnels and how much people want to get rid of them so I decided to look into the subject of moles and see if there might be something endearing or at least interesting about them.
To start off, notice the picture. Moles could be considered ugly or SO ugly they are cute, sort of like a warthog. They have a soft and fuzzy coat and a lovely gray color. After all, in 1900, moleskin used to fetch a day’s wages and be made into coats.
They are carnivores and eat grubs as well as a variety of other invertebrates. I don’t know about your lawn and garden but mine has Japanese Beetles so any animal that eats grubs is not all bad in my book. Yes, I have to admit that about 90% of mole’s diet is earthworms but, like earthworms, moles help to aerate and mix the soil; another plus for the mole. No, moles don’t eat tubers or bulbs, they are carnivores and won’t eat vegetative material; perhaps you have mice.
More interesting facts about moles:
1. Male moles are called boars, females sows, and a group of moles, a labor.
2. Moles can move up to 2 1/2 miles an hour and have been observed to catch a frog.
3. Moles are very territorial and fight to protect it. An acre will provide a home for about 4 moles. If you have a ¼ acre lot you probably only have one mole; that’s good news.
4. A single mole can shovel up to 10 pounds of soil (fifty times his weight) in 20 minutes. That is equivalent to a man lifting 12 tons.
5. Female moles breed once a year and have about 4 babies. They are ready to be on their own in about 4-5 weeks so you could have 5 moles on ¼ acre for a while until they spread out. That is bad news.
6. Moles don’t eat all the earthworms they catch at once. They store the dead earthworms in larders and eat them when they are hungry.
7. Moles are almost blind and probably see only light and dark but their other senses are very keen. But what do they need eyes for when the spend most of their time underground?
8. There are no moles in Ireland.
I hope that you have soften a bit towards moles and might at least consider learning to cohabitate with the one or two that have chosen your lawn and garden. If not, trapping is the best method of getting rid of them and there are several kinds. If you are lucky you might find someone that would do it for you at the cost of about $50/mole.
Interesting article. I don’t know that I love them now, but I understand them better.
Jackie,
Well, I am happy with “understanding”; perhaps it is the first step towards loving.
Interesting. I haven’t got a lawn so moles don’t worry me – not that I’d object too much anyway. I think they look cute. Those group names like “a labor of moles” are intriguing. Who on earth thinks them up. Some of them are downright obscure!
Moles like garden soil too. They like our rose garden much better than our lawn and we were OK with them there while they were eating the Japanese beetle grubs but are getting impatient with them as they disrupt the rose bushes.
I “understand”, therefore I hate them better. They are destructive, and costly. I also have japaneese beetles, and I poison the grass for the beetles. They are now in my vegetable garden, and their rooting up- roots my plants.
Jimady, sorry to hear of your problems but I am glad that you hate with understanding.
Karen