You cannot be mistaken to know that a mole has invaded your lawn or garden. You’ll quickly notice multiple piles of soil – mounds that resemble a small volcano where the soil clumps are thrown out through the center and rolled down on all sides.
Moles, the extraordinary small mammals, spend half of their lives underground searching for food, beneath those annoying mounds of soil. In nature, they are woodland animals but can quickly take over and spread through adjacent lawns in residential properties. And the longer you allow moles to tunnel in your yard, the more difficult they become to control.
Although it’s not very likely to see them above ground, the hills and tunnels a mole leaves behind can be real eyesores in your yard. Not only will the molehills look like an unsightly lawn mess, but will also devastate your landscaping. The hills, however, are just a by-product of the animal’s industrious digging. The tunnels can do major damage to your lawn.
Mole burrowing activity varies throughout the seasons. The lawn damage is usually most noticeable during spring and early summer, but also in the fall. This is when moles are most active and are closest to the surface. In summer, the damage usually subsides when the soil dries out and moles excavate mostly at a deeper level.
Luckily, a mole is mostly a solitary, unsocial, and highly territorial animal, so if you eliminate one mole, most likely there isn’t another one nearby. If you find an elaborate sequence of tunnels, it probably is just one mole that is a very active builder. However, new moles can move into existing, abandoned tunnels within 24 hours.
How Long Will Moles Live in the Yard?
In general, moles have small home ranges and the animal will rarely stay in the same area for a longer period of time. Their activity in a particular area may only last one or two weeks until there’s no more food to be found. So, once all the local soil insects have been eaten, the mole will move on to a better hunting ground.
Are Moles Bad To Have in Your Yard?
Despite the damage that moles cause to a yard, they are not that bad. In fact, they are mostly good, bringing lots of benefits to your lawn.
In terms of damage done to your yard, moles are usually blamed for eating bulbs and the roots of ornamental plants. Although they can cause havoc with their burrowing and mounding, moles do not gorge on homegrown produce.
In fact, voles, chipmunks, and mice are the real culprits. Mole runways can be used by rodents that feed on bulbs, seeds, and roots, and these rodents will cause direct damage to your lawn, garden, or fruit orchard.
What Do Moles Eat?
Moles are insect eaters. Their diet consists primarily of earthworms, but grubs, beetles, snails, slugs, spiders, centipedes, and other bugs are also on the menu. On average, a mole consumes 40 pounds of insects per year. The mole’s main food source are earthworms, and the animal will eat about six big worms every day.
Do Moles Damage Your Yard?
Without a doubt, moles can locally be destructive.
They push mounds of soil to the surface and their tunnels create holes and weak spots in the lawn. The burrowing results in lines of raised ridges in the ground and ugly-looking mounds of soil.
They create easily noticeable trails of dead grass throughout the yard. When moles burrow close to the surface, it can cause harm to grass roots, leaving behind brown patches.
While tunneling for insects, moles can disrupt the roots of vegetables and other plants, and uproot turf. Their shallow tunnels will lift the soil and allow plant roots to dry out. Their digging through root systems of plants can kill the seedlings and expose bulbs and roots to the surface.
Their runways provide underground routes for other rodents searching for food. Their tunnels may suit other pests that will go after plant roots.
The molehills can be dangerous to walk over and might result in trips and falls. Mole burrowing activity will create holes in the lawn and a tunnel can easily cave in when accidentally stepped on, which might lead to your injury.
Benefits of Moles in Yard
On the other hand, we must not forget that moles are great contributors to the ecosystem.
If you have moles in your yard, it means you have healthy, rich soil, as these animals will feed on any earthworms and pest insect larvae found in the soil.
Moles will also eat grubs that are harmful because they destroy grass roots, and also beetles that feed on decorative plants. They effectively eliminate ants, snails, and termites.
Moles are known as natural aerators. They dig underground tunnels which loosen soil and form channels for air and water to move freely through the soil, which helps plant growth. Thus, mole tunnels promote the health of the soil by turning, aerating, and draining it, and fertilizing and mixing its nutrients.
Trapping moles can be labor-intensive even if there’s just one mole to catch. There is no one-time solution to control moles, it is a process that requires continuous maintenance.
So if you’re not willing to battle the moles by yourself, your best bet is to hire an experienced exterminator in your area. You’ll want someone who can provide expert advice and can create a mole removal strategy that is effective and humane.
Give Westchester Wildlife an opportunity to prove what a professional mole control company can do for you. And all you’ll have to do is relax and let us deal with your mole problem.
Ni muhimu kujua kwamba mole amevamia lawn yako. Utaona upesi rundo la udongo - rundo linalofanana na volkano ndogo ambapo vilima vya udongo hutupwa nje kupitia katikati na kupinduliwa chini pande zote. Mole ni wanyama wadogo sana ambao hutumia nusu ya maisha yao chini ya ardhi kutafuta chakula. Katika asili, wao ni wanyama wa msituni lakini wanaweza kuchukua haraka na kuenea kupitia nyasi zilizo karibu katika mali za makazi. Kadiri unavyowawezesha wadudu hao kuenea katika bustani yako, ndivyo inavyokuwa vigumu zaidi kuwalinda. Ingawa ni vigumu sana kuwaona juu ya ardhi, vilima na mifereji ambayo chungu huacha nyuma yaweza kuwa vitu vya kuogopesha sana katika bustani yako. Si tu kwamba milima ya chungu itaonekana kama fujo mbaya ya nyasi, bali pia itaharibu mazingira yako. Hata hivyo, vilima hivyo ni matokeo tu ya uchimbaji wenye bidii wa mnyama huyo. Vituo hivyo vinaweza kuharibu sana nyasi yako. Shughuli ya kuchimba mashimo ya chungu hutofautiana kadiri majira yanavyopita. Uharibifu wa nyasi kwa kawaida ni dhahiri zaidi wakati wa majira ya kuchipua na mapema majira ya joto, lakini pia katika vuli. Wakati huo ndipo chembe za udongo zinapokuwa na shughuli nyingi zaidi na zinapokuwa karibu zaidi na uso wa dunia. Katika majira ya kiangazi, kwa kawaida uharibifu huo hupungua wakati udongo unapokauka na chembe za udongo huchimba hasa katika sehemu za chini zaidi. Kwa bahati nzuri, chungu ni mnyama wa pekee, asiye na uhusiano na wengine, na mwenye mamlaka kubwa, kwa hiyo ukimwondoa chungu mmoja, yaelekea hakutakuwa na mwingine karibu. Ikiwa utapata mfululizo wa mifereji, yaelekea ni chembe moja tu ambayo ni wajenzi wenye bidii sana. Hata hivyo, panya wapya wanaweza kuhamia katika mifereji iliyopo ambayo imeachwa ndani ya saa 24. Nondo Wataishi Muda Gani Katika Bustani? Kwa ujumla, chungu huwa na maeneo madogo ya kuishi na ni nadra sana mnyama huyo kukaa katika eneo moja kwa muda mrefu. Shughuli zao katika eneo fulani zaweza kudumu kwa juma moja au mbili tu hadi chakula kisiwepo tena. Kwa hiyo, mara tu wadudu wote wa udongo wa mahali hapo wanapoanza kula, chungu huyo huendelea na safari yake hadi mahali pazuri pa kuwinda. Je, Ni Ubaya Kuwa na Vipande vya Mwili Katika Bustani Yako? Licha ya uharibifu ambao chembe za urithi husababisha katika bustani, si mbaya sana. Kwa kweli, ni nzuri sana, na huleta faida nyingi kwa nyasi yako. Kwa sababu ya uharibifu wa bustani, moles ni mara nyingi kuathiriwa na mimea ya mapambo. Ingawa wanaweza kusababisha uharibifu kwa kuchimba na kukusanya, chungu hawachukui mazao ya nyumbani. Kwa kweli, mbweha, chipmunks, na panya ndio wahalifu halisi. Mole runways inaweza kutumika na panya ambao kulisha juu ya bulbs, mbegu, na mizizi, na panya hizi kusababisha uharibifu wa moja kwa moja kwa lawn yako, bustani, au bustani ya matunda. Nondo hula nini? Nyigu hula wadudu. Chakula chao hasa ni minyoo, lakini kuna pia minyoo, mbawakawa, konokono, konokono, buibui, sentipede, na wadudu wengine. Kwa wastani, mole mmoja hula kilo 40 za wadudu kwa mwaka. Chanzo kikuu cha chakula cha chungu hicho ni minyoo, na mnyama huyo hula minyoo sita kubwa kila siku. Je, Nondo Huumiza Bustani Yako? Bila shaka, chembe za urithi zaweza kuharibu mahali fulani. Wao husukuma vilima vya udongo juu ya uso na mifereji yao hutokeza mashimo na sehemu dhaifu kwenye nyasi. Uchimbaji huo husababisha mistari ya miamba iliyoinuka ardhini na vilima vya udongo vyenye kuonekana vibaya. Wao hufanyiza njia za nyasi zilizokufa ambazo zinaonekana kwa urahisi katika uwanja wote. Nyigu wanapofika karibu na uso wa ardhi, wanaweza kuharibu mizizi ya nyasi, na kuacha madoa ya rangi ya kahawia. Wanapochimba mitaro kwa ajili ya wadudu, chungu wanaweza kuvuruga mizizi ya mboga na mimea mingine, na kuondoa nyasi. Vituo vyao visivyo na kina kirefu vitainua udongo na kuruhusu mizizi ya mimea iume. Kuchimba kwao kupitia mifumo ya mizizi ya mimea kunaweza kuua miche na kufunua matumbo na mizizi kwenye uso. Njia zao za kuruka hutoa njia za chini ya ardhi kwa panya wengine wanaotafuta chakula. Mifereji yao yaweza kufaa kwa wadudu wengine ambao wataenda baada ya mizizi ya mimea. Inaweza kuwa hatari kutembea juu ya vilima hivyo vya chembe na huenda kukawa na mateso na kuanguka. Mole burrowing shughuli itaunda mashimo katika lawn na handaki inaweza kwa urahisi kuanguka katika wakati accidentally alisimama juu, ambayo inaweza kusababisha jeraha yako. Faida za Mole katika Yard Kwa upande mwingine, hatupaswi kusahau kwamba moles ni wachangiaji wakubwa kwa mazingira. Ikiwa una moles katika bustani yako, inamaanisha una udongo mzuri na wenye rutuba, kwani wanyama hawa watakula minyoo yoyote ya ardhi na mabuu ya wadudu wa wadudu waliopatikana katika udongo. Pia, wadudu hao hula magugu yenye madhara kwa sababu huharibu mizizi ya nyasi, na pia wadudu wanaokula mimea ya mapambo. Wao huondoa kwa ufanisi chungu, konokono, na mchwa. Vipepeo wanajulikana kuwa waangaziaji hewa wa asili. Huchimba mifereji ya chini ya ardhi ambayo hufungua udongo na kufanyiza njia kwa hewa na maji kusonga kwa uhuru kupitia udongo, ambayo husaidia ukuaji wa mimea. Hivyo, mifereji ya chembe za udongo huendeleza afya ya udongo kwa kugeuza, kupeperusha hewa, na kuondoa maji, na kuzaana na kuchanganya virutubisho vyake. Kuwashika chungu kunaweza kuhitaji kazi nyingi hata ikiwa kuna chungu mmoja tu wa kukamata. Hakuna suluhisho la mara moja la kudhibiti moles, ni mchakato ambao unahitaji matengenezo ya kuendelea. Kwa hiyo ikiwa hutaki kupigana na chungu peke yako, njia bora ni kuajiri mpasuaji mwenye uzoefu katika eneo lako. Utataka mtu ambaye anaweza kutoa ushauri wa wataalamu na anaweza kuunda mkakati wa kuondoa mole ambayo ni ufanisi na kibinadamu. Westchester Wildlife inatoa fursa ya kuthibitisha nini mtaalamu mole kudhibiti kampuni inaweza kufanya kwa ajili yenu. Na wote utakuwa na kufanya ni kupumzika na basi sisi kushughulika na tatizo lako mole.