Subject: Re: What If I Let The Moles Be?
From: conboymj@leland.Stanford.EDU (Michael J Conboy)
Organization: Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: 19 Aug 1997 13:44:22 -0700
Message-ID: <MOD$970819.1904@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$970818.12846@rec.gardens.ecosystems> <MOD$970819.21082@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
Moles are good! As insectivores they are higher up in the food chain and
more sensitive to toxins, so if you have healthy moles then you must have
healthy worms and grubs in the lawn. Good for you! They also loosen soil
and improve drainage.
Unfortunately, many people (not the authors of this thread, but those
in rec.gardens.sterile), have an almost Freudian urge to clench control
of their immediate environment to such an extent that unauthorized soil
loosening is not permitted. The suburban lawn is a symbol of such
control: uniformly dense, monochromatic, crew-cut to a planar topography.
Mole-control is perhaps more about control than about moles.
THAT said, a lawn roller will put those mounds and tunnels back in place,
although with a healthy lawn (read: many moles), one may have to drag it
around quite often. When I was growing up we had moles in our lawn until
we kept cats. Then I rarely saw moles near the house, or mice for that
matter. Note that cats have to be taught properly to be good mousers or
molers, otherwise they are of course 'just not interested' in the holes in
the lawn. If you live trap the moles, consider releasing them in a garden
where their appetites for grubs and incessant digging will be appreciated.
Mike
In article <MOD$970819.21082@rec.gardens.ecosystems>,
Bill McClain wrote:
>
>Scott Anderson wrote:
>
>> Simple question I think. I've got lots of lawn and I cut it tall so I
>> don't scalp the high spots left by the mole tunneling. The lawn is
>> surrounded by woods and the moles have all of a sudden realized that
>> I'm not fighting them. The lawn looks fine and green and it's been
>> raining lots. Will the moles ultimately destroy my lawn, bring disease
>> to my family and pets, and weaken the foundation of my home; or am I
>> safe in pursuing my present strategy of live and let live?
>
>I am in a similar situation. Moles are common in surrounding woods and
>pastures, so there is no way they can be permanently excluded from the
>lawn and garden. The amount of damage they do seems to vary year to
>year; in a bad season the lawn looks like a mine field. Of all the
>various control measures, it is hard to know what works because the
>moles are not regular in their habits, and will come and go during a
>season.
>
>I am still seeking peaceful coexistence. When adventurous individuals
>penetrate the lawn I set out traps and flood the burrows. I propose that
>over several thousand years this strategy will select for moles who
>consider my lawn to be unlucky.
>
>-Bill
>