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Pest Control Expert Owen W.Metcalfe of THE GREEN PEST CONTROL Co looks at some of the ways people have tried to control moles. I would not suggest you try these although there is a possibility that some might, just might, achieve the required result.

In a top 5 of pest stories it would be hard to separate the rat and the mole but I think the mole just has it by a whisker, pun intended!

Top 5 pest tales

1 MOLE
2 RAT
3 MOUSE
4 RABBIT
5 CAT

I recently called at a hostelry in the Dales for a refreshing pint of Black Sheep ale, following a hard days moleing, as usual I was wearing a sweat shirt with my company logo emblazoned on my left breast, the first thing people ask is if I “do wife’s/husbands” with my usual response, how much brass have you got ?

The subject inevitably then moves on to moles.

Well I have been controlling moles in my garden for years, all I need is a gallon of old sump oil and a funnel, intrigued, I ask him how it works, well I find the run, put the funnel in the hole and pour in a pint or two of oil, Hmmm, now I can see this working, BUT what does it do to the lawn , if he has been doing this for years one could imagine the Dallas or Beverly Hill Billy’s scenario, there black gold in them there dales villages ! But the mole does not need oil, so I assume it turns round and goes elsewhere.

Another chap, (funny it is normally men who know all the answers ! ) decides he needs to get his two bobs worth in, well I use egg shells he says, they don’t like the feel of them on there feet, once again I find this difficult to believe as mole work sandy and stony soils with no difficulty so why do crushed egg shells work, the most probable answer again is why work on a surface that might be uncomfortable when I can turn right and continue in the easy dales soil.

No no says man number 3, what you need to do is sink a bottle in to the soil with the neck just exposed as the wind blows, the noise in the bottle frightens the mole and off they go, hmm if this works why do we get moles at the side of airport runways ?
No no no, please listen says man number four, what you need is the bottle with a kiddies windmill in the neck; the vibration frightens the mole,
Ok, if this is going to work why are there moles in the central reservation of motorways? More questions than answers.
There are more but I don’t have the space here, there is only one way to clear moles from gardens, TRAPPING, either humane kill or live catch, I am having great success with the latest live traps.

Please be aware that there are only a few methods of control that are allowed by Defra, Strychnine on farms, trapping, and a substance called Renardine which is not really a green product but if applied in a specific way will deter moles from the garden.