Moles

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This might seem an odd post when I only have photographs of dead animals - but read on, there is an ethical dilemma here.

The field that we cherish as a wildflower meadow has erupted with (I estimate) around 200 mole hills in the last week or so. I love having the moles, but I want to preserve a traditional hay meadow and its difficult to have both. This is the time of the year when the males are very active looking for a mate and as the grass is short the molehills are very visible.

In order to keep hay meadows you really have to cut the fields and take away the hay annually. This reduces the fertility of the soil and (paradoxically perhaps) makes it more suitable for the wildflowers orchids etc that we look forward to seeing each summer.

I can't persuade the local farmers to crop the grass if there are too many mole hills - for two reasons.

a) The mole hills damage the cutting blades of the machinery.

b) If the soil becomes bundled up with the grass then it can be harmful to feed it to cattle.

For these reasons I have to consider culling the moles in our hay meadow. Farmers also become concerned about moles spreading to their own fields and regard it as irresponsible not to cull them. The compromise is that we have a couple of fields that are less good for wildflowers where we let the moles do what they want.

Traditional mole catchers still ply their trade in this area. It is customary for mole catchers to display the moles they have caught by hanging them on a fence to prove that they have done their work.



Its upsetting to have to kill these wonderful creatures but I guess it's only like killing mice that invade your house. I am showing a close up of a mole's from paw to show how beautifully adapted it is. It reminds me of my days as a biology teacher when a lad wrote in his essay on "adaptation" that "moles have shovel shaped paws that are well adapted for borrowing with"!

Diary Notes
Saw one solitary bat out last night! It should really be hibernating! At dusk there was a commotion at the rookery about a mile away. I am posting a video taken from the garden - I will try to get a closer look another day. 3 camera traps out last night - rabbits and woodmice only.








Comments

  1. David P18 February 2021 at 15:31

    I feel guilty after reading this note on moles as a few years ago I asked a local farmer how I might rid our field of them. I was provided with a few traps and best advice tips and have been succesful in keeping them off.

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