MOLES

The preferred diet of the mole is a carnivorous one. The mole will eat worms, grubs and adult insects.

Mole holes are unsightly on lawns and can be disruptive to the root systems of garden plants. Moles lurk in their subterranean fortresses throughout the year. But gardening and lawn-care enthusiasts are made acutely aware of the need for mole control mainly during the spring and fall, especially after periods of rain, when moles push mounds of dirt up to the ground surface. Moles produce two types of tunnels, or "runways" in your yard. One runway runs just beneath the surface. These are feeding tunnels and appear as raised ridges running across your lawn. The second type of runway runs deeper and enables the moles to unite the feeding tunnels in a network. It is the soil excavated from the deep tunnels that homeowners find on their lawns, piled up in mounds that resemble little volcanoes.

The best bets for mole removal are mole traps, poisons and mole repellents. There are traps designed specifically for killing moles, and they go by names like "scissors mole trap," "choker mole trap" and "harpoon mole trap." You can also trap moles using a small live-trap.

Trapping in the early spring can eliminate pregnant females, effectively nipping in the bud what would be a greater mole problem later. Where you place the trap is critical to your success in trapping. You'll want to place your mole trap near active mole feeding tunnels (that is, the shallower of the two types of tunnel described above). Here's how to tell if a feeding tunnel is active:

Using your hand or a trowel, flatten sections of the moles' raised ridges of soil. Mark these sections with something bright (perhaps some old ribbon that you can tie to a stick to make a flag), so it will be easy to relocate them later. Check back within 12 to 24 hours, to inspect the ridges you've flattened. If the ridges of soil are pushed back up, you'll know that it is this tunnel an active tunnel. This is where you'll place your trap. Cut out the turf over the active tunnel, and remove the soil right down to where the moles have beaten their path. Moles don't see well, so they'll stumble right into the trap. While their vision is poor, however, moles are sensitive to the touch. This means you can't leave any loose soil in the path leading up to the trap, or the moles will detect it and back off.

The formula for commercial mole repellents, such as Mole-Med, is based on castor oil. An example of a commercial mole poison is Moletox. When using mole repellents or mole poisons, you must often water the area where you'll be applying them, so that the repellent or poison will permeate the soil. Water the area well both before and after applying the repellent or poison, if instructed to do so on the package of the particular product that you choose. Re-application may be necessary.

VOLES

A vole will gnaw at the base of a tree or shrub, especially in winter; thus the metal guards sold to prevent such vole damage. A vole may also damage flower bulbs and potatoes in the garden. But mainly, the vole will eat the stems and blades of lawn grass. And the runways they leave behind in the process make for an unsightly lawn. Voles can also inadvertently damage plants by burrowing into the root systems of trees and shrubs, causing young specimens to experience dieback or to begin to lean.

Whereas mole mounds, as stated above, are volcano-like in appearance, pocket gopher mounds are horseshoe-shaped. Voles, meanwhile, leave no mounds at all behind. Instead, voles construct well-defined, visible runways at or near the surface, about two inches wide. Vole runways result from the voles eating the grass blades, as well as from the constant traffic of numerous little feet over the same path.

Thiram-based repellents such as Shotgun Deer and Rabbit Repellent may be effective against voles, but they need to be re-applied frequently, since they dissipate with rain. The need for repeated applications raises another problem: voles become accustomed to the smell, reducing the effectiveness of the repellent. Keep in mind as well that thiram should not be used on garden plants. Because of the latter restriction, It is probably better to use predator urines instead as the vole repellent of choice. Predator odors are most displeasing to voles. Fox and coyote urines can often be bought at trapper supply houses.

Large amounts of vegetation and debris is a good place to hide under and build their nests. If you keep your garden weeded, avoid planting dense ground covers such as creeping junipers, and keep your lawn mowed, you're less likely to have to worry about voles in the first place. That's rule #1 of integrated pest management (IPM): preventing pest problems through foresight, rather than waiting for damage to occur and then killing pests as an afterthought.

But it's not just vegetation that voles take shelter under. Because vole gnawing will cause damage to trees and shrubs, you have to be particularly careful about applying mulch too close to trees and shrubs. Voles will be emboldened by the presence of a deep layer of mulch. Even in winter you're not home-free with respect to potential vole damage; voles will use snow as cover to perpetrate a furtive attack on your landscaping. So try to keep snow cleared away from shrubs and young trees. You can also protect young trees by wrapping the lower trunk with wire mesh.

But what if it's too late for preventive integrated pest management measures? If your landscaping is already being damaged by voles, you need to consider vole eradication. Voles can be removed humanely from a yard by using Havahart live-traps, exterminated by using mouse traps or poisons, frustrated by garden fencing, or driven away with vole repellents.