"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." A.Holmes

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Mole Mountains on Cedar Pond

~Isn't this mole cute ? Story book moles usually are cute, and I borrow every cute mole story from the library, yes, they are usually in the children's section. I love borrowing children's books and collect them too. I digress. Anyway, I especially borrow stories about moles to bring home and show my Hubby. That would be called teasing...and that is what I am doing when I show him the books, I am teasing him. You see, Hubby is at WAR with the moles and he is not winning. "Male moles are called boars;females are called sows. A group of moles is called a labor." Wikipedia ~The snow has melted away and the weather is a bit balmy. I opened our bedroom window and took a look and my eyes were drawn to the mounds on our lawn. The frozen and snowy and stormy days did not deter moles, no, no, no...they were even more industrious!"Moles can be found almost anywhere in North America, Europe, and Asia, although there are no moles in Ireland." Wikipedia ~Look at these mole hills, they are becoming mountains. At least in Hubby's eyes. These mole hills are erupting through turf, rock, and the tunnels have caved in large sections of our lawn,orchard, and sheep pen. I have seen my sheep step in a mole hole and stumble, I have also done this."Moles burrow in lawns, raising molehills, and killing the lawn, for which they are considered pests. They can undermine plant roots (YES!!) indirectly causing damage or death. "Wikipedia I also read that William III of England died of pneumonia he got while suffering the result of a fall from his horse who stumbled in a mole hole. See!!!!!Moles CAN be deadly to people! ~Our wise state has banned these traps. Here is a mole we caught awhile ago with a trap. She is kind of cute, and her little hands and feet look human. The mole fur is thick and soft and velvety. Hard to believe these little creatures can cause so much damage, and so very quickly."A mole's diet consists of earthworms and other small invertebrates found in the soil. The mole may also catch small mice at the entrance to its burrow.Because their saliva contains a toxin that can paralyze earthworms, moles are able to store their still living prey for later consumption." (Eeew, sounds like an ongoing underground horror story!) "They construct special underground larders for just this purpose; researchers have discovered such larders with over a thousand earthworms in them. Before eating earthworms, moles pull them between their squeezed paws to force the collected earth and dirt out of the worm's gut." Wikipedia Are you hungry yet? ~As I say, though we do get a mole now and then, they are winning and it is not pretty!"The Star-nosed mole can detect, catch and eat food faster than the human eye can follow(under 300 milliseconds) Wikipedia ~The phrase "to make a mountain out of a mole hill means to exaggerate a situation"but believe me, we are not exaggerating when we say the little buggers are making little mountains and tunnels all over our place and capsizing much of our lawn, orchard and sheep pen.I think they want to take over our place. One day we will awake to find our home has sunk into a vast underground mole world....maybe we will end up in the mole larder....with the worms! ~For Hubby's 50th birthday I threw him a surprise party with pesky moles as the theme. I brought mole traps as decorations and people joked him about it, but he still has the war with the moles going on here, and I think it will be going on for all our years here. Poor Hubby. I just might check out the children section of the library this week, bet there is a new mole story. Blessings: that moles are not big as us, Hubby the valiant mole hunter

15 comments:

Lanny said...

My girls are looking forward to doing some more mole skinning soon. They are cute.... kinda. But then so are fox and mountain lions, and little bear cubs and their mommies, and even a little lone coyote out on the reservation looking all worried about the traffic. All cute and furry and ripe for children's books. Unless of course you would like to get your food and flowers from your own place rather than the supermarket!

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LindaSue said...

My DH lived in the Seattle area for several years and said the mole invasions were no laughing matter - they could decimate plantings and collapse yard areas seemingly overnight. I think moles are one of those creatures written into children's books because the authors haven't dealt with that particular creature. I know everything has it's place in God's creation - I do wonder about fire ants and obviously moles are a challenging concept too. Best wishes to your husband - the hunter of Cedar Pond (have you watched the movie Caddy Shack? lots of potty humor/launguage but the mole battle is pretty funny)

Anonymous said...

We have them also and they have destroyed many plants. We invested in "mole chasers" (battery operated noise makers that you bury in the ground beside prized plants) that at least saved some sentimental plants. Funny though, the guy here spraying the outside of the home for bugs heard the noise and thought it was a snake making that noise!!!

Jennifer said...

We used to have a mole problem, but our cats have taken care of most of them. Granted it is no fun to find the gruesome little "mole presents" our cats leave on our front porch, but they have really cut down the mole population here. I don't know if they dig them up or what but they can catch them. Does your husband like cats? Could be a good war Ally. :)

Anonymous said...

Our cats usually get the moles around here though.

Megan said...

Wow. Suddenly my plethora of rabbits that ate all the flowerbeds and left piles of droppings everywhere last summer seems like nothing to complain about! :-)

A. Joy said...

I have a couple of mole friends who just got married and are looking for a place to honeymoon ... Ireland seems nice this time of year.

KathyB. said...

Lanny,right on ! I guess all creation is at odds with us since THAT day in the Garden of Eden. The moles, ants, yellow jackets and weeds and rust, not to mention around here, the mildew.....we strive with the world. Mole skin hats ?

LindaSue, they really aren't a joke. Moles are very destructive. They are good at aerating the soil, but so are the worms they consume by the thousands!Yes, CaddyShack was very funny, and I think sometimes that using explosives would be great, but we might end up underground with the moles if we do that. We don't have fire ants, but when the weather warms up we deal with an invasion of little black ants , every year.

Mildred, do the 'mole chasers' work ? Might look into them. Way to go though, scare the painter and who knows who else. Hopefully the moles are scared and stay away too.

Shiloh Prairie Farm, we have cats. Miss Marple is a great hunter,but she doesn't catch moles. Lanny (comment above ) has a lot of farm cats and I think they catch moles, but Lanny and her family still have at least as many mole mountains as we do, so I think there are just too many healthy moles around here. Wish that would work!

Amy, maybe I need kittens from yours and Shiloh Prairie Farms' cats! I could love that solution.

Megan, we do have a lot of rabbits here too.The wild rabbits leave all sorts of evidence of their presence behind ( pun intended ) but I think lately the coyotes have dealt with the bunny population explosion. The coyotes are not one bit helpful with the mole problem,they just eat my ducks and chickens and run.

KathyB. said...

A.Joy, yeah, what's up with Ireland escaping moles? I have been thinking about that. Why no moles in Ireland ?Maybe I should put a stack of travel brochures in the mole holes, spread the word, vacation to lush and green exotic Ireland!Loads of privacy for moles....they can dig and tunnel to their hearts' content and never meet another mole. No competition for the worms and bugs!

Actually, I want to know how Ireland has managed to escape moles, what's her secret ?

Shelley said...

How funny that you threw your hubby a mole themed party!! I didn't realize all this info on them - and all the damage they can do!

Anonymous said...

Oh those buggars....their faces I find weird. They like vineyards too so I will be at war as well. Luckily I have had training...it's not pretty.

david mcmahon said...

G'day from Australia,

That's the first time I've ``seen'' molehills!!

KathyB. said...

Shellmo, my husband has been at war with the moles for awhile now and the moles are more destructive than ever, a bit of humor about the situation helps, so a mole-themed birthday party!

Noble Pig, hope you do better than us! We're counting on you reaping a bountiful harvest to produce your award winning wine!

David, you're welcome to come see for yourself the abundance of mole hills and mountains the Pacific Northwest exhibits!BTW, our daughter spent 6 months in Australia, and loved her stay there, and made life long friends.

Connie said...

They are kind of cute, I suppose, but they sure do a lot of damage! We have not had a problem with them here, but I have seen the damage elsewhere.