Alternative EarthCare provides mole and other lawn pest control service for all of Long Island, including the East End, Hamptons, all of Suffolk and Nassau counties. With trucks close by every day, we’re always ready to serve you!
Moles can severely damage your property, causing unsightly molehills, leaving tiny balls of cultivated soil. They also damage the ground with their many tunnels, upsetting natural water drainage, which affects your plant growth as well as damaging roots systems. Your lawn cannot survive too many moles, and we can help get rid of them with our knowledgeable staff of technicians.
A Few Mole Facts
A common misconception many people have is that Moles are rodents. Moles are not rodents. Moles have an insect based diet, making them insectivores. They eat mostly earthworms but will eat most insects they come across while digging.
Moles have an extremely fast metabolism, which leads them to consume between 80 % and 100% of their body weight daily! The star-nosed mole has a tiny, 27 appendage star on the tip of its nose with highly sensitive tendrils that can assess vibration or electrical waves, scientists are unsure of which. The mole uses this star to detect the movement of worms and seek them out for food. It also uses it to eat by touching its food with the star (not it’s claw) and then maneuvering it into its mouth.
Mole Tunnel Systems
Moles dig, that’s where the damage occurs to your lawn, but how they are able to dig is pretty interesting. Their body is shaped like a cylinder, ideally contoured for moving through the soil, and their fur can bend in all directions so that it always lays flat no matter if they are digging backwards or forwards.
Moles create large tunnels that they use to find food and to move about your lawn. This causes an abundant amount of damage. Also, moles do not hibernate so they can cause damage year round.
Moles are known to make a primary tunnel, an exploratory tunnel and a deep tunnel. Primary tunnels are very long, straight tunnels that moles visit between 2 and 3 times a day. An exploratory tunnel is a tunnel that branches off into several other tunnels. Deep tunnels are found 3 to 4 feet below ground. Moles live and store food in their deep tunnels.
How Do I Get Rid of Moles?
At Alternative Earthcare, we provide free estimates where a technician will examine your property to look for mole damage, such as tunnels and mounds. The technician will then explain what steps need to be taken to rid your property of moles.
Even the mole species which do not have a star on their nose are very sensitive to vibrations. They have a very strong sense of hearing but cannot hear well above ground as they are affected by the vibration reverberating underground. This is why one way to dispel moles is to set up wind chimes, as the noisy, vibrating, apparatus is displeasing to them.
Moles also have an excellent sense of smell and therefore many gardeners have been known to use a row of garlic planted as a border to their garden to keep moles from burrowing through. The distinct, pungent, smell of garlic can be displeasing to the mole so they will not come too close to it and of course wont cross its border to enter into the garden when there is other space for them to be in.
The most common and effective treatment is to bait the tunnels with a biodegradable worm and mark the area. This does not cause harm to the lawn, trees, shrubs or flowers etc. Since the mole has such a high metabolism, it is attracted to the worm and will consume it. The bait then takes up to 24 hours to take affect and rid your lawn of moles.
