Unsolicited advice
While pruning out dead branches from inside a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) recently, my pole pruners nearly collided with a lady of a certain age. Let’s call her Miguelina. She shuffled by me and I kept on pruning until she stopped at the edge of the lawn and offered me unsolicited advice.
Did I know how to get rid of moles easily and cost-effectively? Well, I was on site to prune trees so it didn’t really cross my mind; and I have read Marc Hamer‘s book “How to catch a mole“.
So I let Miguelina humor me. I think it’s important to keep an open mind. I might learn something.
Voodoo
I use the term voodoo loosely here. Miguelina had a skinny stick in one hand and moth balls and chili peppers in the other. Thus the term “voodoo”. Then she went to work, confident these ingredients would put all professional mole catchers out of business.
First, the stick went in the hole to establish and enlarge the drop zone. Second came a moth ball imported by Miguelina’s son from Ontario, followed by chili pepper bits. The peppers weren’t strictly necessary, she assured me, it was the moth ball that did the trick. Once inserted into the hole, the mole would stay away. Allegedly.
It’s also possible that this hole was just a feeding hole. Moles usually establish travel tunnels elsewhere. Still, it was fun seeing her jamming moth balls and chili pepper bits into a mole hole with a stick. Her enthusiasm was infectious. You would think a Nobel Prize was coming next.
Traps
Sure, you can jam mole holes with stuff from your home but the most effective way of dealing with moles is by using traps. Miguelina gets points for her infectious enthusiasm and drive to save her strata complex money.
