Townsends Mole

For the last month or so we’ve been noticing the mole activity a few hundred yards south of town in the area across from the old Espy Ranch House.  Dozens of rich brown mounds appeared, seemingly over night.  “Hooray!” I thought.  “Our mole people have moved on!”  But, obviously my celebratory thoughts were premature.

But, just as I was beginning to relax my vigilance here,  up popped another hill!  So far, they are confining their activity to the area around the chicken coop.  If they’d stick to that part of the yard, I’d be delighted.  It’s out of sight of the main  garden and perhaps those mounds even contain a worm or two for curious chickens.  I’m not sure, though.  The girls haven’t mentioned it.

Sydney’s Size 7 Boots Next to Giant Mole Hill

And then I began to wonder about the habits of moles.  Do they hibernate?  Go south in the winter?  And,  just how mobile are they, anyway?  What I learned is that our resident mole families are likely still in place.  They don’t hibernate in the winter but they do tunnel deeper “as the ground freezes” said one site.  Since our ground didn’t really freeze this winter — at least not beyond a surface frost now and then, I don’t think that accounts for their lack of activity.

Although, it’s illegal to kill a mole in a body-gripping trap in Washington,  you can shoot, shock, drug, drown or whack ‘em dead with a shovel. Dave Pehling, who has studied moles for 36 years as a WSU Snohomish County Extension agent, recommended mole traps until they were banned in 2000.  “There’s nothing else that seems to work consistently,” he said.  “The one method that works really well is pounding down the hills and then sitting out in your yard with 12-gauge shotgun.”  My kinda guy!  I think Farmer Nyel could do that!

Our future?

On the other hand, the best advice by the “experts” for discouraging the mole people is to keep your soil dry.  Saturated, loose soil is an ideal environment for the critters — easier to tunnel through and often rich in earthworms and grubs.  Say the experts:  “limit watering unless necessary.”  Yeah!  Right!

I’m wondering how to give this news flash to the weather gods.  If someone could develop an easily assembled, lawn-sized umbrella that could be used year-round, they could make a fortune.  Maybe something that you could activate with the push of a button — sort of like a garage door-opener.  Of course, it would have to be attractive.  And, also see-through so the lawn and flower beds would get sufficient light…  Or, better yet, we can just learn to live with the mole hills…