Consequences and alternatives for expulsion

The essentials in brief:

• Because the mole is a protected species, it is illegal to kill or catch a mole.
• Alternatively, a mole can be driven away with noises and smells.
• It makes sense to combine different methods to guarantee success.

The mole as a beneficial creature

The mole is all mole hill Despite an important benefit. A mole in the garden has several positive effects:

• It eats insects that can be dangerous to our plants such as grubs, caterpillars or larvae.
• It digs through the layers of soil and thus ensures good soil quality with good aeration.
• he holds voles and other harmful rodents away.

In principle, anyone who has a mole in their garden can count themselves lucky.

The mole under protection

Because of its usefulness, the mole is one of the specially protected species. It is not (yet) threatened with extinction. You are not allowed to catch, torment or even kill him. Section 44 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act stipulates:

It is forbidden 1. to stalk, capture, injure or kill wild animals of specially protected species or to take, damage or destroy their developmental forms from nature. (Regulations for specially protected and certain other animal and plant species, paragraph 44, 1 from Dejure.org)

Furthermore, its resting and breeding site must not be damaged or even destroyed. So that applies to them mole hill and the passages below.

Penalties for Mole Killing

Anyone who dares to harm a mole must come along face heavy penalties.
In Germany The fines depend on the federal state and vary from €10,000 (Saarland) to €65,000 (Brandenburg).
In Austria expect a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine of several thousand euros.
In Switzerland the mole is not under protection.

Driving away the mole: Alternatives to killing

If you have a mole in your yard, you don't necessarily have to deal with the mound come to terms with it, even if many nature-loving gardeners see the benefit over the purely visual damage Give priority.

Instead, you can resort to gentle expulsion methods, some of which we will present to you below.

Drive away mole with noise

Moles have very good hearing - a compensation for the almost blind eyes. Therefore, he is easily disturbed by noise. No matter which method you choose, it is important when using Sounds against moles is:

• Always mount your noise source directly in a mole tunnel. You can stick them right into a hill or locate a passage between two hills.
• Place multiple soundscapes at different points so the sound comes from multiple directions.
• Maintain the measure for a while, even after digging activity has stopped, to prevent the mole from coming back.
• To increase effectiveness, it is advisable to combine different methods.

You have these options:

Ultrasound device from the specialist trade

in specialist shops Ultrasonic devices for mole control offered. However, their effectiveness is more than questionable. In most cases, users report that the mole is not impressed by the device and at best disappears for a few days. In addition, although ultrasonic waves are inaudible to us, they can be annoying to other sensitive ears, such as those of our pets or beneficial bats.

Homemade windmill

If you like crafts, then this option is a good variant for you: you will need a metal rod, a plastic bottle and scissors. How to enter from these materials You can find out how to build a wind turbine against moles in our instructions.

Cans on metal rod

If you are looking for a faster solution, you can go for this slightly noisier but simpler variant:

1. Insert a metal rod into a molehill.
2. Attach a short, horizontal bar to the top.
3. Tie a can or two to this pole. These should be mounted in such a way that even light winds hit the pole and cause it to vibrate.

Put bottle in molehill

This method is even simpler than the previous ones: insert a bottle - without a lid! – upside down into a molehill. If the wind blows over the bottle opening, noises are generated that are directed directly into the mole duct.

digression

The mole's name

Repel mole with smells

In addition to its extremely good hearing, the mole also has a very fine sense of smell. Therefore, he can also be driven away with smells. The following have proven to be efficient:

• mothballs
• Garlic
• buttermilk
• Essential Oils

Butyric acid against moles

In forums on the Internet you can often read that butyric acid is a good method against moles. We would like to advise against it here and instead the use of buttermilk recommend. Butyric acid is corrosive and forms fetid gases in contact with oxygen and water. These gases are also corrosive and can irritate both our mucous membranes and those of the mole. Buttermilk is a less aggressive and equally effective alternative.

Gas mole with carbide

We would also strongly advise against using Carbide against moles. Unfortunately, this remedy is not officially banned, but it is extremely dangerous and very harmful to the environment. Resembling a gray rock, carbide emits strong odorous gases when in contact with moisture. These gases are extremely flammable and corrosive. In addition, carbide reacts at high humidity, which makes storage a challenge. Furthermore, the use of carbide produces highly toxic substances that harm microorganisms and animals. Therefore, carbide is prohibited near water sources.