Lady Boothroyd wants to get rid of her garden mole problem

Garden molehill problem?

The former Speaker of the House of Commons was on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, asking for advice on her garden mole problem. She said they are mole mountains, not molehills. BBC staff found ‘experts’ who recommended poison gas and mole traps. They also advised that when a mole dies, another mole ‘comes to his funeral’: they re-use the tunnel system. So here is my advice to Lady Boothroyd: get rid of ‘the mole problem’ by re-conceptualizing it! Forget about ‘How to be a lawn expert’. Retire from the field of battle. Learn to love your enemies: the ‘little gentlemen in a black velvet waistcoat‘. Admire those beautiful mounds they make in the laughing meadows of Olde England. Cast your mind back to 1970: it was European Conservation Year. Say HAPPY NEW YEAR to the animal kingdom, as Gardenvisit.com does to its readers.
Images courtesy: zoer, Mick E. Talbot, alh1

9 thoughts on “Lady Boothroyd wants to get rid of her garden mole problem

  1. Christine

    The ‘little gentleman in the black velvet waist coat’ is rather cute despite his habit of digging holes in the lawn. If Lady Boothroyd objects to molehills in her lawn wiki has the following advice:

    “…in many gardens, the damage caused by moles to lawns is mostly visual, and it is also possible to simply remove the earth of the molehills as they appear, leaving their permanent galleries for the moles to continue their existence underground.”

    Given that they tolerate environments high in carbon dioxide moles must be invaluable little animals to have around during periods of climate change? [ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7899216/Secret-of-how-moles-breathe-underground-revealed.html ]

    Reply
    1. Tom Turner Post author

      Great advice from Wiki on how to deal with the ‘mole problem’. The little gentlemen do a great job of fluffing-up loam for use in potting compost. I wish they would form a partnership with form of life which would remove weed seeds from mole hills. Moles might then become the gardeners best friends.

      Reply
  2. Jennifer Baker

    Seems people hate what they don’t understand…by describing the lovely mole as “a little gentleman in the black velvet waist coat”, folks may soften their hearts a bit and leave these critters be.

    Reply
  3. Lora

    CASTOR OIL !!!!! IT works wonders, mix 2 tbsp castor oil, 2 tbsp dish soap, and a tbsp of cayenne pepper to 1 gallon of water and spray . Then soak entire area with water or do it before it rains If you have cats get them ready to play cause within 15 minutes the moles, voles or gophers will surface and high tail it out of there! Potion usually last for several months unless you have a lot of rain. First sign of tunnels spray again , this really has solved my mole problem, never had moles until about 4 months ago and then they just exploded my yard, but they are gone now!

    Reply
  4. Christine

    Oh. What a shame you couldn’t incorporate the little gentlemen into your garden Lora! Perhaps if you had sent in photographs to Tom, some clever contributors could have done a quick design which incorporates the results of their ‘exploding’ in your yard.

    Here is one such co-habiting arrangement. [ http://daanverhoeven.blogspot.com/2009/02/greener-on-this-side.html ]

    Children seem to have a sympathetic outlook on the plight of the little creatures…[ http://childrenstorytales.com/millie-the-tar-heel-mole/ ]

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