Of Moles and Men

Hey, wasn't that a book or something?

No, I'm not talking about the kind that your doctors asks if it's changing color!

I'm talking about the cute, but rather annoying and
destructive kind.

The common MOLE!!!

Our moles are not this black, like this one, more a mousy gray.

They are cute and fascinating little animals.
Just NOT in our yard!!!

They are only 3-5 ounces in size and eat
almost their body weight everyday!
Gee, I think I want to come back as a mole!
Some days I think I already have!

They don't believe in 'over crowding',
so 3-5 moles per acre is crowded!
I wish I would have known this before
my relocation of the others.
Oh well!!!

The last couple years I'd taken to
catching and live releasing them.
I'd tell you where...but then...
well...you know.

Let's just say...they had a nice happy home.
NOT HERE!

This year, we'd HAD IT!!
No more sitting around with a 5 gallon
bucket and a shovel at 4 O'clock in the afternoon.
No more, MS. NICE GAL!
Enough is enough!
It was open mole season!

Exhibit A - A mole borrow.

Oh, it doesn't look too bad right now, but give it a few days.
All that green grass die and turn brown.
You end up with a maze of brown lines through
your yard. It gives the appearance of someone
loosing control of the round up sprayer.

It's a mess!!

Thus the traps!
(Rilda, there are 4 pictures -
don't look at the last one)

These little beauties are scissors in the ground.
You place it along their run.
You step on it to set it.
You leave and if you don't have a
"bite" in 24 hours you set it somewhere else.

Once the mole runs through it, and it snaps, it looks like this.

I know, not a grassy area. The picture is from June when one mole
decided it would be fun to live in the chicken's outdoor pen.

And the finished product.
One dead mole.
Hopefully, that was the
ONLY ONE!!

But I'm not counting on it!