What Are Moles? How To Identify Mole Damage In Your Lawn & Garden Near Irving, TX
What Are Moles?
The first step in dealing with a mole infestation problem is in knowing what moles are in the first place. Identifying and eventually eradicating moles starts with knowing what they’re. Moles are tiny burrowing animals that live most of their lives underground.
Moles typically have poor eyesight, a sensitive sense of smell, and long claws for their exceptional digging. In fact, moles are so efficient at digging that they can cause a lot of damage in one night. Moles feed on insects which is why they put so much effort into digging. The digging action of moles destroys the landscape, spoils the aesthetics of the lawn yard, and harms other living organisms in the soil.
What to Look Out for When Identifying Moles
Apart from physically identifying moles by looking at them, there are other ways to tell if moles have infested your lawn yard. Below are some major things to look out for:
Molehills
Mole hills are the first signs that moles are at work on your lawn. Watch out for mounds of earth on your lawn surface. These mounds of earth are caused by moles that have dug out the earth from the lawn soil. For proper analysis, consult with lawn maintenance in Irving, TX to avoid errors.
Check for spaced-out moles hills
If the mole mounds on your lawn look spaced out, then it’s likely to have been caused by a mole. However, if the holes are close together, it’s likely caused by moles. Other rodents like voles and gophers dig just like moles but their dugouts aren’t as spaced out as those of moles.
The nature of the dug-out soil
Moles dig out dirt without changing its texture. Other rodents usually grind the soil into fine powder during the digging process. Check the dug-out dirt for its texture and you’ll be able to tell if it was a mole or a gopher.
What Brings Moles to Lawn Yards
Certain elements attract moles to lawns so it goes without question that if their lots of these things on your lawn, you’d likely have a mole infestation. In our experience, the following factors increase the incidence of moles.
Low temperatures
If you have consistently low temperature and moist soil, moles will find this environment very conducive to live in. Moist, cool earth makes digging easy and regulates their body temperature efficiently too.
Availability of insects, earthworms, and grubs
Moles love feeding on insects and grubs daily as they dig and inhabit underground. If you have a lot of their natural prey, then there will likely be a lot of moles on the law. Moles will have lots of burrows in areas with grubs, insects, larvae, earthworms, and other similar organisms.
Nature of the landscape
Landscapes with a lot of objects on them usually have insects and grubs living underneath them. Moles find such landscapes to be a prime piece of real estate to burrow under and make a living. Food sources abound on such lawns and inadvertently encourage mole populations.
Quick Solutions for Dealing with a Mole Infestation
If moles are making a mess of your lawn yard, the way out is to tackle them with a quick but effective strategy. Different options abound for carrying this out so below are our picks:
1.) Starve them of their food supply
Moles can be eliminated completely if their food supplies can be taken out completely. Control insect, earthworm, and grub population and you can eliminate mole infestation. With the assistance of your lawn service in Irving, managing and eventually eliminating moles becomes easy.
2.) Introduce mole repellents
Certain compounds are natural repellents against moles. When introduced into the lawn yard, moles will find their way out of their area in no time. Pepper, tar, castor oil, dishwater, etc are examples of natural repellents that can be used to get moles off your property.
3.) Set traps
The use of traps offers a humane way of taking out moles without killing them. Most traps are effective and will eliminate moles faster than most methods.
4.) Gas them out
Poisonous gas will drive moles up and out of their burrows. Before using this procedure, it’s important to seek professional help. Your Irving lawn mowing service can make suggestions on the best steps to take while implementing this option to control moles.
5.) Make the environment uninhabitable
Moles prefer to live in an undisturbed, calm environment. If your landscape is a busy one with lots of activities, moles will find it difficult to stay put on it. Consider introducing gadgets like electronic pulse devices and sonic devices that generate sound and disturbing frequencies in the soil.
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