Pests are the worst enemies of gardeners, they are able to destroy most of the crop. That is why the fight against them must be started immediately. In the gardens you can find many varieties of rodents and one of the most common is mole rat. You can read about ways to deal with this dangerous pest below.
Content
How to recognize a pest?
The appearance of the rodent resembles a mole, but they do much more harm to gardeners. Moles are mammals and feed on insects, but when digging moves, they damage the roots of plants. Mole rats are rodents, they eat various root crops growing on the site. And also they can eat plants, do not disdain even onion flowers, which scare away moles.
The animal has no organs of vision, where the eyes should be, it has a fold of skin, its bristly hairs cover it. The tail and auricles are poorly developed. The body length of an adult mole rat can vary from 15 to 35 centimeters. Unlike a mole, it has small forelimbs. The main working tool of the pest are sharp teeth, or rather two protruding incisors. The remaining teeth are located inside, they are covered with multilayered lips. He digs burrows in several tiers, the minimum depth of moves is usually 15 cm, and the maximum is three meters. The moves are quite spacious in diameter can reach 12 cm, this is necessary for the mole rat in order to move root crops along them.
The animal lives in the south of Russia, in the west of the Ciscaucasia, as well as throughout Ukraine. The mole rat is a mammal, belongs to the order of rodents, the family of mole rats. They lead mainly an underground lifestyle, and only occasionally get to the surface in search of food or a new place of residence. In the countries of the former USSR, 4 species of mole rats are most common:
- giant;
- small;
- sandy;
- ordinary;
On the territory of Russia, you can often see the common mole rat, it is also called small-eyed or South Russian. You can meet him both on your own site, and in the forest-steppe zone, as well as on the edges and in the steppes. It lives in areas with grass plants; the animal does not go far into the forest.
One single animal can cause enormous damage to the gardener, in the summer it feeds mainly on the ground part of plants, while root crops are dragged into the hole, making reserves for the winter. In the bins of the animal you can find up to 18 kg of various vegetables: beets, carrots, potatoes. It can harm not only garden crops, but also flowers, so gardeners should also worry when an uninvited guest appears. And what about a few individuals or a family with offspring. Some sources say that a blind man can eat as much food as he weighs in a day. The mammal does not hibernate, but in the warm season it is more active.
Enemies in these voracious animals are not so many. In the wild, they often become ferret prey. Young individuals who are in search of a new habitat are often destroyed by foxes and birds of prey. On average, the life expectancy of rodents is from 4 to 9 years.
Ways to fight
Now there are many modern methods of fighting rodents, all of them are effective. Among a huge variety of ways, you can choose the one suitable for yourself.
Physical extermination of rodents with traps and traps
Traps and traps can be purchased at a specialized store or made independently. In the second case, you can use the drawings posted on the Internet. But this is not the main problem. It is important to install the device correctly, otherwise all efforts will go down the drain.
To begin with, you should find a recently appeared mound of earth and dig a hole in order to find the main passage. If it is found, it should be cleared to an earthen plug, which should be removed. Pests do not tolerate drafts in their burrows. And when the air begins to flow, the hard worker will hasten to fix the problem, and this is where he gets trapped. The trap is installed at a depth of five centimeters, and its chain is placed on the surface. Then the hole is crushed by a layer of soil and covered with a sheet of plywood. Check the trap after 30-60 minutes.
You can also catch a rodent with one or two hooks, on which a loop is fixed. The hooks are dug into the soil near the exit from the hole, when the rodent appears to repair the damage, it will catch on one of them. It is worth noting that trapping animals using traps is considered not very effective. If installed incorrectly, this will not work at all. Even if everything is done correctly and one animal is caught, one should not hope for luck a second time, as mole rats are quite inventive.
Pets
Pets, namely cats and dogs, will do a great job of catching mole rats. If the cat has experience in hunting rats and mice, then he will cope with this task. Any dog is a hunter, and will easily cope with the task. Of course, hunting dogs are best used.
Noise devices or repellers
To do this, use a variety of devices. The mole rat does not see at all, but is very sensitive to various types of sound waves. With constant soundtrack, the animal becomes uncomfortable, and he is forced to leave his home.
Method number 1
Glass bottles, for example, from champagne at an angle should be dug into the ground, the neck of the bottle should rise a few centimeters above the ground. A gust of wind will create a rather unpleasant noise. Over time, the animals will have to leave the territory.
Method number 2
Rattles made from plastic bottles will also do great to create sound waves that scare away the pest. There are many ways to make them, which can be found on the Internet.
Method number 3
Tin cans are put on wooden or iron pegs driven all over the site, and when the wind blows, a rumble is created that causes moles and mole rats to leave their homes. At first, there will be no result, but later, when the blind man realizes that the hum does not pass, he will leave to look for a new place of residence.
Ultrasonic Repellers
They do their job well, are highly efficient. The main thing is to correctly place the devices throughout the site, given the area of impact. They are dug into the soil, manufacturers have taken care of the water resistance and protection of devices from adverse conditions in advance. Therefore, rains and high humidity are not afraid of them. Such devices are simple in leaving, they just need to be charged or replaced batteries periodically.
Sound waves that are almost inaudible to people, but have a depressing effect on rodents and they leave their holes. Up to 45 days may elapse from the moment of installation to the final disposal of unwanted neighbors.If there is no result, then the mole may have found an unreachable area, in which case the device should be moved. You can buy them in specialized stores, the cost of such devices differs from the range and manufacturer. Judging by the reviews of gardeners, the best are:
- Thunder Pro M;
- Tornado OZV 01;
- Eco-sniper LS-997M.
Plants against mole rats
Like other rodents, mole rats do not tolerate the aroma of certain plants. For example, they do not like parsnips, it is believed that the parsnips that are planted around the perimeter of the site will scare away the pest. It is best to plant varieties with long and branched roots so that the rodent constantly encounters it during movement. This method is for the most part a preventive measure for the appearance of mole rats in the garden than the fight against them.
Water
With the help of an irrigation hose, you can flood a molehill’s hole, of course, you can use buckets filled with water, but it will not be very convenient. After all, water will need at least 100 liters and the flow should be continuous. It should fall not just into the moves, but directly into the rodent's hole, which is usually located on the lower tiers.
To begin with, you should carefully examine the earthen mound, if there is an admixture of clay, perhaps this is the very entrance to the dwelling. The pit should be cleared, having discovered the entrance to the hole, start watering. When water reaches the mole rat, it will float to the surface. And then the matter will remain small, what each gardener decides to do with the pest himself. You can kill him or take him away from the gardens and release him into the wild.
There is also another way, but it is very time-consuming, and the result is not guaranteed. To do this, dig a trench about 30-40 cm deep along the perimeter of the garden. Strengthen the edges so that the mole rat cannot get out of the constructed trap. Then, at a certain distance from each other, grooves break out and are filled with water. The mole rat, moving along the trench, should fall into one of them and drown.
Chemicals
Simply put, toxic substances. They can be purchased at a specialty store. Poisons for rodents and moles are suitable. But you need to use them very carefully, since toxic substances through the soil can penetrate into plants, and they will become unfit for human consumption. Also, if pets are running around the site, the use of poisons is not recommended. You can choose the Nutcracker from these preparations, but there is no 100% guarantee that in the area where there is plenty of food, the mole rat will want to feast on the poisonous bait.
It is better to use Antikrot or Krotomet, these products are repelling, they are not toxic and do not change the structure of the soil. A pungent odor is laid in the rodent's burrows approximately every 3 days. The result will definitely be, just wait a little.
Conclusion
The appearance of mole rats in the garden is a big problem. Animals are very inventive, so fighting them will not be easy. But thanks to many modern methods, you can get rid of pests. It is better to use several methods at the same time, this will give a faster result.
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