Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2018 12:25:13 -0400
From: “N.A. Booko”
Subject: Moles, Voles and Plants-
In his excellent article on Moles and Voles, Tony Blake states- “Moles do not harm plants”- I strongly disagree with that.
I have hundreds of plants and have seen many die and destroyed by the work of moles. Yes, moles tunnel and eat harmful lave- but it is their tunneling that is the problem. Depending on how close to the surface the mole is working, the earth it raises can also uproot plants and cause them to dry out and die.
And most cats, like mine, love to watch and wait for a mole to be near the surface and lunge at the moving dirt in hopes of making a catch. Cats also dig to get at the mole, dislodging and unearthing delicate plants and damaging their roots. If you have only one or two plants, you can usually see the damage soon enough to take care of it- But I have hundreds of plants that I don’t see every day and they can dry out and die before I find them.
I have never personally witnessed it, but i suspect that Raccoons, foxes and even possums do the same thing- going after the mole.
Something, I don’t know what, nightly upturns the pine straw in my driveway- probably looking for earthworms and bugs. It even overturns gallon potted plants in the search.
N.A. Booko