« The End Is Nigh | Main | Guard Helicopter Crashed »

August 09, 2006

Making Molehills Out of Mountains

No, I'm not talking about this. Or even this. I'm talking about my on-going battle against the damnable Scalopus aquaticus. When we moved in last fall, the back yard was so riddled with tunnels that it wasn't safe to walk pretty much anywhere. So this year, we've been trying to discourage a return by treating the lawn for grubs....twice so far. That had helped, but recently I've been seeing tunnels popping up overnight again. I discovered, accidentally, that the best way to destroy a tunnel without killing the grass was to flood it with the waterhose and re-pack the mud into the tunnel with a shovel.

So. After I got back from the doctor this morning, I noticed a large area with tunnels everywhere that hadn't been there when I left earlier. Grumbling, I got the waterhose and a shovel and got everything back in its proper place. About 15 minutes later, I noticed another mound of dirt pushed up in the area in which I'd been working earlier.

Sneaky mole bastard.

I was in the midst of flooding the new hole with water & packing the mud back down when suddenly something wiggled up through the muck. It popped out of the hole, gasping for breath. It was a large mole....which I promptly dispatched with a quick whack of the shovel.

Aha! Moles: 1,645,742, Rita: 1.

That ought to slow the tunneling down. For a little while anyway.

Posted by Rita at August 9, 2006 01:33 PM

Comments

Damned moles. Nothing but trouble. Crabby little bastards to boot.

Posted by: Keith at August 9, 2006 03:24 PM

Their front feet are really freaky looking, that's for sure. Sassy thought he was pretty interesting...for a light snack. Sollie wasn't too impressed, but he thought the shovel was very scary. Pugs are so dumb.

Posted by: Rita [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 9, 2006 03:32 PM

I haven't had any problems with moles since I've gotten Casey. Now I have to cope with all the holes he's dug.

Posted by: Valerie at August 10, 2006 08:33 PM

We can't let our cats out here, or we wouldn't be having a mole problem. Sassy's gotten interested in getting them now that she's seen one so I'm hoping she'll take care of any new ones that move in.

Posted by: Rita [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 11, 2006 07:03 AM