The Moment I Won't Forget
I opened a tunnel to place the bait. I turned to grab my gloves.
When I turned back, Daisy had her nose in the hole.
I grabbed her collar. My heart was pounding.
The bait was still in the package. But I sat in the grass and thought, "What if I'd been one minute slower?"
I later learned that some baits can hurt pets, if they eat the bait or dig up a mole that did.
That night, I stopped asking, "How do I kill these moles?"
I started asking, "Why do they keep coming back?"
Moles Aren't After Your Grass. They're After Your Worms.
I read every page I could find. Three facts stunned me.
1. Moles mostly eat earthworms. Purdue turf experts say grub killers won't fix a mole problem, because most of a mole's diet is worms.
2. A great lawn is a mole magnet. Watered, fertilized lawns hold more worms and grubs, and how much food is there decides where a mole hunts.
All my hard work was ringing the dinner bell.
3. The ridge you flatten may already be empty. Many surface tunnels get used just a few times, then dropped. I was fixing paths the mole had already left.
And when one mole is removed, others can move in from nearby land. NC State says trapping won't stop new moles from entering.
So I wasn't failing. I was fighting one mole at a time in a yard that kept inviting more.