Okay, I'm excited. My cats delivered to me a fantastic Christmas/New Year's gift. For some time, since last summer, I have been plagued by a mole. While I know moles, unlike voles, do not eat plants....believe me, they can create a lot of problems in the garden....or, at least in my garden.
Tunnels all over the place, bulbs and newer plants uprooted including some prized epimediums and heucheras which tanked upon finding themselves up on the surface...bricks in walkways loosened and displaced as said mole made his/her way around. Not counting possible sprained ankles should you step unaware onto a tunnel...actually, it sorta looked like someone was trying to rototill....something that's never happened in my garden.
So....****squeamish warning****
No longer a problem for me....
Yippee...
....DH suggested this for size perspective....
My cats keep an eye on the voles, too....***squeamish warming***
Nasty voles do eat plants...so, I give a happy shout whenever the cats display a prize for me...I have lost plants, especially shrubs (especially daphnes....grrrr) to them...
*****
I happened to be working on pictures from June 6th and I came across these photos of a box turtle that I almost stepped on while looking at my daylily seedlings....
I thought it was the one that visited my garden in '09...until I compared the pictures...
Whoa....what a difference.
*****
Just because....Sam Cat doing...as far as we can tell....his version of a yoga pose....
(He only does these things for DD....He was actually sleeping like this...)
*****
Off to work on more pictures.....hope you've had a blessed holiday season....
6 comments:
Congratulations on the Commando Cat and its Mole misanthrope! Now, could I please borrow your cat (and his comrades), as we now have more than one mole (shudder) in the yard!! Yipes!
If I recall correctly moles eat grubs or grubworms, that is what they tunnel for. I remember when I was a kid two neighbors had their lawns treated for grubworms and the property between them got all the moles in his lawn.
BTW I'm sure the kitties are just getting started...
How exotic to have turtles!
I very much enjoy your blog. We have been struggling with voles and their cousins here in our California gardens. We're trying out some strategically-placed owl boxes. Thanks for the "for scale" photo.
I tip my gardening hat to your cat's mad vole hunting skills.
The best way to keep the voles under control is get a mouse trap and spread a small amount of peanut butter on it. Place an overturned flower pot over the trap right next to the vole hole. I caught 63 voles this past spring. It worked for me.
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