Maryland Home & Garden Show: Mole hunting
Jeff Holper, the "Mole Hunter," with tens of thousands of "kills" to his credit, appears this weekend at the Maryland Home & Garden Show at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.
As I've mentioned before, I once planted 150 tulip bulbs and not a single one came up the following spring, but voles were seen in my yard, laying on their backs and patting their stomachs.
I asked Holper about the difference between moles and voles.
"A vole is a rodent and a mole is an insectivore," he told me. "A vole is a heavy vegetation eater - bulbs, seeds, hostas -- and they are the most prolific. A female can be pregnant within 24 hours of a litter and can produce 200 babies a year.
"They can be serious when they hit a garden."
Top photo: a mole. Bottom photo: a vole.
A mole is larger, and you can often spot their raised surface tunnels from above ground, he said.
"A mole is about six or seven inches long and has two real strong claws. He can create more than 100 feet of tunnel a day. And he is in your yard for earthworms, not grubs."
Holper has a book, a DVD and a trap, and he will demonstrate how to make the trap work."A vole does damage to what you paid to plant," he said. "A mole messes with people's minds. After you have tried so many things to kill it, it becomes a personal issue. You start thinking about explosives."
His trap works, he says. "Once you know how to do it, you actually look forward to the next mole."
Holper will be presenting at 11:30 and 2:30 Saturday and Sunday at the show's Green Thumb Theater
Comments
They are so cute!
Thanks for the visit, Jess!
Posted by: Jessie | March 12, 2010 1:51 PM
Ahh, so cute - beautiful little creatures.
Posted by: Aanee | October 20, 2010 2:08 AM