Moles

[Zyrbalax]

Hi all,

I've seen people saying they always detect molehills on the basis they've turned over the ground and may have brought finds closer to the surface.

I have another theory (and it's just that, a theory that came to me while meandering among the molehills on my permission); moles have a strong sense of smell. Corroding bits of metal I imagine have quite a strong smell (to a mole). Wouldn't a mole actually avoid these, and deliberately dig around them? In which case, wouldn't your chances of finding a metal artefact in a molehill be lower than just randomly searching the non-mole-hill areas?

Probably doesn't hold true for gold - no corrosion, no smell.

So to test the theory I have a question; has anyone on this forum ever found metal objects in a molehill? Actually in the mole's "spoil heap", not in the ground in proximity to a molehill.

Cheers all
Z

[f8met]

I work on the assumption that if they find something in their way then they will push it out. I haven't found anything but still look anyway.

[Elbasstardo]

I found this beauty on the surface on top of a mole hill only last week!

[Zyrbalax]

I found this beauty on the surface on top of a mole hill only last week!

That's brilliant! Great find, smashes my theory nicely and I will now be detecting molehills religiously!

Thanks EB

Z

[littleboot]

Yes, I've found coins. Nothing hammered though. Some interesting pottery bits as well. I don't think the 'moles avoiding metal' theory holds good though...we caught two of the blighters last week using metal traps. Molehill soil is quite loose and aerated (good for using in garden planters etc) but I don't see them throwing up large items.

[Oxgirl36]

Yes, I've found coins. Nothing hammered though. Some interesting pottery bits as well. I don't think the 'moles avoiding metal' theory holds good though...we caught two of the blighters last week using metal traps. Molehill soil is quite loose and aerated (good for using in garden planters etc) but I don't see them throwing up large items.

They are such beautiful creatures.

Always detect them. Never found anything

[littleboot]

Be that as it may Cath. But they cause a terrible mess and make mowing the grass impossible....and they undermine the drive and make it dangerous or impossible to get out with the car in wet weather. Mowing the grass effectively in the meadow here isn't a luxury and about immaculate stripes and vanity...its necessary because of deer and ticks.
We collected 7 full barrow loads of earth that had been excavated by them. Its beyond a joke when it gets to that stage. We'd tried everything else but frankly all those naff sonic/smoke/deterrent devices are as much use as an expensive chocolate teapot. In the end it comes down to having to do something radical. I have no intention of spending my summer living in the middle of a re-enactment of The Somme.
Hubby was over at a house we look after for someone in their absence. He spent an hour collecting molehills before he could start mowing their acre.

[WVAM]

Hubby was over at a house we look after for someone in their absence. He spent an hour collecting molehills before he could start mowing their acre.

You need the local mole-catcher. Our 80 year-old neighbour is a country girl and should be known as the molenator. As soon as a hill pops up in any local garden it's the end of Mr. Mole. She would have your patch clear in no time

Alternatively, research Rodenator (no link posted for the animal sensitive).

[Keef the Frog]

One of my clients had an Ace 250 leant against the wall in his pool gear room so I asked him if he'd found anything good. Turns out he only used it to find his mole traps as he kept losing them.
I don't get moles as there's minimal topsoil then a couple of miles of limestone.

[TheAndyA]

I read this thread a little while back and thought it was worth remembering to check Molehills.

I was out yesterday afternoon with the Nox, I ran it over a few Molehills and low and behold, just below the top soil on one of the mounds was a 1961 Florin.

[Saffron]

Moles do not go very deep so anything they bring to the surface would probably have been in detector range anyway.

Foxes / badgers / rabbits are a different matter and dig much deeper holes so its always worth checking the spoil they bring to the surface.
I always do
But never found anything

Evan

[Lowland]

Moles do not go very deep so anything they bring to the surface would probably have been in detector range anyway.

Foxes / badgers / rabbits are a different matter and dig much deeper holes so its always worth checking the spoil they bring to the surface.
I always do
But never found anything

Evan

Hi saffron,their feeding tunnels are shallow but apparently their permanent ones can be 40” deep
https://animals.mom.me/deep-moles-dig-10091.html
Mind it is an American website

[Saffron]

Moles do not go very deep so anything they bring to the surface would probably have been in detector range anyway.

Foxes / badgers / rabbits are a different matter and dig much deeper holes so its always worth checking the spoil they bring to the surface.
I always do
But never found anything

Evan

Hi saffron,their feeding tunnels are shallow but apparently their permanent ones can be 40” deep
https://animals.mom.me/deep-moles-dig-10091.html
Mind it is an American website

You learn something new every day.
I just looked and found a UK site saying basically the same.

But when I worked on a golf course if they were that deep it did not matter it was the shallow tunnels that could cause trouble, not to mention the molehills!.

Evan

[Techmaven]

I have deliberately detected every mole hill I have ever seen, and still do, and never had one target. Moles don’t like metal or stones and because they eject the soft soil like a volcano erupting I suspect heavier objects would be avoided. Maybe if they are in stoney ground if they have no choice they might eject small stones and bits of metal but in all my searches I have never detected one target from a mole hill.

[Leg end]

I found a Georgian penny grot in the spoil of a molehill last month. I have, over the years, found several copper coins in molehills and the spoil from rabbit and badger diggings, sadly no silver of gold.......yet