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Holey-moley, let them live: experts advise garden owners against eliminating unwanted guests

Mariesa Brahms
September 15th, 2021


This article is more than 3 years old.

Just like first semester students are leaving their parents’ house for the first time, young moles are venturing out into new soil. So treat them well!

With forefeet as big as shovels, moles probably rank among the most feared intruders in Danish gardens (photo: Pixabay)

With autumn here, precocial moles are now leaving their mother’s lap. And just like that, it is time for them to dig their own labyrinths in the soil, leaving unaesthetic molehills, which likely generate dismay from most garden owners.

But beware taking matters into your own hands – experts warn against killing the moles to preserve one’s much-cherished lawn, since it might just backfire.

Moles don’t like a crowd
According to animal welfare organisations, the best way to prevent intense mole traffic in your garden is to endure the first mole coming your way.

Michael Carlsen, a biologist at Animal Protection Denmark, argues that moles have a territorial mindset. Evidently, letting a single one reside below your lawn keeps other ones from joining.

Tread on the hills not the moles
Carlsen advises gardeners who are sick of having molehills scattered around their yard to simply flatten them.

After all there’s no escaping them. The 15 to 18 cm-long animals are rampant in most part of Denmark.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”