Mole Hill Hell

Okay, so we just got back from the States on Friday and I stopped over to see our neighbors that night  because our pipes had frozen and we had no water.  While trading banter about the holidays, the weather, our water problems and the like, my neighbor lamented about the moles that had molested her back garden.  She pointed out the back window to show me the damage, but as there have recently been about 123 snow storms that have come through, I couldn't really see much more that a couple clods of dirt laying on top of the snow.

Side Note to Americans:  When one refers to one's back garden over here they mean their backyard - not necessarily a flower or vegetable garden.  Calling someone's back garden their 'yard' is kind of an insult I remember reading somewhere that it stemmed from the days when a yard was literally the amount of outdoor space you had if you were a lower classed city dweller.  Since I hate to make a statement that I can't back up I decided to do a bit of research on the subject.  Sadly, I can find nothing to support this 'theory' that I was taught somewhere.  Now that I think about it, it may have been in a pub and involved a few pints.  Anyways - people here do get a bit funny about the whole yard issue and from this point forward I shall call it the garden, but please do not confuse this with something planted in bedding.

So there I was listening to our neighbor's mole woes and feeling sorry for her.  Her husband loves his garden and is very proud of the fact that he maintains it faithfully, has a gorgeous lawn for their kids to play on and has created a nice little space in a new development on the edge of an old village. (He is also out of the country for the next 3 months and hasn't actually seen it yet).  The mole(s) had dug up 4 holes and had destroyed portions of their back GARDEN.  The next day I retold the woeful story to my husband who agreed that it was a shame and that our neighbor's husband would indeed be up in arms when he saw the mess.

A couple of nights ago I was taking out the garbage when lo and behold - I see a couple clods of dirt in our garden.  At this point it was still really covered in snow so it didn't look like too much.  Then the rain set it, the snow melted and our once snow covered back GARDEN was free of the white stuff.  Strangely it was also almost free of the green stuff  - as in GRASS.

23 mole hills in our back garden.    23!!!!!

I don't know if you have ever seen the destruction those little effers can reap, but let me tell you it is not pretty.  Our back garden is basically destroyed.  I am actually praying for more snow to cover it back up.  Several more holes pop up each day - what to do???

We got a tip from a friend who told us to bury glass bottles in the ground because the wind blows over them and makes a scary noise that they don't like and they will bugger off.   This is either scientifically sound and the person who told us will be my new messiah, OR he is just messing with us because he wants to see the crazy American burying glass bottles in her GARDEN.

Any thoughts on this before we land mine our grass with glass?