Mole cull ordered for cemetery

Pest controllers are to be called in to clear moles from a cemetery.

Ollerton and Boughton Town Council is asking for quotes from companies to carry out the cull after its groundsman failed to frighten the burrowing animals away from Ollerton Cemetery.

The town council decided to seek quotes after Newark and Sherwood District Council said it would charge £609 to get rid of the moles.

Ollerton’s cemetery amenity worker, Mr Ken Godber (60) said he believed the only guaranteed way to rid the cemetery of moles was to exterminate them.

He said there were hundreds of molehills around the cemetery.

He said because the summer was wet the ground had not dried out as much as it would normally and that meant the moles did not have to dig deep to find food like worms, because they were near the surface.

“There has been a bit of a mole explosion,” said Mr Godber. “Molehills appear because, when they are tunnelling, the soil has to go somewhere.

“Unfortunately it makes the ground look uneven. I have tried things like traps but there is more than one of them and that will only move the problem elsewhere if we release them.”

He said experts would place gas tablets in the cavities created by the moles to kill them.

Mr Godber said while it could be distressing for cemetery visitors the moles did not tunnel down to the depth a coffin was buried.

Mr Godber tried the old remedy of placing bottles in the ground which, when the wind blows down them, vibrate and are supposed to frighten moles away, but that had not worked.

He said more sophisticated techniques such as sensors that emit a signal to frighten the moles, rarely worked either.

European moles are rarely seen above ground. Their tunnels are usually about a metre deep but can be up to 200 metres long.