When a molehill is a whole range

You’ve heard the expression “don’t make a mountain out of a molehill”. Like when you forgot your phone at home; the world is not going end, right? Oh, wrong example. You’ve seen the joke; a picture of a plane making a U-turn with the kicker that the pilot forgot his cellphone at home.

A better example is when you realise that you forgot your mask at home just as you switch off your car in the best parking spot at the supermarket. Yes, at that moment it is wise to remember not to blow out of proportion the small matter of going back home to get the mask.

But what do you do when it is not just “a molehill” but a number of them? What if at the rate the mole is toiling, there’s enough hills to at least make a koppie? What if it is not just one, two or three moles at work, but a labour of moles, as they are collectively called?

This topic is so close to home, ahem. There are enough molehills in my backyard and even the device I bought last year at my local hardware, that sends small vibrations to scare the little buggers off, is not doing the trick.

Oh, the audacity of these creatures! This time there’s even a hill on the border of the pavement and the edge of the grass. The nerve of these rubble rousers!

The hill is back the next day with its mix of sand, stealing the spotlight from the other hills of plain dark soil.

What else can you do except research again the options, animal-friendly ones, that are available to get rid of this underground gang.

One of the cheapest and probably most satisfying I read about, and if you are on those reward schemes for being active, could earn you a decent amount of points if done for a sustained amount of time – is stomping the ground. This solution works best if there are more people for maximum coverage. There’s even a suggestion to get a bunch of children to run around to have a good time making plenty of noise.

Another tip is hitting the ground with a shovel. The gang of diggers does not like any movement and noise that takes their focus away from their underground activities.

The other option is to shove crushed garlic or sprinkle cayenne pepper down the tunnel. Those in the know say these creatures hate strong smells.

And to think that the tunnels are used by generations and generations of moles adds another layer of eeriness to these creatures. Plus, I’m yet to see one with my naked eye, even though we fight for territory ever so often.

You don’t need to make a mountain when you have a range of molehills.