If you like to swing your clubs you will be lucky to find a head pop up through a hole at Durbanville Golf Course.
A slithering solution to combat a constant problem with moles has been implemented by the club recently.
The release of a knot of seven molesnakes on the golf course towards the end of last year, to solve the problem in an environmentally-friendly way, is now bearing fruit, said Sean Field, a member of the club committee.
Cause damage
“We have tried every legal way to control the mole population on our course, but nothing seemed to work,” Field pointed out. “They were pushing hills all over the course, which not only destroy the aesthetic look of the course, but also cause a lot of damage. The little small runner moles were even worse, because they did damage to our tee boxes and the greens. We even had one pushing through one of our freshly-cast cart paths.
“The moles have been around since the building of the golf course. Durbanville has a very dense population of moles, which has been around forever.”
The problem with moles also has a negative financial impact; damage to tee boxes and greens heap up to tens of thousands or rands every year.
“We have tried mole traps, phostoxin pills, removing (spraying) grubs and food for the moles on tee boxes and greens, mole barriers, everything!” Field said.
Significant decrease in mole heaps
“It is difficult to quantify, but by all accounts there is a significant decrease in mole heaps and we have not had runner mole issues for a while. But its still a long way to go, there are many moles.” Ideally the club committee wants to have three more molesnakes released.
If this is unique to Durbanville Golf Course Field doesn’t know. “There are snakes at many other courses, but we don’t know if it was specifically part of those clubs’ strategy, as ‘was the case with us. We felt it was a win-win all round: natural food chain, no harmful toxins being used and an improvement in the aesthetic look and finances.”
But do not worry, sightings have been almost zero.
“Now and then you see a mole snake baking in the sun after it has had a few moles for lunch,” Field said, “but they hunt during the day, and hunting is mostly underground in the mole runs, so they very rarely come above ground during the day.”
Non-venomous snake
According to several websites mole snakes (Pseudaspis cana) are non-venomous, but have very sharp teeth and can deliver a painful bite.
They have small heads, pointed snouts and thick, muscular bodies, reaching lengths of up to 2 m. Their colour varies from black and dark brown to grey and yellow. They are diurnal (active during the day) and are often mistaken for the highly venomous Cape cobra.
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