Mole And Gopher Med

Quoting Wegman's Nursery of Redwood City:
"Mole and Gopher Med has proven to be effective in ridding the garden of gophers and moles" Also goes on to say the key is in using the product exactly as instructed. Since I haven't even found any of this yet to try it as instructed.....has anyone used this? Can we believe this? Does it really work? Should I buy stock in the company? LOL.....
Sherry

http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Mole%20Gopher%20Med

It's castor oil. I've heard pros and cons about that in general.

I have sprayed so much castor oil on my garden that I'm amazed my plants are still alive and it doesn't seem to bother the gophers at all. I haven't used this particular brand, but I've followed the directions on the ones I've used, and I doubt that whatever extra stuff they have in theirs is going to make it work that much better. Plus on top of that I've used various granular products with castor oil, garlic, and other things that are supposed to repel them. And I have one of those stupid vibrating mole chaser things, they dug holes right next to it. I even planted a castor plant, and while they left that specific plant alone, they dug up the three that were next to it that I was trying to protect. Of course, I have no idea how bad the gophers would be if I hadn't done any of this stuff so I guess I shouldn't say that they don't work, they just don't work well enough. So I've given up and the landscape exterminator is coming on Monday to get rid of them for me. Not sure that'll work either, but all the DIY remedies certainly haven't!

We somehow know in our hearts that nothing works and yet we somehow want to believe.....

Ercane I will be eagerly awaiting your report on what your landscape exterminator uses and how well it works. I do use the black hole traps and have good luck. However I currently have 8 traps set. They seem to have come in from all over this last week.

The traps do work but I am tired of the trapping and digging. I would like an easier way. MoleMed was one thing I did try and it made the moles crazy. The next morning I had so many new mounds. None left and more may have come. You are right, none of the tricks work. I am really tired of people telling me how chewing gum works. Yeah....sure.

Eagerly waiting results and no matter what it costs if it works, thats money well spent.
Rebecca

Ditto, Rebecca. I have the name of one locally and will consider calling him.

I will let you guys know how it goes. As much as I don't like the idea, I think they're most likely going to use poisoned bait, there's a gas that they said they can use but it only works in tunnels in irrigated areas (which part of my yard isn't, and the part that is irrigated isn't watered that often), and they told me also that the gas doesn't work well if the tunnels extend out of the yard into a field, which mine do (I think that's where the gophers came from originally). So I think if I want to get rid of them, that's what they're going to have to do. I'm hoping when the guy comes out here and looks at it that he'll decide they can use the gas instead but at this point I'm going to do whatever it takes, they've just destroyed too much. Sounds like it should only be a couple hundred dollars to do the job though, the woman I talked to said the minimum was $120 and most jobs were in the $150-$200 range. Mine'll probably be extra because of my steep hills that they're going to have to crawl around on plus the large number of tunnels, but hopefully not too much more than that.

If there is a poison that works for moles, I want it. I know sometimes its a commercial thing but if you could get the name I can harrass some friends and maybe get some. All 8 traps came up empty. They have made no new mounds, they are resting and hiding from me to anger me. So I will leave in the traps till I see some new activity then move them to the now hot spot. I hate it, its a lot of work and bother but you really cannot garden with them.
Rebecca

OK, the gopher guy came today, he used the gas stuff in the irrigated part of the yard. I haven't seen any activity in the non-irrigated section (probably because there's nothing there but a few weeds) so he didn't think it was necessary to do anything there. It was these little tablets that have aluminum and some phosphorus compound in them, they react with moisture in the soil to form phosphine gas. And the good news is there won't be any chance of secondary poisoning to things like my neighbor's cats. I'll post again in a week and let you all know if it seems like this has worked or not (or sooner if it hasn't!). We're going into a hot spell and that always seems to be when they do the most damage, so if I can go a week without seeing any activity then I'll believe they're gone. Of course they won't be gone forever because more will come in from the fields, but if I can have these guys come out occasionally at the first sign of new mounds, I'm hopeful that I can keep them under control.

So far so good on the gophers--no signs of activity since my new best friend the gopher exterminator came out. Just wish I would have called him sooner before they chewed the roots off my precious Salvia canariensis and Desfontainea spinosa! I'm sure they're not gone forever, but now the second I see a mound, I'll call the exterminator again and hopefully keep the damage to a minimum.

Oh my, you have put the fear in me. I just planted out my desfontainea!!! Will watch ever so closely for those nasty rodents!!
I managed to catch one gopher. The moles are coming up, leaving mounds, then leaving the area. They are missing my traps! I hate them. Do you know the name of the stuff he used, like brand name? I would love to get some and gass the demons.

I don't know the brand name he used, what's in the pellets is Aluminum phosphide. Here's a link to a fact sheet about it which lists a couple of brand names
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/fumigant/aluminum-phosphide/fumi-prof-alumphos.html
It's a restricted use pesticide though so only licensed pesticide applicators can use it, the phosphine gas that it generates when moisture hits it is pretty nasty stuff so they don't want people handling it unless they're trained.

Thanks, I am going to see if I can find someone who can do my place. The gophers have moved in and its taking time each day to set the traps. If I could start at a zero population again...lol. The things breed like, well, rodents!

Definitely worth trying it! I'm sure I'm going to have to call them again at some point, but it's so nice to have a break from the little beasts! I started off by calling the exterminator who had taken care of the rats in my attic to ask if they did gophers, they didn't but they knew someone who did.

This may be gross but I always stick the dead ones back in the hole. I know most animals will avoid the dead smell. If that is true just think how many you have being a warning to new ones trying to come in! Gonna see if I can find someone.....
Rebecca

I never thought about that, but that's a good point! I hope the dead ones do act as a deterrent, may keep the new ones away a bit longer! And I don't think it's gross to put them back in the holes, dead gophers are gross regardless and I don't know what else you could do with them that would be less gross. Certainly better than leaving them in the yard or something!

I put the dead ones back, too. They ARE gross and I don't see any need to handle them at all. I just shake/pull them out of the trap into the hole and cover it up again.

Funny story...When we first moved here I went out in the morning to find two feet sticking out of the small slope around our terrace. DH and I stood looking at the feet, which were very odd, then finally dug the thing out. Turned out to be a rooster that wandered over from a neighbor's house and was trying to drink out of a half-buried milk jug I was using to water a new plant. Evidently he got his head stuck, flailed around enough to bury himself in dirt, and drowned. A few days later I noticed a horrible smell and discovered DH had put him in the trash can! LOL. I had to remind him we lived in the country now and we could bury things.

Here's a picture - you have to look close and you can imagine my shock when I saw them - I did a classic double-take.

That is hilarious! I can't even imagine how the rooster managed to do that to itself, but I would have been quite shocked to find that in my garden!

The thing that got me was how thoroughly he was buried, except for those feet. The ground was so smooth all around him it was as if it had been done purposely. He was a big one, too. One of our "we're in the country now" stories. :-)

Oh that is one good story. I don't know if any of you ever looked, but all the dead gophers I have ever seen are just covered with fleas. Even if they have been dead awhile. Disgusting. Oh, think of the good compost they are making.
I did bury one in his hole one time and discovered he was dug back up the next day. After reburing him 3 times I tossed him out in the woods. I am assuming a racoon, skunk or somehting was doing it.

I have to reset traps in the morning. Must have had a lot of gophers birthed recently, lately I have been catching small ones but there are a lot of them. Grrrrrr.

I've left dead things that eat my plants in the garden that my cat has nailed as a warning, but for the first season, something is eating my roots, too. I had said I wouldn't kill something to grow flowers, but it went after my tomatoes and I don't have room for more than a couple. This morning I dug one up and potted it to protect it. Disturbed a toad in the ground under it - I had thought the tunnels I saw were toad tunnels.

Toads don't eat roots, do they? I figured they were keeping my slugs from eating all my plants, since I see lots and don't have slug damage.

Yes. gophers & moles, what a simple life we gardeners would have without them. I have tried all of the before mentioned methods except the pro. exterminator. MoleMax, traps, cat chatches a few, cat poop, gum, lawn chair, coke & a 22., human & dog hair, pitchfork, the thumper things that costs a fortune, gopher gassers, poisions, exhaust hook-up thing. I still have plenty of gophers & moles! Anything I'm really serious about keeping from their little teeth I put a cage under when I plant it. It is amazing how fast they move into a yard. We cleared this land & started from scratch & there were a few below our creek, I trapped them the first year, & fought like crazy to keep them over there & now they are everywhere! Of all the things I have tried, the gassers & the exaust thing seem to keep them away the longest. Tho nothing "keeps" them away for good. The person who finds that one thing that can kill & repel gophers and moles will be as popular as someone curing cancer! At least with the gardeners of the world.

BJ,
You sound like me. I did it all too and the only thing I found that works for moles is the black hole trap. Gophers are not as smart and will eat poisen and are easier to trap. Therefore the moles are worse in my opinion.

I was clear now am over run again. One actually can make lots of damage so I may not have as many as I think. I am on it first thing in the morning, got all my traps out. I stamp down the hills and as soon as one pops up again, in two traps go. But its a bother. I wish someone woud make a tasty birth control pill for them....lol.

You'd be surprised how much one gopher can do--the guy who came and took care of mine for me seemed to think there was just one who was living in my garden, I can't even imagine the damage if there were 10 or so!

I like that idea - contraceptives.