I think I have moles, I have tunnels everywhere. How can I murder these varmints. I don't want my entire yard dug up. Sharon
Moles destroying my yards, Any advice on how to murder them?
This site says get a Jack Russell dog.
I have heard that you can put a transitor radio in the hole on a rock'n'roll station.
This same site says to get rid of the grubs. because the moles are there to eat.
Another suggestion says buy a trap called "The Black Hole".
http://www.homeabc.net/Garden-Landscape/3072-3-Garden-Landscape.html
Sharon, I had a couple moles 2 years ago. I couldnt understand why some of my shrubs and hosta were dying. The tunnels were the only signs and I had never heard of them before.
There is a product called "poison peanuts", that is what I used. I only had a couple of moles or voles (not sure which) but they are gone and I havent seen any tunnels since. Pikes nursery and Home Depot sells it. Yellow bottle shaped like a cone.
You dont disturb there tunnels, you just pop a small hole in some of the tunnels and dump in some "peanuts" and cover hole with a leaf, then wait a few days and stomp down the tunnels. After a few days if you have more tunnels, do it again. I did it twice and they are now gone.
I am not sure wether or not you can use this where pets can dig and eat the "peanuts". Check the bottle.
Hope it works for you.
chris
If it is moles, they don't eat plant roots, voles do that. For moles, if you kill the grubs in the ground, they will go somewhere else. We use milky spore for that, but it is very expensive.
I think voles will use old mole tunnels and that's what causes the confusion. I've heard great things about Milky Spore and it's non-toxic(except to the grubs of course.) Best thing is that when you kill the grubs, that means you've killed a batch of Japanese Beetles! :)
Danita and Becky, you are right re: moles vs. voles. I unhappily have both and have made it my life's mission (well, one of them) to educate everyone about this. So many people have never heard of voles and think I am mispronouncing it.
For me, often the vole damage consists of wilted foliage lying flat, with all the roots gnawed off and a small hole (1 1/2 inches?) beside the victim. I don't usually see any evidence of a tunnel per se; it's like they came from deeper down than you expect from voles (or used a mole tunnel) or just slid under the mulch and leaf cover.
From my experience and what I understand, voles are usually only a problem in shady areas or areas adjacent to shady (perhaps because those places are naturally mulched, providing cover) areas. Is that what you folks have seen? Moles of course are everywhere.
I guess then, I have no idea which of the destructive creatures I had. I had tunnels, used the peanuts and dont have tunnels anymore. I am going to use milky spore this spring for the 1st time, I have heard such good things about it. It cant hurt and will get rid of the grubs but I think it takes a couple of years.
Now I know why I am always confused about moles and voles. It seems to be a common confusion.
Here's what wikipedia says about
Moles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole
Voles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole
Voles are rodents like mice, moles are not rodents.
What is Milky Spore? I have never heard of it. does it kill beneficial bugs? I have both moles and voles and they've made a terrible mess out of the yard this year. I did buy a few of those spikes that emit a beep and you stick them in the ground. They work ok, the moles/voles did move away from the plant beds, but now they are more concentrated in other parts of the yard. I have an acre, 1/4 of which if forest, they can all hang out there as much as they want to. Instead they choose to hang out in the 3/4 acre of plant beds and grass. very aggravating. i do catch them with the traps, but more always move in right afterward.
I know some guys in the Bronx you can call.......
BB
Becky, thanks for the info. I now know for sure that it was moles that I had.
I am still going to use the milky spore for getting rid of the grubs, but I am not sure that will keep the moles away because wiki. says that the large part of their diet is earthworms and I have lots of those.
redchic, lots of good info here about milky spore...
http://www.milkyspore.com/milkyspore.htm
I wonder if that is toxic. Is it natural?
Here's what I did.
Have to get out the heavy weapons.
Don't end up like this guy. He lit a cigar and ......oops.
Is it just me: I can't see/find image
One old farmer I new said he used carbon monoxide to kill them. He said he would stick a vacuum cleaner hose into one of their tunnels and placed the other end up against the exhaust of a pickup. The CO is heavier than air so it sinks to fill up the tunnels and borrows. The moles fall asleep and never wake up. I’ve never tried it as I have a couple of cats that seem to like catching both moles & voles and leaving them for me on the back steps.
That's what we use to get rid of moles and voles, too...Cats! Our cats (and dogs) love hunting and killing them.
Best bet is cats and small hunting dogs. Terriers were made for this sort of thing.
Never thought of the gasing them, that would probably work. LOL.
I just had to drop a line. . . .
I don't read this board, but I seriously did laugh out loud at the title of this post when I saw it on the main page.
Thanks, Jennifer
I got rid of mine by pouring gasoline down the tunnels.
OK - So, I cannot tell whether I have VOLES or MICE - they look the same to me - especially when they're running 90 to nuthin' across my yard! LOL! I KNOW I have moles, 'cause every once-in-a-while, my dog will dig one up & play with it if I'm not watchin' close enough to give him the evil eye & holler when he digs!! Samantha
Samantha, I believe voles have much shorter tails than mice and I would say they are a bit larger than the tiny mice anyway. That's not very helpful, sorry! Your ID is probably best based on the damage; I don't think (strictly unscientific observation) that mice damage is a big problem here in Ga. unlike the damage you read about up north where they chew bark etc under snow cover.
So if you have roots eaten, it's probably voles. And you have my sympathy. :)
Thanks, cedar - I guess I don't have voles, but - I don't always know WHY things die - I just know when they do! Thanks, Samantha
Samantha, I have the same problem. Sometimes I think I did not inherit my dad's green thumb after all. Perhaps part of my problems with dying plants are that I get carried away and plant things all over the place (we have woods and wildness all around) and then don't keep it watered.
I don't know if your soil is clay, but our sand is impossible to keep any moisture in at all - summer without rains is horrible! So, I am amending like crazy, & learning to compost! I tend to have the "eyes are bigger than my time" syndrome when it comes to gardening - I want so many things, but I usually forget that April & May are about it for pretties here - by June, the heat kills so much! (and the bugs, and....!) Samantha