wnwitzell
Member
Moth balls? Drives my gophers into my neighbors yards….
Voles and moles are tearing up my yard!
- Thread starter The Big D
- Start date
len917
Member
had 2 Russells--no moles, no rabbits, no squirrels, no ground hogs, no chipmonks. very lonely.
We've got 'em, too. Between us and the neighbors, I think we've tried just about everything. I don't think we can totally eradicate the little buggers,but the only thing that has helped us get on top of the issue so far is one very aggressive barn cat.
We've always had a few cats around the ol' homestead, but this particular little gal is heck on voles. She's not very big. In fact, as far as cats go, I'd say she's a midget. The others might get a vole occasionally, but this little feline is getting one or more each day it seems. At least those are the ones that we've seen. Who knows how many she's caught that we haven't seen? She usually leaves the intestines, hind legs, and tail on the back lawn for Ms. Judy to admire.
Like I said, I don't think we can totally eliminate them, but it sure looks like Ms. Judy's cat is putting a dent in the breeding population.
Cute Tortoise Shell feline. Here's our:
max503
Member
I have had a problem with them before. Tried all the usual things, not much worked until I started a trap line with Victor mole traps. If you keep after it you will eventually win.most of the time.
I've got two of these. No need to dig the ground up when they get sprung. You either got them or you didn't. Just keep setting them. Keeps their numbers down. I don't use any poison in my yard. An arborist told me they are bad for your trees. We have two big oaks that I'm trying to keep healthy.
Had mole problems for years, tried the grub treatment, etc etc. Bought two of these, problem solved. I read that moles are very territorial and that a 1 acre yard (what mine is) would likely only hold 2-4 moles max. Within two hours, I got one in the front yard and one in the side yard. Have not had one since - and that was a year ago.
Google scissor mole trap.
Google scissor mole trap.
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fiasconva
US Veteran
If the moles are territorial the voles must not be. I have a 12' flower bed and caught 9 of those suckers just from that space in 3 days using the box over the mousetrap method. They seem to have returned so it's back to the traps again. The war continues...
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coltle6920
Member
If you don't know what you have it's harder to find the right solution to get rid of them.
From a video on YouTube
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTEzqB5wjcE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTEzqB5wjcE[/ame]
How big is the area that is being torn up? Is it just grass or is it bushes and garden areas?
Would it be feasible to tear up the grass and resod? Tilling the soil to a depth of 7" or more should chase them off and get rid of what they eat at the same time.
The more I think about it if you get rid of the food source the critters should leave. What ever treatment you use should be enough to seep down below the grass roots. That would involve a frequent soaking of water.
Another thing to heed. If a bottle says it will cover 1000sq.ft. expect it to only effectively treat half of that. It wont hurt the lawn so buy what you can afford and apply all of it in one treatment. Water it well so it soaks deep in the grass.
From a video on YouTube
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTEzqB5wjcE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTEzqB5wjcE[/ame]
How big is the area that is being torn up? Is it just grass or is it bushes and garden areas?
Would it be feasible to tear up the grass and resod? Tilling the soil to a depth of 7" or more should chase them off and get rid of what they eat at the same time.
The more I think about it if you get rid of the food source the critters should leave. What ever treatment you use should be enough to seep down below the grass roots. That would involve a frequent soaking of water.
Another thing to heed. If a bottle says it will cover 1000sq.ft. expect it to only effectively treat half of that. It wont hurt the lawn so buy what you can afford and apply all of it in one treatment. Water it well so it soaks deep in the grass.
Thanks for all the replies/suggestions.
Will continue to explore all options.
To answer a question, my yard is approximately 1250 square feet. Mostly tall fescue grass but with a large maple tree and some hardscapes. And an outhouse…decorative and used for mower/trimmer/blower storage.
Much of the damage is at hardscape edges. I do periodically lift blocks and apply insecticide there.
Planning to apply Milky Spore in coming seasons to hopefully eliminate food sources.
Thanks, again.
Be safe.
Will continue to explore all options.
To answer a question, my yard is approximately 1250 square feet. Mostly tall fescue grass but with a large maple tree and some hardscapes. And an outhouse…decorative and used for mower/trimmer/blower storage.
Much of the damage is at hardscape edges. I do periodically lift blocks and apply insecticide there.
Planning to apply Milky Spore in coming seasons to hopefully eliminate food sources.
Thanks, again.
Be safe.
Have 40,000 sq ft of grass with trees surrounded by woods. Some 10 to 15 thousand sq ft is over or near the septic tank leach field. No moles.
When I first moved here 19 years ago there were so many mole mounds I used to rake up the dirt before mowing (Filled 2 contractor size wheelbarrows and took about 1 hour of my time).
I called "The Mole Man" to come out and look at the problem. He said I would never be completely mole free due to living near a wooded area.
Then I just raked the mole mounds down with an iron rake and moved.
Took about 20 minutes.
Now I just run the zero turn mower over them and let the dust fly.
There is no 100% solution to eradicating those little B————-ds
As mentioned above, I tried traps, ground vibraters, gas, mothballs, poison
etc. without notable success.
Worms are their main food. Grubs are their desert.
Best of luck with your problem.
When I first moved here 19 years ago there were so many mole mounds I used to rake up the dirt before mowing (Filled 2 contractor size wheelbarrows and took about 1 hour of my time).
I called "The Mole Man" to come out and look at the problem. He said I would never be completely mole free due to living near a wooded area.
Then I just raked the mole mounds down with an iron rake and moved.
Took about 20 minutes.
Now I just run the zero turn mower over them and let the dust fly.
There is no 100% solution to eradicating those little B————-ds
As mentioned above, I tried traps, ground vibraters, gas, mothballs, poison
etc. without notable success.
Worms are their main food. Grubs are their desert.
Best of luck with your problem.
smoothshooter
Member
Too bad there isn't some kind of fatal rodent venerial disease we could introduce among them.
