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Mitchell Andrus
06-23-2010, 9:59 AM
I didn't have these in NJ, but I've sure got a bunch in NC.

I'm assuming the rodents making tunnels just below the surface are moles or voles or similar. I wouldn't mind but the grass dies and the tunnels collapse and I'm left with a mess to fix.

So..... All the 'good stuff' that made their eyes explode and their feet fall off is off the market 'cause maybe we'd want to harm the sweet li'l critters. I've tried the stuff that makes the dirt taste bad - didn't do too much. What do I do?
.

Ken Fitzgerald
06-23-2010, 10:04 AM
Mitch,

I've been told the reason they are there is due to grubs in the soil that they feed on. No grubs.....no grub.......they move on.

If that's the case, some insecticide on the soil might help.

Montgomery Scott
06-23-2010, 10:04 AM
Victor mole traps.

Chris Kennedy
06-23-2010, 10:11 AM
I have a similar problem. I am considering the following (don't have one, so I cannot attest to it, yet).

http://www.gemplers.com/product/RMEL/Mole-Eliminator-Trap

Cheers,

Chris

Joe Chritz
06-23-2010, 10:16 AM
Diazinon pellets

Makes the grubs leave and lets you give the neighbors a treat of miles of moles.

I used to put the stuff down by the truck load when I worked a landscape crew. Didn't effect me one bit, twitch, teitch.

Used according to the label it works well and is safe.

Joe

Kent A Bathurst
06-23-2010, 10:33 AM
Try the "Six and Twelve" method.

Locate a main tunnel, tamp flat a short section, put a chair right there. Bring out a six-pack and a 12ga. Sit there enjoying the six-pack until you see the tunnel start to move. Set down the beer. Pick up the 12ga. Act.

FWIW - as noted, you can use insecticide to kill off the food source. The problem/risk is that the critters you are killing also provide a lot of benefits for a healthy lawn - aeration, etc. May be you decide this is a reasonable trade-off. SWMBO - pro garden design/install/maint person - absolutely refused to go this route. I (a) did not know if her concerns were legitimate and (b) was not about to mount a challenge/argument.

I spent 2 summers with 4 of those spring-loaded plate-triggered pitchfork mole impalers in the yard. All that time, I only got one of those critters.

Heather Thompson
06-23-2010, 11:32 AM
Mitchell,

I agree that grubs are the food source for the pests but I would stay away from chemical treatments, think organic. It is easy to control grubs with predator nematodes, here is a link to a source, http://www.arbico-organics.com/category/beneficial-nematodes.

My parents built a custom home twenty some years ago on a small lake, they were the first to build there and now there are probably 20 homes around the lake. When they first built you could catch 5-7 lb bass all day long, the shorline was natural, today everyone has a perfect lawn right down to the water, no weeds anywhere. The lake is now dead, no fish and it smells awful, take good care of your new home.

Heather

fred marcuson
06-23-2010, 12:56 PM
google "rodenator"
i don't know how effective it is ; but it sure looks like fun !:rolleyes::D:eek:

Lee Schierer
06-23-2010, 1:01 PM
google "rodenator"
i don't know how effective it is ; but it sure looks like fun !:rolleyes::D:eek:

I was thinking the same thing, but you beat me to the link.

bob svoboda
06-23-2010, 2:05 PM
google "rodenator"
i don't know how effective it is ; but it sure looks like fun !:rolleyes::D:eek:
That DOES look like fun. Hmmm, might work on salesmen too?

Al Wasser
06-23-2010, 2:40 PM
Before you go spend $ for something visit with your County Agent (Cooperative Extension Service). Be sure what your critter is. A mole trap will not work for a gopher and vice versa. We have gophers here but the hardware store will sell you mole traps if you want. And yes those garlic/chili/??? mixes that are supposed to keep them away do not work.

Kent A Bathurst
06-23-2010, 3:04 PM
.....A mole trap will not work for a gopher and vice versa. We have gophers here........


"Gopher, Everett?"

Perry Holbrook
06-23-2010, 3:44 PM
Mitchell, welcome to mole hell. They are real problems here. Would you believe that they are an endangered species in NC. So you can't buy the pellets that you put in their trails here in NC. I bought several containers of the stuff the last time I was in Kentucky. I guess the little critters can see inside the garage where it is stored. They haven't been around too much lately.

BTW, they eat more than grubs. They also like earthworms, flowers that have bulbs, and other things. I've had our place professionally treated for the grubs. Don't waste your money.

Perry

G. Brad Schmidt
06-23-2010, 4:12 PM
Mitch, check out The Moleman site (http://www.themoleman.com/control.htm); Tom's expertise has helped me out tremendously.

Tom Schmidt (no relationship) has been in the "mole control" business since the invention of sliced bread. He is also more than happy to answer any questions you might have.
Also, Tom recommends the two mole traps by Victor (http://www.victorpest.com/store/mole-and-gopher-control/mole-control) mentioned above.

... And contrary to popular belief the majority of a mole's diet (living in N. America) consists of Earthworms not grubs (e.g. beetle lava).


http://www.clicksmilies.com/auswahl/ernaehrung004.gif (http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/ernaehrung/food-drink-smilies.html)

Mitchell Andrus
06-23-2010, 4:25 PM
That looks like a ...... wait for it.......

A Blast!!!!!

Now that I see that, I remember seeing my uncle do that with oxy/acetylene.
.

Zach England
06-23-2010, 5:28 PM
The solution is obviously dynamite.

Myk Rian
06-23-2010, 6:26 PM
Victor mole traps.
+1. Haven't had any for 3 years since I last used it.
http://www.victorpest.com/resource/images/havahart/products/medium/B0645-2_m.jpg

Cliff Rohrabacher
06-23-2010, 11:06 PM
They also eat earth worms.

You can blow them out using propane and a torch.
Pump the burrows with propane and stand back and toss a road flae at an opening.

This guy over did it. I can't guess why he added Oxy to the job.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5HfsKLM-34

This guy is what chu call a "ex-Spurt"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik_Djl36NCg&feature=related


I prefer the propane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfX0FqS-4Og&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah9GKL12p2U&feature=related

David G Baker
06-23-2010, 11:43 PM
It took a while but I got my mole problem solved with a Victor mole trap. One mole dug up over 50 feet of yard alone with out help from friends or family.

Jay Jolliffe
06-24-2010, 6:06 AM
Where I live we have wood chucks big as beaver.....I didn't want to hurt them until they started to tunnel into my septic field. Cost to much for them to mess it up. Borrowed a rifle with a scope. Buried four in the woods & haven't seen any since.

David G Baker
06-24-2010, 8:40 AM
I live trap a lot of nuisance critters and transport them to the State Forest. Most critters love black sunflower seeds and are easily caught in one of the Havahart live traps. I caught a family of wood chucks with cabbage and carrots, took me three days. A friend has some acreage and asked me to release them there. I shoot the critters if they can't be trapped or are real nasty.
I have fox and coyotes in my area that help keep the nuisance critter population to a minimum.
The mole I killed with the Victor was one critter that I couldn't get with a live trap.

Mitchell Andrus
06-24-2010, 10:46 AM
I live trap a lot of nuisance critters and transport them to the State Forest. Most critters love black sunflower seeds and are easily caught in one of the Havahart live traps. I caught a family of wood chucks with cabbage and carrots, took me three days. A friend has some acreage and asked me to release them there. I shoot the critters if they can't be trapped or are real nasty.
I have fox and coyotes in my area that help keep the nuisance critter population to a minimum.
The mole I killed with the Victor was one critter that I couldn't get with a live trap.

Amature. I've caught about 80 squirrels on the roof of my NJ house over the 26 years I've lived there. 12 in one year alone. I am as sure as a dead rodent that they do not come back from the l'il squirrel vacation place I send them to.
.

Art Mulder
06-24-2010, 12:28 PM
they do not come back from the l'il squirrel vacation place I send them to.
.

quite tasty too

Mitchell Andrus
06-24-2010, 1:39 PM
quite tasty too

...wouldn't know. My freezer is full of goats.
.

David G Baker
06-24-2010, 1:54 PM
Mitchell,
I have not caught 80 squirrels in any one year but the first year I started live trapping I caught over 70 critters. Most were red squirrels and chipmunks. Included in the over 70 (70 is when I stopped keeping records) were skunks, raccoons, black squirrels, gray squirrels, brown/fox squirrels, ground squirrels (similar to chipmunks), chipmunks, red squirrels and a few rabbits.
I have thinned out the number of critters so my average year now is around 30 critters. I am now at around 15 and I have two traps set right now waiting for a red squirrel and a fox squirrel that have been hitting my bird feeders.

Jim Tobias
06-24-2010, 11:54 PM
Mitchell,
I have been told that if you take a straw and carefully puncture the tunnel and put a couple of rat poison pellets down the straw(and therefore into the tunnel) you will rid yourself of the critters.

Jim

Randal Stevenson
06-25-2010, 1:28 AM
While I am surprised no one mentioned inviting Bill Murry over, I do wonder if anyone has tried anything like the mole windmill, that HF has. I currently have been seeing both tunnel humps, and black snakes.

Mitchell Andrus
06-25-2010, 7:54 AM
Mitchell,
I have not caught 80 squirrels in any one year but the first year I started live trapping I caught over 70 critters. Most were red squirrels and chipmunks. Included in the over 70 (70 is when I stopped keeping records) were skunks, raccoons, black squirrels, gray squirrels, brown/fox squirrels, ground squirrels (similar to chipmunks), chipmunks, red squirrels and a few rabbits.
I have thinned out the number of critters so my average year now is around 30 critters. I am now at around 15 and I have two traps set right now waiting for a red squirrel and a fox squirrel that have been hitting my bird feeders.


Well..... we all need a hobby.

What really pi$$es me off is that they somehow leave a message so others can follow the path into my attic.

Someday, a 200 pound squirrel is going to be standing on my porch with a clipboard and a coupla buddies.... "M. Andrus, right?"
.

Mitchell Andrus
06-25-2010, 7:56 AM
Mitchell,
I have been told that if you take a straw and carefully puncture the tunnel and put a couple of rat poison pellets down the straw(and therefore into the tunnel) you will rid yourself of the critters.

Jim

That's on my to-do list.
.

David G Baker
06-25-2010, 9:10 AM
Mitchell,
I have discovered the message thing and am totally amazed at how quick the word gets out. With in a few days after the first one shows up all of its friends and relatives are visiting with the intent of staying. For some reason the word never gets out when I start trapping or shooting the critters.
I have tried the straw method without any luck but when it comes to tunneling critters I always try poison in the hopes that the critter takes it home to the family.
When the 200 pound squirrel shows up at my door can I give him your address? :D

Joe Chritz
06-25-2010, 6:33 PM
Well..... we all need a hobby.

What really pi$$es me off is that they somehow leave a message so others can follow the path into my attic.

Someday, a 200 pound squirrel is going to be standing on my porch with a clipboard and a coupla buddies.... "M. Andrus, right?"
.

Remember....

Center mass, sight alignment, squeeze, wash rinse repeat until satisfactory results.

Something like this.......

Joe

David G Baker
06-25-2010, 11:45 PM
Joe,
That weapon looks like the Law Rocket launcher I trained with while I was stationed in Germany back in the early 60's. If that dude shows up at my place I am headed back to California. :D

dennis thompson
06-26-2010, 6:26 AM
So Mitch, ready to come back to NJ? Maybe even the "Jersey Shore!?";)
Dennis
(from NJ, Madison & Spring Lake, stop by any time):)

Matt Ranum
06-26-2010, 7:10 AM
I never had much luck with mole traps but had real good luck with this.

http://www.amazon.com/Manning-Products-UE-12-Underground-Exterminator/dp/B0000BYDPE

Dan Mages
06-26-2010, 7:41 AM
Just a thought.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/DanMages/MISC/spackler.jpg