From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Ohio

I just found a mole hole about 4 inches from my main stump of 1370 plant,I cant get these things under control,I used Mole poison, traps , exhaust to hose from four wheeler inside hole,you name it. Anyone have any ideas? Would the bayer grandular grub insecticide hurt putting it close to my main vine and stump area? I just sprayed Merit on the ground only around my plants this morning. I also am not seeing any grubs??? So what are the moles after??? Need some help quick before I can only use the 1370 as a pollinator only,lol.

thanks for any help
Brooks

6/28/2005 10:19:54 AM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

You have an all you can eat worm buffet in you patch. Why tunnel in a hard compacted yard with a few worms. When the worms in your patch are plentiful and easy to catch.

6/28/2005 11:44:54 AM

Nashville, TN

Moles ate your grub problem... Worms are a good dessert!!

Few ideas:

Clip your dog and blend hair with dirt around perimeter of patch..... Get some more ally cats... Borrow a rat terrior (though he might dig the plant up too!)

For a 'barrier method' - dig trench around patch.. at leat 12" or deeper. put wire mesh in trench - all the way around... This works sell around my tulip beds (moles LOVE tulips!!!)

If you have continual mole problems... next year mix a whole bunch of daffodil bulbs in your garden.. Moles avoid them like the plague!

Good luck!

6/28/2005 12:07:40 PM

Montoursville, PA

Worms are the moles favorite and high percentage food. Grubs are secondary. Sometimes killing the grubs sends the moles packing for a better table next door.

Milky Spore kills grubs and lasts for up, to fifteen years, with one application. It is an organic approach. The spore kills only the grub. The diseased grub make millions of more spore. Fly in beetle are more than enough to keep the spore cycle working. for many years.

Grub X does the same thing while also killing worms and other forms, of life that depend, on worms, in the food chain. Not to mention poison run off by leaching. The worms play a major role, in supporting the good bacteria and fungi. So scratch at least a percentage of that biological support, in the soil. Therefore everything from bacteria, to the worm, in the food chain and biological community is attacked not just grubs.

6/28/2005 1:27:12 PM

Knopp, Germany

be happy they are not voles. not much help, but you know, could be worse brooks.

6/28/2005 1:36:33 PM

Pocatello ([email protected])

For me it's gophers. And I have noticed, this year I have
more worms (good!) but I also have much more gopher
activity (bad). For what it's worth, the gophers aren't
feeding on plants... yet!

You might want to look at talpirid.

www.talpirid.com

6/28/2005 3:37:10 PM

Ohio

Yea, I know Owen,only thing i can keep doing is hooking the hose up to my exhaust pipe on my 4 wheeler every time I see a new hole, seems like I go like 3 or 4 days with out any sign of em,then they are back again.Ill be more prepared next year. 1370 plant still doing good though,Moles dont seem like they are doing that much damage,but I cant see undergroud ether.(Maybe they are being careful and going around my roots instead of through them, maybe they are thoughful moles?)

6/28/2005 3:51:08 PM

Nashville, TN

They're being nice and areating and tilling the soil for you! Very thoughtful!

One of the ladies in my local gardening club - shreds garlic, daffodils and wild onions... then tills then into her soil every two weeks.. Granted her flower garden smells more like Italian cooking - but she has no moles nor golphers whereas her neighbor's yard is tore up with them! She doesn't have to supplement the Sulphur either...

6/28/2005 4:47:03 PM

I just found a mole run in my patch today too. I had my dad put traps out there. There is a recent message thread in the pests and diseases forum posted by Boom Boom. It shouldn't be too far down the list.

6/28/2005 6:04:00 PM

Hayes, Virginia

Brooks i feel your pain.
I wish i had a answer for you.
traps,bait you name it i have
tried it.
seems they like the smooth sailing
in the lose soil of the patch..
let me know if you find something that
works for you.
Ed

6/28/2005 6:53:04 PM

Sioux Falls, SD [email protected]

I've had trouble with moles for 3-4 yr. I can't get rid of them. . .if I put enough Grubex to kill worms they move into lawn, which isn't so bad. . . if they're just eating worms they don't tunnel quite so shallow to kill grass and make mess. But next spring when the worms move back into patch so do moles. I think they hurt your plants less later in summer because they're hunting worms farther down and not hitting many main roots. . .but I still want 'em dead!

I think talpirid is not available OTC here. . .not sure what it would cost to have someone come out and treat my lot. . .or how long it would last with that 40 acres of ancient unplowed brome behind me and moles is adjacent yards

This may come down to a total cilmate controlled greenhouse, enclosed above AND below.. . .with A/C and plexiglass for the hail of course

6/28/2005 6:59:30 PM

Follansbee, Wv

I have posted this somewhere before, but will again here. The best mole deterent is moth balls. If you spread moth balls around the outside of the patch, press them into the soil, and water well, the moles will leave (unless they are living in the patch). If you have a spare plant, try the mothballs around it, and see if it harms the plant. This does not kill the moles, but drives them away. I have no idea what it might do to a pumpkin plant, since I have never tried it.

The real trick is catching the moths and "snipping" them :) Just kidding. This really works. You could also try moth flakes, but they won't last as long.

6/28/2005 7:13:35 PM

Rhode Island

brooks
try playing a radio (fairly loud) next to the plant it may help

i know it keeps deer and such out of our patch

nothing like a dog chained up in the area though

dick

6/28/2005 8:27:54 PM

Sort of Sunny Sometimes, WA

Brooks, I used to feel that if you planted enough of something there would be enough for you and the slugs, deer, etc. . . After several years of moles, my general theory these days is, All Moles In My Yard Must Die.

6/28/2005 8:48:55 PM

[email protected]

Erin,

How is that Talpirid working for you? The local professionals are raving about it....so far.

After 10 months I am gaining confidence in this material but it will take another 6 months to a year before I am fully convinced. Too many false claims have come before.

The trial data all looks very good. I also like Bell Lab's test facility & protocol. But after so many bogus claims over the years, I will remain a sceptic until real world field use confirms Bell's claims.

Please keep us posted.

6/28/2005 10:13:49 PM

Sioux Falls, SD [email protected]

Mothballs are cheap enough. . .I can buy a lot of moth balls for what I've alreadt spent on poisons, baits, gas cartridges, traps. I think I'll get a few boxes and shove 'em in every hole I find

6/28/2005 11:57:04 PM

Napa Ca.

Only good remedy i have found is the 12 gauge, 3" prefered, bb shot. between 8:00am & 9:00am . Bring a chair,cup of coffee & aim low.

6/29/2005 12:30:14 AM

San Diego

castor oil mole and gopher repelent from gardens alive, works awesome! I was skeptical when I heard about it, but we tried it on two different occasions and the little varmints were gone in 12 hours and never returned. They hate the smell. Needs to be applied every 2 or 3 months as a soil drench. I used it this year before I planted as a soil drench in a big gopher area, no gophers so far:) It's the only thing I have found that really works good. Jimmy

6/29/2005 1:24:35 AM

Oz

Get a daisy wheel or a battery/wind/solar powered "blacksmith" that hammers on the "anvil".
My dad lived in FLA. and swore by the daisey.

The trenches I dig around my plants have caused the moles to dig deep.
The three days of rain flooded the critters tunnels and homes.
I found one washed up in the low spot...
ugly critter.All bald.YUCK...

6/29/2005 1:35:19 AM

Oz

If you electrified your patch,,,and drove up the worms,,
caught them and removed them,,,???,...
Less food,,moles move on?

6/29/2005 1:37:18 AM

Nashville, TN

I've got a 'mole terrior' that I could lend you **grin** - but she likes to catch 'fresh poultry' as well as rodents...

Got some semi-adult cats from a friend. She breeds those oriental bobtails - and gave me two that were born with tails (not worth much..) And let me tell you!!!! These 'mousing bastards' are catching barn swallows, Cargnals, mice, rabbits, moles, snakes, etc, etc!!! They're much more effective than my regular 'barn cats'.. all they want to do is hunt-hunt-hunt!!

So if all else fails - call a 'bobtail/manx' cat breeder and tell them you will give homes to their 'tailed' kittens...

6/29/2005 10:33:23 AM

Pocatello ([email protected])

Ha ha ha, this morning I went out and found the neighbor's
cat in my yard with a baby gopher in it's mouth!

Eat all you want, my friend! A good cat, that is what I need!

6/30/2005 3:32:10 PM

Pocatello ([email protected])

Just for the record, I'd rather have lots of worms and
gophers than no worms and gophers, anyday. You *must* have
worms in your soil!

6/30/2005 5:40:22 PM

Hensler North Dakota

Have you tryed trapping? This is what I did as a kid, got a $1 for each one trapped.
This is the model that I used.
http://www.rpoutdoors.com/gophertrap.html
Step 1. Locate the hole in the dirt mound.
2. Open the hole and dig it out deep enough to get you arm in about half way up to your elbow and large enough to fit your hand with closed fist in.
3. Set the trap with the trigger pan flush with the outside edge of the hole. Besure to stake your trap down or you will lose it.
4. This set works because the moles will push dirt in front of them trying to cover up the light source.
Good luck

7/1/2005 3:23:33 AM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

Brooks-I had a similar problem this year. I think the regular dose of molasses is attracting their food source. Doc Liggett and I discussed the situation and decided that, if no plant damage is occurring, don't worry about it. The secondary benefit is soil aeration. If you are determined, Doc says to poke a hole into the tunnel and insert a half stick of juicy fruit gum. Then cover the hole. He says that garbonzo beans will work, too----Joe Gerchy

7/2/2005 5:24:49 PM