Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Cultivation => Cultivation Problems => Topic started by: John85 on February 10, 2011, 12:25:43 PM
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As strong poisons are no longer for sale does anybody have a effective way of getting rid of the moles .
I trap them but they invade from my neigbour pasture quicker than I can catch them .The sonicdevices don't work.The naphthaline balls send them just a few meters away just under the next precious plant.Has somebody tried poisening worms with a plant juice like digitalis or aconitum.I am NOT joking.May be there is a pharmacist among the members who can help.
Desperate gardener.
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John the only way is to keep trapping them until there are none left. As soon as they find that a run is empty one of the remaining moles will take it over, so every time you get rid of one that will be one less. Otherwise you could have a word with your neighbour about the problem you are having and pay for a professional to come in and eradicate them yourself - it will probably be worth it for a quicker solution. Good luck ???
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John:
Have a look.
http://www.extension.org/pages/Pocket_Gopher_Damage_Management
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In my experience, people recommend "mole trees", Euphorbia lathyris, and the moles seemed to leave the garden alone after these were planted, but not necessarily cause and effect.
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From my own experience, I must warn you against getting rid of the moles. In my first garden, we had some, and my husband just couldn't stand them. He trapped them again and again (I sometimes could save them and carry them to an out-of-the-village new home, but not all...).
The result? Three years later there were hardly any left, but...the VOLES took over the now desert galeries...and they started to do a lot more damage than the moles, as they ate the roots of the plants (moles disturb them, but only look for worms, in fact).
Popular wisdom, in my village, taught me to try to live with the moles. Once they have settled in, and dug enough galleries for their hunt, they only dig a new gallery occasionnally, and living together proved acceptable...
But your situation might be different, I'm not trying to say it is always possible...
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A friend has tried poison, shotguns etc etc. Paid a lot of money for a molecatcher to come in and gas them. All efforts are only temporary; new moles move in to vacant land. I think gritted teeth and learning to live with them are the only options - tell yourself how useful all than finely worked soil will be for potting mixtures and if you are lucky enough to see one, moles are very beautiful!
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thank you all
Zephirine I don't fear the voles.For those I have what is needed to control them.
Euphorbia doesn't work.I have tried that.
I don't know if zinc phosphide is available here.Thanks for telling me.I'll try to find it!!!!!
Gas is very tricky to use( and expensive) as the mole make quickly a stopper in his passages.
Has anybody tried more smelly things than naphtaline balls.I tried exhaust gasses.Ii worked for....two days.
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Maybe this ancient Jasper Carrot will make the problem seem funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fePU5CIHpas
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John:
I once saw a dispenser for zinc phosphide. It was an inverted 'T' made of PVC. It was wired to a post. The size of the opening only allowed a small mole sized creature to enter. The zinc phosphide was stored in the long part of the 'T' This prevent any accidental animals from getting the zinc.
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In my experience, people recommend "mole trees", Euphorbia lathyris, and the moles seemed to leave the garden alone after these were planted, but not necessarily cause and effect.
Besides, Euphorbia lathyris, while handsome as a young-to-mature plant, especially in a colony, looks very scruffy as it begins to set seed and the seed gets EVERYWHERE, by the thousands. The latex-like juice from the stems burns too.
John you could follow Anthony's excample and emigrate to New Zealand. We have no moles. :D
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Thanks for the Jasper Carrot link David. I hadn't met him before. People running from all over the house to see what the roars of laughter are about. Insurance claims. ;D ;D ;D
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Is there any chance of digging a deep ditch between you and your neighbour. They don't care for water as it floods their tunnels and the soil at the base of the ditch is two soggy for burrows.
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Maybe this ancient Jasper Carrot will make the problem seem funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fePU5CIHpas
David,
I laughed oneself to tears ;D
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Lesley
Your immigrating services refuse visas for people older than 45!!!!!!!!
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John,
I don't have a prove it works but according to an old advisor book moles dislike the smell of human and dogs hair.
The advice is to fill the mole holes with unwashed hair. The smell shall evict the moles.
How many days it is effective and how often you have to replace the hair wasn't mentioned.
Maybe it is a soft way to eliminate the problem. Worth a trial I believe.
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John - I had pretty good luck with this device until the battery went dead. I was trying to protect one vulnerable plant so I can't say what its range is.
http://www.gardenfun.com/exhart-gopher-repellent.html (http://www.gardenfun.com/exhart-gopher-repellent.html)
johnw
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I just found a special type of trap on the net.It is a harpoon trap that allows you to catch the moles in their shallow hunting tunnels and so doubling(at least) your chances.
Unfortunately I found no supplier in Europe.
Has anybody any experience with this type of trap?
Please have a look at www.themoleman.com/control.htm
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Thanks for the Jasper Carrot link David. I hadn't met him before. People running from all over the house to see what the roars of laughter are about. Insurance claims. ;D ;D ;D
I though this was going to be a link to a cover by JC of the wonderful song the Manchester Molecatcher by the Phenomenal BW Wrigley...it wasn't, but I enjoyed it anyway!
There are certain advantages with living in a cold climate where the weather freezes out any attempts by moles and rabbits to colonise...
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Lesley
Your immigrating services refuse visas for people older than 45!!!!!!!!
That can't be right. Anthony Darby just came here and he is in his late fifties. He has been granted permanent residence, with family and dog.