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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2015 17:54:42 GMT
My neighbor has asked me for the last five years how I control the moles/voles problem. I always answered that I didn't have a problem - till now. I have tunnels all over my lawn. Help!
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kritter
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Post by kritter on Mar 23, 2015 18:06:28 GMT
Yikes, thank goodness we don't have those critters here.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2015 18:13:58 GMT
My grandson has been putting his Hot Wheels in the "garages and tunnels" and forgetting they're in there! I dread cutting the grass...
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Post by sunsetpainter on Mar 23, 2015 18:21:47 GMT
We had a lot of moles one year and DH got some agricultural smoke bombs and put 4 or 5 in their tunnels. That took care of them, but smelled awful!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2015 18:46:26 GMT
Sunset my older daughter just said the same. I'm definitely going to try it on the front lawn. Bombs away!
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kritter
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Post by kritter on Mar 23, 2015 21:09:50 GMT
We need a video of them staggering out of the tunnels with watery eyes and their hands in the air in surrender.  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2015 21:14:42 GMT
We need a video of them staggering out of the tunnels with watery eyes and their hands in the air in surrender. With my luck they'll hop in the Hot Wheels and head for new, non-tunneled ground and set up camp! |
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Post by sunsetpainter on Mar 23, 2015 22:59:44 GMT
I'm really not trying to make fun of him, but DH first tried those little colored smoke balls you can get around the 4th of July. There were little puffs of colored smoke coming up through the grass. I was trying so hard not to laugh! Then he got those other ones that lasted for about 7 - 10 minutes each. He'd light one and put it in the tunnel and stomp down on it to seal it in. The smoke coming through wasn't colored but smelled like 50 dozen rotten eggs were dropped on the lawn. One must have been in a shorter tunnel because smoke started pouring out from the grass about 30 feet away. It did take care of the moles that year.
We have lots of fun when it comes to critter removal!
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val2525
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Post by val2525 on Mar 23, 2015 23:18:47 GMT
The visual I have of the colored smoke bombs, sunset…… Not to mention the visual of little moles driving out of the ground in matchbox car…..LMAO!  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2015 23:25:19 GMT
I'm really not trying to make fun of him, but DH first tried those little colored smoke balls you can get around the 4th of July. There were little puffs of colored smoke coming up through the grass. I was trying so hard not to laugh! Then he got those other ones that lasted for about 7 - 10 minutes each. He'd light one and put it in the tunnel and stomp down on it to seal it in. The smoke coming through wasn't colored but smelled like 50 dozen rotten eggs were dropped on the lawn. One must have been in a shorter tunnel because smoke started pouring out from the grass about 30 feet away. It did take care of the moles that year. We have lots of fun when it comes to critter removal! I had to chuckle at the image of colored smoke coming up from the lawn! Yikes don't the real smoke bombs sound appealing though? I'll put up with that if when the odor is gone the moles go as well. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2015 2:15:20 GMT
I'm having Caddy Shack flashbacks right now.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2015 2:32:43 GMT
From what we've been told (ours are insanely bad this year) it means you have a bunch of grubs in your dirt and the moles/voles are coming to a rich food source. Get rid of the grubs and you will get rid of the moles. Makes sense, I didn't treat the lawn last fall like I usually do with seven dust to kill out the grubs. There are mornings where I literally have 15 to 20 new tunnels and holes. It's crazy. My dog tracks them, even though they are under ground she can find them. Then she'll point to the spot they are and if you stand there and watch you can see the grass being pushed up where they are under it. If they come up too far she dives in after them.
We had one in our house the other day, was like something out of a comedy movie watching me and DS try to catch it and put it back outside.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2015 14:50:06 GMT
Your neighbors voles found their way into your yard. They will eat the roots of your lawn. They are destructive and nasty.
The best way to get rid of them is to find where they started their little pathways. Usually under a shrub or somewhere hidden. Clear out that area - get rid of debris and such. Sprinkle some bait in that area under the shrubs (start of pathway). Go through, with gloves, and sprinkle some of the bait into the runway holes. If you follow the runway you should see a few openings.
If you have animals or young kiddos in the area, then you might want to use a bait cover.
Your neighbors have to do the same thing. If all they're doing is preventative - meaning keep keeping the voles away, then they're just shoving them elsewhere. Those little suckers reproduce FAST.
You have to do this repeatedly because of how fast they reproduce.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2015 14:50:59 GMT
The main goal is to get a few of them to bring the bait back to the family and share a last meal.
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Post by sunsetpainter on Mar 25, 2015 17:14:32 GMT
I'm having Caddy Shack flashbacks right now. That's probably where he got the idea!  |
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kritter
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Post by kritter on Mar 26, 2015 16:19:05 GMT
Thank goodness I am not blessed with those pests.
I just ordered a sump pump to pump the rainwater out of the cement hole formerly known as a fish pond. Usually I bail it out by hand but I am throwing in the towel on that opportunity this year.
Have got to get it pumped out before the skeeters hit.
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kritter
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Post by kritter on Mar 31, 2015 19:00:25 GMT
Got my sump pump yesterday and drained the cement pond this morning. I can't believe I never thought of doing that before.
The level is down to about an inch and the sun should take care of that. May get rain this week but bring it on. I have my pump.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2015 2:59:25 GMT
We lived out in the country and my parents always sat in a lawnchair with a beer and a shotgun and waited for the earth to move. Then they shot the tunnel. Not condoning shooting the little fellows but it is probably a quicker end then poisoning or trapping.
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val2525
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Post by val2525 on Aug 17, 2015 3:10:20 GMT
Dang that's a funny visual. |
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Post by sunsetpainter on Aug 17, 2015 15:13:57 GMT
(Forgive me if I've told this one before)
DH went to the store for me one day because they had birdseed on sale. While he was there, he also picked up a 6-pack of beer and 2 boxes of shotgun shells. The cashier gave him the weirdest look. He asked her what was the matter. She said to him, "Do you know how this looks (his purchases)?" Took a minute for it to sink into his head. We still laugh about that!
ETA: Just to clarify, we don't shoot birds unless they are the "clay pigeon" type used in trap/skeet shooting.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2015 16:35:08 GMT
Shooting them totally sounds like something my relatives would do, including the beer and lawn chairs LOL Ours seem to mostly be gone for the summer, only a new spot here or there now, guess the grubs are gone. I did notice wood rats running across the highway the other day. About 6 or 7 years ago our town go overrun by Norwegian wood rats, huge ones, like puppy size. That was the first year we ever saw them and I've been here 30+ years. They were so bad when it rained and flooded the ditches the roads would be covered with drowned rats. Now it seems like every couple of years they surge again, didn't see any last year so I guess this is the year. Ewwwwwww
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