One thing that I use is to get some Calcium Carbide and throw a few chunks down a hole and add water. Wait a few minutes and throw a match in. be sure to throw the match in and don't stand next to the hole. You'll loose your eyebrows. Calcium Carbide and water make acetylene gas. Same stuff the old miners used in Carbide lamps.
Getting rid of Moles/Voles
- Thread starter alltoys
- Start date
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Voles come into my yard for the winter, from the have fields around me. they do a lot of damage. I have had good success using:
"Sweeneys Original Poison Peanuts kill moles and gophers. Simply sprinkle Sweeneys onto the mound or in the tunnel. Contains pelleted Zinc Phosphate."
Any time the snow melts during the winter, I sprinkle some in the areas they are prone to visit.
"Sweeneys Original Poison Peanuts kill moles and gophers. Simply sprinkle Sweeneys onto the mound or in the tunnel. Contains pelleted Zinc Phosphate."
Any time the snow melts during the winter, I sprinkle some in the areas they are prone to visit.
ampsucker
Platinum Member
ok, have to chime in here.
i see three options:
1. poison or otherwise kill them. poison has obvious cons since you can hit non target species. killing them with the "trap" has never worked for me. my most effective way to target the moles only is a method i adapted from my grandpa. he used to hook the exhaust from his old jeep to the tunnels. i found a large four cylinder engine has too much power and will pop the surface tunnels. so, i adapted a much smaller hose to my weedwacker exhaust port. you can feed it in the burrow, let the weed eater sit there and run on idle for about 15 minutes and then move on to the next network of tunnels. gasses them with no collateral damage.
2. deter them which is hit or miss. i don't like killing the grubs in the lawn to get the moles to move on because this also kills many beneficial insects in the lawn such as worms and ants which are important for aeration and lawn health. castor bean powder and juice is sold as mole repellant but is not very effective in my experience. the sonic sticks and such seem like marketing fluff to me.
3. live with them. they are serving a useful ecological function by eating grubs and aerating your lawn. they do very little damage to the lawn unless you have a dog that digs for them. i find a tunnel disappears quickly once they are dont using it and it doesn't really bother me to have them do their work under ground in small numbers.
as far as voles, a couple of good cats will quickly get them to move on or become dinner. all young trees should be protected with hardware cloth for the first couple of years.
amp
i see three options:
1. poison or otherwise kill them. poison has obvious cons since you can hit non target species. killing them with the "trap" has never worked for me. my most effective way to target the moles only is a method i adapted from my grandpa. he used to hook the exhaust from his old jeep to the tunnels. i found a large four cylinder engine has too much power and will pop the surface tunnels. so, i adapted a much smaller hose to my weedwacker exhaust port. you can feed it in the burrow, let the weed eater sit there and run on idle for about 15 minutes and then move on to the next network of tunnels. gasses them with no collateral damage.
2. deter them which is hit or miss. i don't like killing the grubs in the lawn to get the moles to move on because this also kills many beneficial insects in the lawn such as worms and ants which are important for aeration and lawn health. castor bean powder and juice is sold as mole repellant but is not very effective in my experience. the sonic sticks and such seem like marketing fluff to me.
3. live with them. they are serving a useful ecological function by eating grubs and aerating your lawn. they do very little damage to the lawn unless you have a dog that digs for them. i find a tunnel disappears quickly once they are dont using it and it doesn't really bother me to have them do their work under ground in small numbers.
as far as voles, a couple of good cats will quickly get them to move on or become dinner. all young trees should be protected with hardware cloth for the first couple of years.
amp
horsebroke
Bronze Member
I don't mean to "hijack" this thread, but what about Prairie Dogs? We have horses, and if a horse steps in a prairied dog hole, it's a good chance he can break a leg. NOT GOOD.
So, can one use the same methods previously discussed for Moles/Voles on Prairie Dogs?
I don't want to use any kind of poison. Too much collateral damage possible to critters who might eat the dead.
thx
So, can one use the same methods previously discussed for Moles/Voles on Prairie Dogs?
I don't want to use any kind of poison. Too much collateral damage possible to critters who might eat the dead.
thx
charlz
Elite Member
I don't think PERC (pressurized exhaust rodent control) or a propane system (Rodenator etc) would. They leave their burrows open and the gasses would just escape. PERC might if it tends to settle to the low areas. I think your best bet is a .22
charlz
Elite Member
I forgot to add you might have luck with a PDV..... Prairie Dog Vacuum 
I saw this almost 15 years ago as a 'humane' removal. The guy bought a used vacuum truck from the local city. He would just stuff the pipe down a hole and turn it on. They had a video camera in the back of the truck and sure enough they would come flying in. Environmental groups were mixed as some got broken legs etc. He would just drive the truck somewhere else and drop them off. Seems to me a couple smoke bombs and a big hole would be the way to go.
I saw this almost 15 years ago as a 'humane' removal. The guy bought a used vacuum truck from the local city. He would just stuff the pipe down a hole and turn it on. They had a video camera in the back of the truck and sure enough they would come flying in. Environmental groups were mixed as some got broken legs etc. He would just drive the truck somewhere else and drop them off. Seems to me a couple smoke bombs and a big hole would be the way to go.
ampsucker
Platinum Member
The Sturm-Ruger company makes a wonderful prairie dog eradication tool.
It's called the Ruger 10/22. Equipped with a decent scope and the high velocity, soft point rimfire cartridge of your choice, you can eradicate your primary target with very little if any collateral damage and at a very low cost per unit.
Not as effective on your typical mole or vole due to the size and underground/nocturnal nature of the target.
amp
It's called the Ruger 10/22. Equipped with a decent scope and the high velocity, soft point rimfire cartridge of your choice, you can eradicate your primary target with very little if any collateral damage and at a very low cost per unit.
Not as effective on your typical mole or vole due to the size and underground/nocturnal nature of the target.
amp
spruce Deere
Veteran Member
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I second ampsuckers sugggestion!!!
pitt_md
Veteran Member
I have read where the Rodex went out of business (lawsuits). the Rodenator works but you have to keep after them. I have one but last year I was building a new house and didn't have time to use it. Now my yard looks like a war zone...
pitt_md
Veteran Member
charlz, the Rodenator works because the gases will go way down in the ground where the dens are. you find the tunnel and expose it and pump the gas mixture in and light it up. You don't need to pulg the tunnels.