Gopher Killing

[Gsquared]

I have seen a few threads on TBN about how to get rid of gophers or moles, there are lots of suggestions, but none have been really effective if you have more than a few acres. I only have 42 acres, but I must have thousands of moles. The hills have made the ground so uneven that I was not able to get the custom hay guy to cut my hay this year. After talking to the profs at A&M they recommended a gopher plow. These plows dig a small trench, insert a small amount of poisoned grain and close up the hole making a tunnel. The moles/gophers find the soft dirt and then the grain and then ... well a lot less moles.

Easton makes one that is a little less than $2000. but I found this one at Jaegers in Giddings Texas for $925. This plow is made by armstrong ag out of Brenham and it is really stout. If you look closely at the picture of the tube you will notice that it is plugged with dirt. This is called learning. It happened when I first ran it over some harder ground for about 30 feet and it did not go in to the correct depth. After hitting the sand of my hay field the plow looked great and running the tractor for about 30 min, I checked the grain level and realized that something was wrong because all the grain was still there. After I took a break, took the pictures and cleaned the tube. I started over and did 12 acres in less than an hour without any issues. Anyway I really like this thing and thought I would share.

 

[RadarTech]

that is great for pastures... but us rock filled mountain folk are stuck with the plinking with the ole rifle!!!!:thumbsup:

J

 

[Hawghauler]

that is great for pastures... but us rock filled mountain folk are stuck with the plinking with the ole rifle!!!!:thumbsup:

J

Some guys have all the fun. A 22 works fine but the visuals from a 308 are far more interesting.

 

[Egon]

Seeing as your hayfield is uneven and will need work? before it gets hayed again cultivation sounds in order.

Cultivation will move all them burrowing critters over to the neighbours field.:thumbsup:

 

[om21braz]

that is great for pastures... but us rock filled mountain folk are stuck with the plinking with the ole rifle!!!!:thumbsup:

J

Lead poisoning them sure is addictive.

 

[MossRoad]

Moles are carnivores. They do not eat grain. Gophers... we have no gophers in our part of Indiana, so I can't comment on them.

 

[Luremaker]

We use the trusty .22 on our ground hogs.

 

[beenthere]

For moles, I've found the plastic/rubbery poison worms work very well.

This ground wouldn't work well with the seed planter, but it looks cool.

 

[scootr2d]

Two years ago we had a lot of moles, - once I moved the barn waste and compost pile to a more centralized and accessible area on the property the moles seemed to follow. Easier Grub, snail , worm and larvae pickings I guess. The holes and mounds have definitely diminished anyway.

Make sure they are moles , if they are voles , you will see signs of plant and shrub and tree damage you may not have moles but voles.

I occasionally still see signs of moles around the property , but it has diminished quite a bit over the last two years.

On the other hand what I need now is a good barn cat. My neighbors and good friends are moving.
Whiskey their large orange tabby and quite the hunter, considered it his duty to visit my barn regularly and
help control the mice population but all good things must come to an end I guess. Whiskey is heading to Utah in a few weeks ..so now I need a replacement.

Too bad really , I was enjoying all the selfish benefits with none of the true responsibilities of Whiskey ownership. Do people ever really own cats ? or do the cats really own people?

 

[MossRoad]

Something to be said for this idea.



They also tend to be woodland creatures, not open fields.

Yeah. We have a large, old 5 acre woods behind us. I killed well over 200 moles in a 5 year period on our 1 acre. That woods is a mole factory!