How to get rid of moles without doing anything!

[ponytug]

Just a second - I'll have to go look. Ok - pic worth 1K words. I get it locally at Northern Ag Supply. Open up the mound - find the run - couple spoon-fulls down the run - cover back up with the mound dirt. This five pound tub cost $26. At my rate of use - it will last 4-5 years.
View attachment 881174

I am sure that you are careful with it, and I would be especially careful with that stuff, as the active ingredient (zinc phosphide) is very toxic, and needs to be kept dry. It produces phosphine gas.

Minimum container size is 5lbs, per the pesticide regulations to discourage home use due to the toxicity...An 11 year old died when a neighbor used a related compound to try and kill bedbugs.

Woman who killed girl with bedbug poison spared jail

Fatiha Sabrin died on her 11th birthday when she was poisoned accidentally by her neighbour.

www.bbc.com

All the best,

Peter

 

[oosik]

ponytug - now you have me wondering. Did the pocket gophers die because they ate the granules or because phosphine gas developed in their runs. The soil WAS damp when I used this stuff.

As I hoped/expected. No more gopher mounds and no gophers ever came to the surface and died.

This tub is stored high and dry and in a location only I can get to.

 

[ponytug]

ponytug - now you have me wondering. Did the pocket gophers die because they ate the granules or because phosphine gas developed in their runs. The soil WAS damp when I used this stuff.

As I hoped/expected. No more gopher mounds and no gophers ever came to the surface and died.

This tub is stored high and dry and in a location only I can get to.

I suspect that they all died from the phosphine gas. Applying zinc phosphide when the soil is damp is, I think, the desired time as the moisture helps produce phosphine gas, and the damp soil seals the gas into the runs better. The descriptions of the mechanism of action for zinc phosphide, and related aluminum and calcium phosphides, all mention phosphine gas production as the lethal measure. Apparently rats are actually attracted to the smell of impure phosphine.

I'm not generally a fan of poisons in general, but to me one plus to phosphide poisons is that the carcasses aren't generally that toxic to predators, as the phosphides decompose quickly, and phosphine gas is so reactive, forming phosphoric acid, that very little is left in the remains.

All the best,

Peter

 

[oosik]

The pocket gopher mounds got so plentiful - my yards looked like a practice area for the Armies Light Artillery Brigade.

For the last three years I used traps. I would get 35 to 45 of the critters. But the number of mounds kept increasing. For every one I would trap - two more were out in the brush. Waiting to "come on down".

I really do hate poisons but as long as they work and the dead remain buried - I guess I can live with that.

Brownie never digs and I keep an eye on the activities of the coyotes. I've never had a coyote pay any attention to a pocket gopher. At least, not in my yards.

 

[MossRoad]

Just a second - I'll have to go look. Ok - pic worth 1K words. I get it locally at Northern Ag Supply. Open up the mound - find the run - couple spoon-fulls down the run - cover back up with the mound dirt. This five pound tub cost $26. At my rate of use - it will last 4-5 years.
View attachment 881174

You just have to be patient and drop the 5 pound bucket at the right time...

 

[WinterDeere]

All the moles went into your neighbors' yard to eat.

You don't want to kill them, so much as fill them with self-doubt, as to whether they're in the right yard?

Allectus applied mid-June is usually a recommended treatment for grubs, and will also knock the tick population back to near-zero. Dosing is such that it should be done only once per year, as max safe dosage is only 2x effective dosage. Usually packaged and sold as a granular product with your regularly-scheduled June round of fertilizer.

 

[ponytug]

I could never get ahead of pocket gophers with traps either. I would catch lots, but the veggies and flowers would just disappear overnight. Out here, I hadn't really considered using poison as we have too many things that might eat carcasses above ground, or below ground. If we ever go back to raising veggies, I might have a rethink. When we lived in town, I did use an underground bait dispenser.

I've seen our cats, and dogs get pocket gophers when the gophers surface to "toss out the garbage and spoils". The cats eat them; our dogs have been more trophy collectors, but our recent dog has been pretty good at catching mice on the run, so I wouldn't be betting on her.

All the best,

Peter