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leslie christian
Member
Username: Leslie1
Post Number: 12
Registered: 8-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 - 8:25 pm: |   |
I have several molehills in my turnout. I cant see any actual holes, just mounds of dirt. Has anyone had this problem? Any ideas if its still ok to turn my horse out in there? I heard moles are hard to get rid of  |
Hally
Member
Username: Hally
Post Number: 61
Registered: 7-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 - 10:42 pm: | |
Yes my horses certainly have been boarded in places over the years where the gopher and mole population was a bit scary, however strangely the horses never seemed to get injured. Just luck or perhaps they pay more attention than we give them credit for. Its the badger holes that really scare me! Of course I am not to keen about meeting a badger either! |
Sullivan's Cutting Horses
Member
Username: Sully
Post Number: 77
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 - 11:37 pm: | |
Could be pocket gophers too. There is a product called the rodenator or something like that. It puts a gas mixture into the hole and then ignites the gas collapsing the hole and killing the gopher at the same time. Good luck!!
Sully |
Fran C
Member
Username: Canter
Post Number: 716
Registered: 1-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, Oct 25, 2006 - 8:33 am: | |
My husband has been trying to get rid of the moles in our yard for years. He's tried everything - and I do mean everything- with no success. If you get rid of those moles in your turnout, Leslie, I'd be very interested to hear how you did it! |
Holly Wood
Member
Username: Hwood
Post Number: 1552
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, Oct 25, 2006 - 9:03 am: | |
Fran, did he try the RODENATOR? The thought of what happens to the little creatures underground when I've watched the videos of the RODENATOR at work is so horrifying that I shock myself by laughing . . . Probably because I wouldn't want anything that awful to happen to me! When we saw it demonstrated at the World Farm Show in Tulare, CA, last year, the fellow doing the demonstrating was TRULY enjoying it. He had fake, dead Prairie dogs draped all over the booth . . . complete with fake blood . . .
For the fanatical hunter, it is a way to keep hunting all year . . . in season and out . . . and shooting underground is probably a lot safer for the rest of us. |
Fran C
Member
Username: Canter
Post Number: 718
Registered: 1-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, Oct 25, 2006 - 1:08 pm: | |
Hmm, Holly, not sure if he tried the Rodenator, but he did try a horrific looking device straight out of the Inquisition. You put it in the mole hole and a guillotine like device, triggered by motion, sends a spike through the unfortunate critter....or something like that. Frankly, I didn't want to know the details as I tend to have a soft heart, even for the pests. Fortunately for the moles (unfortunately for my lawn), the device didn't work and to my knowledge, my husband was unable to eliminate a single pest using the thing. It's been collecting dust in the garage now for a couple of years.... |
Karen Trojnar
Member
Username: Karent
Post Number: 33
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, Oct 25, 2006 - 1:31 pm: | |
We have alot of prairie dogs and someone told us to try very used, urine soaked cat litter. It works well if you only have a small rodent problem. It worked in the holes by our barn. They moved out, but took up residence in our arena. There are so many holes there (we have a very large arena, 1 acre), I don't think we can get enough used cat litter to take care of all of them. We were thinking about buying a Rodenator to use next spring. I hate to do it, but it gets tiresome filling holes for 1/2 a day just to ride in the arena for a couple of hours. |
Cheryl Kallenbach
Member
Username: Cheryl
Post Number: 183
Registered: 2-2000
| | Posted on Thursday, Oct 26, 2006 - 9:06 am: | |
Fran - when we were in ND our neighbor used plain old rat traps for the moles in his yard. If you just have a few it works. We had three areas where they were making their pretty little mounds. Just dig into an area they are currently working - set the trap and cover the hole with a piece of wood. They will often cover the trap - and they can do a great job of that - but if you persist you will get them. I ended up trapping about 10 of them that way. Don't like to kill anything but they can destroy a lawn in no time at all.
Cheryl |
Hally
Member
Username: Hally
Post Number: 63
Registered: 7-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, Oct 26, 2006 - 10:34 am: | |
There is only one thing that I find disturbing about using a large rat trap. The fact that it can catch other critters that I dont want to kill. In a pasture situation use what ever method works best for your area, knowing full well that it will only be a temporary measure. Unfortunately living with gophers and moles seems to be part of country living. Promoting the existence of other natural predators I think is the best "pest" control. The area that I keep my horses in does not allow any firearms and there is an abundance of coyotes and hawks. |
Cheryl Kallenbach
Member
Username: Cheryl
Post Number: 186
Registered: 2-2000
| | Posted on Thursday, Oct 26, 2006 - 11:19 am: | |
Hally - the rat traps are set underground in the mole tunnel and the access to the trap from above is covered with a board with rock on it. Never caught anything but moles. We had hawks, owls, eagles, both Bald and Golden, plus coyotes and weasels, but they mostly went after the pheasants, quail and cats. Owls are really bad on cat populations.
Cheryl |
Hally
Member
Username: Hally
Post Number: 64
Registered: 7-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, Oct 26, 2006 - 12:37 pm: | |
I must admit if I had a choice in eating either a pheasant or a mole, I would have to pick the pheasant also! |
Fran C
Member
Username: Canter
Post Number: 721
Registered: 1-2000
| | Posted on Friday, Oct 27, 2006 - 8:04 am: | |
I think the underground critters are pretty immune to wild predators. I too have hawks, owls and coyotes and those moles have made hash of my lawn. My husband makes a heroic effort each spring and fall to get it looking good but it's a lost cause. I've given up on planting bulbs as the chipmonks ravage what's planted and whatever survives is prey to bunnies and deer (the deer eat the heads of tulips without fail one day before they are in full bloom so I end up with a garden of pathetic stems). I think I have the fattest owls and hawks on the planet but they can't keep up.
But, Hally, you're right. The hassle of all the critters is well worth watching a doe nurse her twins or the sound of the owls hooting on a cold night. I wouldn't trade it for the world (or a perfect lawn!) |
