A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 gophers/moles

any ideas on how to get rid of gophers or moles? I live in Los Angeles, across the street from a Golf Course, and we have had many little critters attacking our back yard...Help..!!! If there is another way to "get rid" of them, other than killing them (don't want to do that)...someone please let me know.

Howdy Flipper, and WELCOME to TGH, Hello from the GOPHER STATE!! did ya know that Minnesota IS the Gopher State? look it up! We set up two reinforcement rods, about 4' long ,driven into the ground about 3/4 of the way,and 8' apart. Run a wire through holes in two tin cans and hook one end to one rod and the other to the second, usually scares em' off by wind power, but I give the contraption a kick when ever I walk by, results: no gophers in my yard,at all. Cosmetic value? well some folks paint the contraption pretty colors!

Hi,flipper
I always grow castor bean for the beautiful foliage,but it repels moles

good luck Shari

Flipper,
That's what I was going to say, is what Duckie said, well actually, another one of our gardeners says he plants it, Alankhart has it and says it's very good for it, maybe he'll slide through and see this post????

But, I might also add to the mix is.............
Is it posible to go acrossed the street to the
golf course and ask them, I'd bet they have a remedy for them, I mean after all, look at all that lawn they take care of, would make sense they'd have some trick up their sleeve........

You never know, it might be worth a try!!
Would you please let us know if you do any of these suggestions, to get back to us and let us know the out come *good or bad* we'd love to hear about it, so, furture gardeners that come along, and read this post, may also read up on the follow up!!! Thank~You very much if you do!!!!

Weezie

P.S. Do you garden??? Just curious???

P.S.S. By the way Flipper, Welcome to The Garden Helper's Forum!! We're glad you found us!!
I hope you enjoy your time here and come back
often with as many questions as you have!!!
Lot's of good sections here...so, have a good read and catch up on all the posts!!!

Phil, I think I 've seen you post about this "contraption" before, right? We've got something digging holes in the back yard, and I like the idea, but am wondering if the noise would bother my dogs too? Could they or the kiddos hurt themselves on it? Do you have any pictures posted?

Flipper...good luck getting rid of the gophers without killing them.
My cats get a few....poison imbedded deep within the soil with the probe gets a few....but I am still fighting them. Neighbor across the street dug a deep hole and placed a spring trap....that got a few of them from my yard as well...(they made a run under the asphalt road to his house)...received some castor bean seeds from plants n' pots and going to get those planted Sunday...but that won't take care of the whole yard (but will help around the fruit trees)....

My aunt told me about placing pieces of unchewed (guess chewed would work as well) juicy fruit gum just inside the hole....they eat it and well lets just say....it plugs them up and they die under ground....at least you wouldn't see it!

I really don't know how you would get rid of them without killing them....they are very prolific breeders and they have tunnels which are VERY deep with little coves at different levels in case they get saturated with water. They also have runs that can go approx. a mile.
Unless you plan on having major vibrations on your property on an hourly basis I know of no other way of getting rid of them.

If you find a way to get rid of gophers without hurting them let us know because there are thousands of people out there that would like to know your secret!!!!
Catlover

Rellie, No, I Don't have a picture for you, The "contraption" is quite passive, only a suttle clinking sound when the wind blows, the action that repels the moles is the vibrations that go down the reinforcement rods into the earth, The lil Pinwheels you can purchase

Phil...how many of these do you need per acre???

Excellent Question! I might add for Rellie also that I would have, and will, have a pic to look at as soon as the GROUND isn't frozen,I need to re-install, I move this contraption around and the move at the end of the season is inside!

Hi y'all,
I joined TGH the other day because I have quite the mole problem, (by 'quite', I mean numerous and over a large area), and I've tried (I consider) virtually everything to get rid of the little suckers, with no results. And don't laugh too hard, but I even spent a few pretty pennies on some stinky imperial bulbs that were supposed to deter the creatures, but of course that didn't work!
Any suggestions or ideas on how to just get rid of these maddening mini-beasts would be greatly appreciated! (As you may tell, I'm about at my wits end!)
Thanks to all,
Chris

Chris the contraption I explained above keeps the moles away also, and out of range of the CONTRAPTION, well I have a well so it's cost feasible, but I stick the hose in the burrows and LET IT RUN... did this twice and a virtual maze of moles left and never came back. The juicy fruit gum, rolled up and stuck in the burrows is suppose to work, but i heard that you must wear plastic or rubber gloves to keep the human scent off of the gum!

There are some plants that may discourage some critters, the Caster bean and some Euphorbia.

a link on moles, voles and other holes..

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/mecklenburg/depts/hort/wild/moles.html

Thanks for the link, Barbi! It's very informative. Also, I'm going to look for the plants you recommended. Thanks again!

Chris

My husband's grandfather, who was an avid gardener, swears by moth balls. He throws them down the mole holes & also plants a few around the perimeter of all of his flower garden beds. He says they keep them away for an entire season, but you have to redo the mothball treatment each planting season. He also has a small ornamental windmill in the center of his veggie garden, he says the underground sound vibration drives moles away. He says he doesn't feel safe planting the moth balls around plants he is going to harvest as food. He is unsure if it would cause a problem with his herbs & veggies, but he doesn't want to take the chance. So the windmill is the only thing he uses in the edibles garden. I will say he has a most beautiful yard & not a mole tunnel in it anywhere that I can see even though his neighbors are plagued with them. I am going to give it a try this year myself.

Chrissy

this was posted in Wild Willy's forum on April 12, 2004 09:51 PM by krmiller Member # 2223 Sorry I didn't catch it and move it here sooner!

To flipper gardener[gophers and moles]I got this from my grandmother,a recipe to make them move.Abottle of cod liver oil and the hottest ,crushed peppers around.Mix together in a two-liter bottle{I mean shake it,baby!Go to where they have made new burrows and take a sharp object to make a hole the size of a pencil,[wear disposible gloves] and pour a third of it in,do the same the next day,but farther down,and leave with a"job",well done.I forgot the...........grin on your face any gopher would hate.