Moles or Gophers in Yard?
Question:Either have moles or gophers in my yard, I am not sure which I have and really don't care. All I know is that which ever one it is, it is destroying my yard and landscaping. Does anyone know of anything that actually works on these creatures, I have already spent hundreds of dollars on these D*** pests, and nothing has worked so far. They are destorying a yard. As all gardeners know gardening is not a cheap lobby.
Answers:
Go to the garden center and buy Mole Plants (caper spurge) and plant a few of them. That works for moles.
Gophers like to burrow, so plant some scilla bulbs. The flower keeps them at bay.
Actually, it does matter what the pest is. Moles rarely "destroy" yards, but gophers can and do.
I think you have gophers and they are a pain to control, but control you must or, as you have pointed out, the cost can start to mount.
I can tell you what generally DOESN'T work: flooding (waste of water), gassing (not concentrated enough), bombing (just chases them deeper underground or into your neighbors yard, and then they return). So, you can save your money on any of those ideas.
Poisoning does work because the gophers eat the poison and die underground - no muss, no fuss. However, sometimes they don't. If that happens, they just get really sick and disoriented and come above ground where pets and/or wildlife feed on them, and then the pets/wildlife get poisoned from that. Getting the poison into the burrow requires a special poison-placement stake that puts the poison below ground and in the path of the gopher. So, poison and the stake cost around $40.
Traps work, but gophers aren'ts stupid. If the traps aren't positioned just right, gophers will burrow around them or simply avoid them altogether. Some traps are really hard to set. Some require finding a shallow burrow and then covering it up, which often triggers off the trap - very frustrating. The best trap I have used (caught four gophers off of it in a week) is marketed as "The Black Box". It's not foolproof, but it's better than most and it's easier to set up. I think it costs about $14.00 and is available at most hardware and home improvement stores.
Hope that helps.
NOTE: Moles (and voles) have shallow burrows and might raise up the ground noticeably, but usually don't create mounds of dirt like gophers do. That's usually the distinction. Moles also eat mostly soil pests and leave plants alone. They may beneficially aeriate the soil. If there are too many of them, however, they pull soil away from the roots of plants and shrubs so that in hot weather, the plant may wither a bit. But, digging around such a plant and filling in the burrows, followed by a deep soaking will bring it back.
Try sprinkling castor oil around their holes. Both gophers and moles do not like castor oil.
One recipe is as follows: Repellent. In a glass jar mix 1/2 cup of Castor oil, 1 teaspoon of Tabasco sauce and a few drops of peppermint oil with about a cup of water. Shake well to create an emulsion. Dip cotton balls into the mixture and stick the balls into active gopher holes near plants that you want to protect. Be sure to wear gloves!
Or add one-half cup Castor Oil (available at the drug store) to two gallons of water, and drench the tunnels or mole hills with the liquid.
Also, the only proven way is to use traps that actually kill the varmints.
Good luck.
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