Subject: Re: Help! gophers? moles?

From: [email-masked]
Date: 11 Mar 1995 22:23:40 GMT

In <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] () writes:
>--------
>
>i hope someone out there in cyberspace can help me.  last summer i bought a
>new house.  this fall i planted several hundred bulbs so i've been looking
>forward to spring.  spring is here (here is knoxville, tn, usa) and several
>(but less than i had expected) things were starting to come up - and a few
>to bloom - when disaster struck... the new shoots were eaten below ground
>level!  just a few chewed shoots left in a small hole.  the holes range in
>size from around an inch to two or three inches in diameter.  there are lots
>of mounds in the affected areas.  
>
>
Hi there! They could be pocket gophers or moles. If they are you will see soft
mounds of dirt where they have dug their tunnels. Just plain ole gophers leave
their holes exposed. We had a similar experience on our acreage. I tried traps and
water...nothing worked. So I got mean and vicious, and laid out several smoke
bombs (woodchuck bombs) at the same time in various locations. If there are 
mounds, take a piece of dowling or a garden stake and poke around til you find
the opening. Light the smoke bomb and place it upside down in the hole, quickly
covering it over with a thick layer of dirt. These didn't work using one or two at
a time...several were required. And the little bu..ers never came back.  I also 
noticed they seem to dislike aromatic plants such as geraniums and petunias. Areas
where I had planted such plants never were touched. Totally unscientific finding,
but if it works...

Good luck getting rid of your varmints!

Dawn Campbell, Edmonton, AB

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 13:58:38 -0800

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] wrote:

" In <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] () writes:
" >--------
" >
" >i hope someone out there in cyberspace can help me.  last summer i bought a
" >new house.  this fall i planted several hundred bulbs so i've been looking
" >forward to spring.  spring is here (here is knoxville, tn, usa) and several
" >(but less than i had expected) things were starting to come up - and a few
" >to bloom - when disaster struck... the new shoots were eaten below ground
" >level!  just a few chewed shoots left in a small hole.  the holes range in
" >size from around an inch to two or three inches in diameter.  there are lots
" >of mounds in the affected areas.  
" >
" >

My sister and her husband had an awful problem when they were in the UK.
About an acre, and full of soft dirt mounds. He came up with a propane
tank and regulator hooked up to a 1/4" tube. The end of the tube was
pinched off to keep it from clogging, and had a few holes drilled towards
the tip.

The probe was inserted into a tunnel, and the tank turned on. He said it
worked, and never blew himself up! (DON'T smoke!!)

so much for my two cents. And I wouldn't advise doing this, of course!

-- 

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If you're not conservative when you grow up, you have no brain.

              -Sir Winston Churchill
                        or
              -George Bernard Shaw
                        or
              -Someone