Friday, August 1, 2014

How to Get Rid of Garden Moles & Gophers

If you fail to get id of them, moles and gophers can wreak havoc on your property or lawn. As a gardener, it is essential that you come up with ways of eradicating them from your garden in the most efficient and quickly way possible. Here is a look at the best methods you can use for taming them to stop or prevent their infestations in your garden.

Traps

Chances are high that when you hear about controlling and removing moles and gophers, the first thing that comes in your mind is the traps. Fortunately, there are so many ways of trapping them and ensuring that they are not a bother to you any more. According to experts, trapping moles and gophers is an effective way of getting rid of them. There are many styles of these traps and it is essential that you look for styles that are not just comfortable to handle but those that are tailored to suit your needs. Also, make sure that you get a trap depending on the level or degree of gopher activity in your garden.

Moles and Gophers

Poisons

A very effective and popular way of controlling and getting rid of gophers and moles is by poisoning them. While poisoning can get them out of your garden, this is a method that you will need to approach very carefully. This is more so if you have children or pets as you must be sure that they are not exposed to the poisons. Fortunately, the market is home to many types of poisons that you can use to control them and you just need to do some little research and find the most effective poisons.

Repellants

The use of gopher and mole repellants is increasingly becoming popular today. You can buy these repellants on the web, from local stores or even make some of the poisons at home. Castor oil granule for example is among the most popular types of repellants available on the market. This repellant doesn’t kill the moles or gophers but what it does is that the poignant scent that comes from the drives the burrower far away from your garden. Applying the repellants is incredibly easy as you just need to sprinkle the granules all around your garden, both the affected parts and the unaffected ones as well. With time, the granules of the repellant will start dissolving and this will be last you see of gopher and mole damage in your garden. Applying some water to these granules can hasten the process.

Fumigation

Another very popular way of controlling gophers and moles is by fumigation, i.e. carbon monoxide from exhaust smoke or gopher flares. These flares work by filling the tunnels of the gophers and moles with smoke and the burrowers have no option than leaving your garden. You can buy the flares online and will really help you a lot in eradicating them from your garden.

Water

This is yet another incredibly popular way of getting rid of these burrowers from your garden. This is done first by creating or finding an opening to the gopher mound and then sticking in your garden hose and leaves it for about an hour. Your will see some mud coming from the mound but this will mainly depend on how old the tunnel is and its age as well. While this method might work very well for gophers, it might be less effective for ground moles that prefer residing mostly in the moist areas. So, just be careful that the flooding doesn’t end up creating much better living conditions for these burrowers in which case it might be counter effective.

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Plants

Gopher spurge or Euphorbia lathyris has been found to be very effective in controlling subterranean burrowers such as moles and gophers and it is essential that you consider having it at your place as well. And using this plant for moles and gophers control is incredibly easy as you just need to plant it in your garden. Focus more on the areas that are more prone to infestations. You will find many nurseries out there selling the gopher spurge precisely for controlling these burrowers.

Pet waste

This is yet another one of the most popular ways of ridding your garden off moles and gophers. So, rather than just tossing your dog poor or cat litter on the trash can, consider using it in the tunnels. The good thing about using pet waste besides being very effective is that it is incredibly inexpensive and truly works to your satisfaction.

Noise

Gophers and moles don’t like noise and you can take advantage of this to scare them away from your garden. These burrowers are known to be very sensitive especially to loud noises. Introducing noise in their living environment will only make them move to other quieter places and you can be sure that you won’t be seeing them in your garden for a considerably long time. There are many noise emitting objects that you can place at your garden like wind chimes.

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Scents

Gophers and moles don’t like some types of scents and you can capitalize on this to drive them away from your garden. One of those is the scent or smell of fish and introducing it in your garden is something that you should truly consider. So, when you are planning to go fishing next time or you have some left over scraps, make sure that you take them inside the tunnels of gophers and moles at your garden.

Detonators

The use of detonators or burrow blasters in getting rid of moles and gophers is becoming very popular thanks to its unmatched effectiveness. A mixture of oxygen and propane is used in these burrow blasters and they help in exterminating the pests living in the underground tunnels. Gophers and moles die instantly as a result of pulmonary hemorrhage and can be used for killing many other pests including ground squirrels, prairie dogs and badgers among others.

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