I got a couple live traps for the rabbits and such. Then a couple bait traps that are covered and lockable for the mice and voles that my kids and dogs can't get into
Who could forget? Lily horror. Winter of 13-14. The only one left that resembled a bulb. They got in on a corner and ate everything in about a 15 X 15 X 15 triangular shaped area. Hardware cloth fence installed after that.
This lily survived and became an emerging triple nose in the Spring of 2016 only to be frozen completely off during an unexpected hard, deep freeze in mid-May, 2016. Whether it will emerge now in 2017 is anyone's guess.
I was really frustrated with the elusive voles in my perennial gardens. Lilies disappearing. I was beside myself. AND THEN...Mr & Mrs snake moved in ! Wish I could claim the brilliance of inviting them. When I see a sunning snake [be still my heart] I tell it "hello darling" and back away.
"Things won are done, joy's soul lies in the doing." Shakespeare
I had a huge female garter snake in my gardens for many years. I didn't see her last year at all so I assume she died of old age. If so, she certainly had a good comfortable life. Garter snakes eat mostly insects and not rodents, but she was big enough and probably scared countless rodents away.
One of the garden garter snakes patrolled into in my garage last year & ate my full size, resident bull frog. I discovered the snake behind the garbage can, looking up at me [sheepishly] as if to say "Whaaat!?" I carried it, with its distinct new shape, back to the perennial beds.
"Things won are done, joy's soul lies in the doing." Shakespeare
I have always loved the Australian wildlife. Particularly the reptiles. I love reptiles. Many years ago, i had a small snake collection. All pythons and boas. But the wife says only fuzzy animals when her and I got together.
And, who could forget the mysterious and strange flock of birds that raided the gardens twice daily back in 2014. They would attack quickly, helter-skelter in a panic and leave quickly, that kept up for about a week. It was the closest thing to Alfred Hitchcock's ' Birds' or the Mormon's locust I've seen. They mysteriously disappeared as quickly as they appeared and my neighbor and I have not seen them since. We never were able to identify them.
Dave, I kept snakes years ago. Inherited a pair of large native tiger snakes and raised some more from babies. Very mellow pets. Could leave them with a few mice and go on holiday for weeks.
But really, has anybody got rid of the vole/mole critters?
I have moles. The Corgi catches them (plural) and brings them to me. She is probably the only one who would miss them.
I know there are several snakes on the property. They disappear down the mole tunnels when they are startled.
How do golf courses do it?
Has anyone ever conquered this problem?
Well, I learned mole trapping the modern way, watching youtube. I have been mole free for a couple of years now, but for sure there is a learning curve. I used a claw type trap which I thought worked very well for my sandy soil and it was easy to use. It uses the moles natural instinct to tunnel under objects to trigger the pressure plate. I don't believe it's absolutely necessary for moles, but I always use gloves when handling traps and I rub the traps in soil before use to get rid of any human scent.
Here is one of the videos I watched, but search around and look at others as well, to see what suits you best. It can take a while before you get your first catch, but don't give up. I thought that I couldn't get it to work in the beginning, but it got much easier over time. The main problem for me was to find an active tunnel. Sometimes you need to move the traps around before you find a good spot. There are however videos you can watch to learn that as well. Just look around a bit and be patient.
The brand I used was different from the one in the video, but it always killed the mole quickly and cleanly. I would personally not try to relocate an animal as that can cause long suffering and starvation death.
