Need help as have rodent tunnel system under veggie garden

Years ago we lived on heavy London clay. The moles were a pest because of the mole hills, but their tunnels did provide a very good drainage system.

Moth balls. Good. Continue with whatever poison you find laying around the house. It's a vegetable garden. What's the diff? :-) :-)

But seriously....how about doing a lot more research before risking your health and that of your family?

Little more information needed. Can you identify the animal making the tunnels? I assume if they're 6-8" deep it's not woodchucks, but is it moles, voles, or what? Are they eating roots, veggies, or plants or just insects? In other words, why do they bother you?

Fitz Grips wrote:

Didn't you ever see the cartoons in which the animals, in the wink of an eye, pull the entire carrot down into the ground with a WHOOSH? It's a terrible thing. :-)

I'm thinking a cat would be in order, or possibly a type of terrier bred for ratting.

A cat, I can see. But a dog? That's trading his problem for a curse worse than death.

When I was about 5 years old and helping my grandmother in her vegetable garden I watched an entire celery plant go slowly down into the ground as a gopher pulled it, not with a WHOOSH, but gone nevertheless.

When we moved back to CA after living in Ohio where we didn't have to deal with gophers, I had forgotten about them. I was quickly reminded of them one morning as I went out to check on the first tomato fruit that was just turning red, when I arrived in time to see the last of the plant ( and alas, the tomato also) disappear into the ground!

Now I do not plant a tomato, or a rose, without the protection of an underground wire cage or "basket" which I make from welded wire with 1 inch square openings. A whole section of the wire can be laid flat on the ground and a raised bed with solid sides built on top of the wire to keep gophers out.

I had so many wire baskets in the front yard flower bed, that when the water man came to check for pipes, his metal detector went crazy!!!

Emilie NorCal

Excellent idea! I had so many chipmunks in the backyard that they, with thier territorial calls which I call "johnny one-note" were really getting irritating. A neighborhood cat found my backyard was an excellent source of nutrients. He got larger, fatter and sleeker as my backyard quieted down.

FACE

the paths around my garden where they come in from other community gardens and inside my garden my foot sinks, my water path sinks into a hole and they just push up a little inch high bump every 8-10 feet in solid soil. I can probe and find their tunnel system and dig down nect to the perimeter path for the flares and stuff to keep them out. So I have a 60X60 foot garden and that is a lot of wire but guess I gotta since no big gopher snakes in the area. Could I pay postage for a big one? Smile

JP<

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 11:37:08 -0400, FACE wrote

I remember that my father had one of these when I was growing up. He set it occasionally for moles. I suppose he was an optimist, as I don't think he ever caught anything.

Ed

Was he a fisherman? The outlook sounds similar.