I got 'em . In my gardens , in the woods , under the house , and other places . I'm not sure what they are , whether ground squirrels , moles , or gophers . I do know my dog (mountain cur) loves to try to catch them , digging up their tunnels and shoving his nose in them sniffing . These tunnels are about 2"-4" below the surface and leave a hump - where there are a lot of them close together the ground is soft . How do I figure out what they are ?
i vote moles. chipmunks and voles don't tend to push things up as much IME. mice usually use other things. gophers are bigger aren't they?
they're good for keeping the ground able to soak up rains and provide a lot of habitat for other critters. i wish i could convince Ma to leave them alone, but she freaks out any time there is one around. they have supersoft fur.
songbird
Very likely voles... ONLY remedy is feral cats... voles will be eradicated in under 24 hours. Two feral cats working as a team can easily de-vole 40 acres their first night... feral cats have radar, sonar, and unique feline sensors that nothing can duplicate... no rodent ever escapes. Moles are really not a problem except they leave an unsightly mess moles actually are a boon as they eat grubs. But voles eat plant roots so will kill all your plants. Feral cats will eliminate them all and fast, there are no better more ferocious rodent hunters, NONE will/can escape.
There are mousers... now all we need are moosliminaters... let the cats loose. In one night the scourge will be annialated, problem solved.
Sounds like moles. The only thing I found to effectively eradicate them where phosphide based poisons put in tunnels.
Frank"
Years ago, we would let the dog off-leash, once we were out of town - he loved getting the field mice / voles along the ditches - he'd locate them with hearing, then do a couple front-end jumps and stun/trap the mouse with his front paws and then gobble it up quite quickly. He was quite effective. We soon found out that this leads to intestinal worms - a couple of different types, if I remember - so we dissuaded the behaviour. John T.
Frank"
I don't think he's actually caught any , but it's fun watching him try . Max is just a pup , not quite 7 months old (BIG pup , had him at the vet yesterday and he weighs 65 pounds) and very excitable .
Moles are closely related to Shrews. They are known as insectivores. Probably the Eastern Mole, usually found in relatively dry areas. We have Star-nosed too. They usually keep to the really wet areas and don't cause any mowing trouble. It didn't look like they were in your area.
I've got them all around too. I just trap the really annoying ones where I mow. Their mounds don't do your mower blades any good...
Harpoon traps work the best for me. Especially the large older models. You would have to get lucky and find the latter at a yard sale maybe... That design dates back to the 1800's. I've got several other versions but the harpoon works best for me if needed.
Our old mutt was ~ 75 pounds ; 1/2 Giant Schnauser .. which is just a big terrier ? ie : mouser. He'd go after muskrats too ; and then be disappointed when they stopped "playing" ie were dead. He didn't look at all like a terrier, though. He'd get burrs on him and they would almost fall off on their own -
- a real nice feature about his coat ! John T.
They're moles , I saw one this afternoon under the bird feeder . He/it darted out , grabbed something and darted back into his hole .
That confirms it - moles are those little fast darty things .. .. with no eye sight. or ears. ... .. crafty little critters. John T.
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