Spear Gun
What's the best way to get rid of gophers / moles?
I am not even certain of which ones I have; gophers or moles. But I am tired of them. I have purchased and tried two types of traps.On...
Spear Gun
What's the best way to get rid of gophers / moles?
I am not even certain of which ones I have; gophers or moles. But I am tired of them. I have purchased and tried two types of traps.One from Mole Pro and then the typical spring loaded long tine and spear type trap.
I have used two or three types of poisons. Who knows if it works or not? I have even shot them with both a 22 caliber rifle and a 20 guage shot gun.Yes I live in the country. Luckily. Sound like Caddy Shack yet?
My latest possible attempt might be a different type of trap I saw my father had borrowed from his neighbor. This trap is from a company called Nash Products Inc. Don't really want yet a third style of trap and I don't want to have to treat 4 acres of grass / gardens with grub killer either.. I've heard that's what attracts them. Kill the grubs and they go away. It would be rather expensive to do the size of area I am dealing with.
Can anyone show me an easy way out before I get the back hoe out?
YOUR ARE IN LUCK. As a MASTER GARDENER for the univ of Calif coop extension for over 15 years, I am know as Dr Death. I've have sent more buck tooth fuzz balls to gopher heaven the any man in San Diego County. My first time kill rate is 98.5% on my first trap'n attempt.
1st, poison bait... 25 % kill rate. They only work in the colder season when there isn't much for the fuzz balls to eat. Face it, given the choice of a big, fat juicy root or some dried out poison grain, what would you eat? Also, for the poison to work, they have to eat it at least 5 days in a row for it to do it's job. If Mr Gopher eats it only a few time, all you get is a sick, and smarter gopher.
Trap'n is the only way to make sure you nail the bas****. But the real secrete has nothing to go with traps. The secrete is to cave in and or backfill as much of his tunnel as possible. Just because you nailed uncle jim doesn't end your problem. Because as soon as uncle jim gets nailed, cousin leroy next door move right into jim's old condo. You can have plant problems for years and never know you have gophers. If they have nice little empty tunnels waiting for 'um, they don't have to dig new ones. No digging, no mounds & you think you have no gophers. Also by caving in their tunnel, you can see when you do have activity and can nip it right away. Also the fewer tunnels, the harder it is for them to make babies. Except for mating, they like to live alone in their own tunnels. If the females and males are kept farther apart... you get the idea.
Best traps are the "Black Hole" traps you can find at most Home Depots, etc. This fellow in San Diego came up with the idea back in the mid 1980's. Got tired of pulling theguts out of the spear traps. He built it out of some 4inch PVC pipe. Simple idea that worked. He brought several over to the county farm advisor's office & several of us Master Gardeners took home to try them out. They worked great. His son made a million dollars off the design. Always buy 'um in pairs, one for each direction of the tunnel. No bait needed, but some old timerswear rubbing a bit of garlic on the trap is a sure way to get um. I've nailed thousands without the garlic, so i really don't think it matters?
Get yourself a long piece of steel rebar & bend up one end like a walking cane. Rap some cloth around the handle part so you don't get any blisters on your palm. You now have a great gopher "prod". You use that to poke around the ground feeling for tunnels. Believe me you'll know when you find one. Best place to start is inbetween two mounds, They seldom push soil out their main tunnel, but push it out on either side of the main tunnel. Set the traps via the easy instructions on the box & go have a beer. Between 1 to 12 hours later you'll have reason to have another. No more bloody spears to deal with. The trap is designed so yo never touch the fuzz ball. You just release the trap over the trash can & the late uncle jim just falls into the trash. Then the hard part begins. Use your probe and follow that tunnel. Back fill with soil or cave in as much as you can find. the more the better.
Each spring i used to give a full day, hands on class to homeowners on gopher control for the univ of calif. The class was limited to 50 people but swelled to over 100. So I started giving for each year. Many former students drop by to brag about their sucess. One 74 year old lady went home after my class and caught 14 gophers in that summer. If she can do it so can you. It's not as hard as it seems. It's actually more brain work the brawn. Gopher damage to crops & landscape in the state of calif each year top 3 Billion dollars. That was Billion, with a B.
I type with only one finger, so i tend to make mistakes with speed. But the spel checker is down again as usual & i'm tired of waiting for it everyday, so forgive my typos.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recollections and pieces of the Past: a look at a Veteran
On this Veterans day I take time to ponder what it means. Over the course of our history, America has always had veterans. In one way or another men and women both have fought and died for this country. From the beginning when our forefathers and mothers first came to the shores of this land the problematic war and bloodshed was there.
In the recourse of history we see the major wars of the Revolutionary war, Civil war, the Spanish American war, the American versus the Indian wars, World war one, World war two, Korean war, the Vietnam war, and the myriad of strife america has helped put down.
I personally was in the Navy during the Vietnam war. Signalman seaman, that was me. I rubbed shoulders with the brass while putting up semaphores and relaying messages by flashing light (morse code). While many americans were fighting in Nam, our fleet spent time off the course of New York throwing over rubber dummies and running man overboard drills. We also would run watches, and work in our navy pack of ships interpreting messages from each other. The guns would clear their throats with a boom and we would run more drills.
It always seemed odd at the time of a war such as Nam, that we would be doing that. The main thought at the time was that the military was not at full strength in Nam. The political war, sure. But in the end, we survived the drills, unfortunately many of our comrades did not. That is the trouble with wars, they are not fair. Good people [yes, I know all are good], but, some people with such a bright future, people you don't expect would die in a war, actually die.
As I write this, I think also of my dad who was a navy medic in the south pacific. He doesn't talk about it much. He has seen so much bloodshed and death, no wonder he doesn't. Can anyone actually see so much death and not be changed somehow? I think not. Dad tells this story of two GI's with similar wounds. As he was working on each one, the doctor came around and told dad point blank, "this guy won't make it".. "the other guy would make it". It was in their eyes he was told. Dad told me he could see the look. One had given up, tired and not wanting to go on. The other guy fought and wanted to live. The doctor was right, the one guy died. My dad kept working as more GI's were brought in. To this date I remember the little medic kit he brought home from the war with him. I used to play with it. I remember dad also not talking about it much. Don't blame him. He is over eighty now, mom is gone. Dad is still driving, living, and coming by to visit me. In these years since mom has gone, he and I have had long talks. These are about things we never used to touch on. In these last years of His life, I believe the Lord has blessed him with a few extra peaceful days. I believe the Lord did this because of what he has seen and endured. Many may disagree with this. But, in the end, how can anyone see so much death and survive without the Lord bringing relief? Dad talks alot about how the Lord got him through his life.
Dad never volunteered for the War, He was drafted out of high school. He tells me the time Japan bombed Hawaii. My grandfather was the Town manager for Catalina Island, the first Fire Chief there, and also a game warden on the sea surrounding the Island. When that attack happened on Pearl, many in the states thought the mainland was next. My grandfather told my dad "take the gun and go down to the dock, shoot anything you see parachuting to the island". I can see the picture to this day...My dad with a gun looking up in the sky for an enemy that thank God, never came. Dad in the end would go to the enemy and help win the war.
War is hell, blood, death, saddness, and victory. But in the end both victors and the defeated lose precious human life and blood. One of these days people will learn war no more...Thank God for that.....Ev. Dana G Smith...
Isaiah 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Micah 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
About the Author
Dana Smith is the Editor and publisher of the
Watchman Prophecy Alert News
which focus's on current events as they pertain to biblical revelation and prophecy. You may contact him at
wingswat@wingswatchman.org
Tags: compressor, current.watching, gun 1, pics, spear gun, speargun, speargun fishing, speargun hunter, speargun parts, spearguns for sale, spear_fishing, typography
Posted in Scuba Diving
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
