The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: garden cottage on January 17, 2010, 10:02:01 pm
-
moles are back in the paddock and digging like its the great escape, 3 traps set check tomorrow, cockerel running round very randy think hes in the mood for luv. any spring events from the members? heavy snow forecast wed can you believe it.....................neil
-
I have/had an erge to spring clean!!! also, loads of bulbs are pussing through.....men always want to propergate ???::) ::) ::)
-
Blummin moles dig my garden up all year round here!
Spring is slowly starting here, plenty of buds on the trees and I'm sure I saw some flowers seedlings appearing, although we've had snow today with more cold weather forecast which might knock things a little bit, still it's not far away.
-
sorry to spoil your fun its mid jan plenty of winter to come.
-
Nah, got to be hopeful. We have randy cockerels and I have discarded my longjohns in favour of waterproof trousers. Must be spring!
-
Not sure about spring yet.....but lots of moles here. Any ideas of how to get rid of them????
-
Yesterday I went out without a coat....mind you had a long sleeved T SHirt, a jumper and a fleece!!!!
-
Haven't you noticed how the daylight is lasting longer? and starting earlier The Island lights went off before 7.30 am this morning :farmer:
-
It's definitely nicer now the days are getting longer. It was almost 5.30 when I put the chickens away yesterday. :)
-
woohooo
at long last, i can use my whole driveway, no more driving in/reversing out. I can drive in, down to th ebottom, turn and back up again - been over a month!!!
my drive is on a bit of a slope, so any frost/ice means the van gets trapped!
All the snow is off the raised beds and I can see my garlic again - it's looking well.
Now, i've several big jobs to get started on - dismantle the old raised beds, turn the tonnes of manuare and 5 compost bins I have been filling up over the last 2 years, hire a mini digger to level parts of my garden so I can mark out my planned polytunnel and build my new raised beds
exciting stuff!!!!
Then i've to get some chickens!!!! Oh, the chickens might come first!
-
And that's as well as all your deliveries of these super boxes? ::)
-
bulbs coming through, beautiful day yesterday, bit gloomy today! Bloody moles, we have mountains not hills! Days are definitly getting longer, now signs of grass growing yet though. chickens egg laying has picked up............or maybe i am just finding all their hiding places. ;D
-
The oak tree looking red with buds (still a long way off I know but....) Fat green buds on the hazels, days lengthening, though you still have to measure. Crows and buzzards pairing up, me looking through seed catalogues and planning, planning, planning!!!!
-
using scissor traps on moles, dont touch them with hands use old gloves rub with soil, if traps are new soak them in a bucket with muck in to get rid of scent, use a steel pin or bar to feel for runs between mounds only dig enough out to put trap in run, cover with bucket brick on top,mr mole will travel around all the new and old runs looking for worms in the tunnels, when you set the spring trap put the ring on the very edge to make it more sensitive, check daily and reset if needed, had great success last year using these cleared all the moles from my ground, this years moles have come in from adjoining field. now its war
-
Many thanks garden cottage.....I'm going to try that :)
-
there's only one way to get rid of a mole .....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fePU5CIHpas
a real classic.....
cheers
Russ
-
He is clever, isn't he? Just brilliant! A great laugh!
-
Him wi a draugh board wrapped around his hat dont laugh at 3 in the mornin.I know.No sense of umour at all :farmer:
-
Either of the 2 Rodenators work well but they are a bit expensive for moles they work well on them furry things wi long ears as well PUFF :farmer:
-
Blummin moles dig my garden up all year round here!
Always wondered why we don't have moles in Ireland. I know we don't have snakes thanks to Saint Patrick ;) . Did you hear what Saint Patrick said to the snakes as he drove them out of Ireland? 'Are yee alright there in the back lads, yer looking a bit car sick!
-
Hello that fool Wizard had to open his GOB dint he?Its reverted back to wet cold miserable weather in Grimsby and I have had to turn on the room light I cannot see the keyboard without I noticed the 1st ad below is a pair of Rodenators for mole control at a price though.Is there a demand for moleskin breeches wi cross pockets nowadays der yer reckon? :farmer:
-
[/quote]
Always wondered why we don't have moles in Ireland. I know we don't have snakes thanks to Saint Patrick ;) . Did you hear what Saint Patrick said to the snakes as he drove them out of Ireland? 'Are yee alright there in the back lads, yer looking a bit car sick!
[/quote]
Would you like some? I've got at least one to spare! The lawn is looking a right mess, what with the chickens, and the moles, and the rats! The rats have found an ideal home near the chicken coops :'( I've bought rat traps but they're either too clever or too stupid!
-
For rats - buy rat poison, put it in small poly bags tied at the top. Put them where you know the rats are but out of reach of the chickens. The rats will take the food away to their nest and share it with the family - keep on putting bags there till they are not taken away and you've killed all the rats in the nest.
-
Thanks Annie! I have been chucking poison down their burrows, but as yet they don't seem to affect them, so I'll try your tip. I'm in mortal fear of poisoning my own chooks but my husband assures me that other animals don't like the taste of rat poison. I'm not sure how he knows that, lol, but he seems quite sure of it so I believe him :dunce:
-
No, I wouldn't believe him. I heard of a dog eating it and not being able to be saved. But in the poly bags it's less likely especially if you put it somewhere other animals can't get it - in crevices etc.
-
Oh dear :( I'll tell him that! How would the rats know to take the bags away - I suppose they can smell them? I hate the darn things; I know I'm supposed to like all of God's creatures but they really bug me, and they've been stealing eggs!
-
I have rats burrowing under my hen houses, I would put poison down but I am worried that my cat will then eat the rat! Would it kill her too, I don't think that she eats them all but sometimes there are missing bits.
Oh and yes it is definately spring, the mud is now top of the wellie hight,
-
Yes, it would if she ate it. my cat kills rats but doesn't eat them. The rats can smell the food through the bag and prefer to take it away to eat in the nest to eating it there and then .
-
Generally, cats and dogs don't eat rats as they are other carnivores. However, you can't rely on that so if you think your cat or dog might eat a dead rat, they don't put poison down. I have a friend whose dog ate rat poison, and they saved him, but only because they realised immediately what he had done, and drove him straight to the vets.
Beth
-
If any animal eats rat poison a shot of vitamin K will put them back on their feet.
-
rat cake. get a good handful of rat poison..a tin of sardines and some dark chocolate.melt chocolate.[seems a waste but..] mix sardines and oil.but save some oil. mix with rat poison and let it set.put set 'cake' in a waste pipe by rat runs and drip sardine oil to the pipe.rats will eventually investagate it and they cant resist it .add some bird seed as well they love it..use an old pan specially for mixing this.. ;D
-
snow on friday
-
Hopefully no snow here. Ratcakes sound a good idea. They don't seem to like the chocolate I've put as bait - maybe they're posh rats and don't like asda value chocs :D
-
whiteouts, police advice that the roads are not safe, schools cancelled again the wife off on another snowday. spring is on holiday.
-
I saw some snowdrops today! That was enough to cheer me up ;D
-
Just a note about the rats and poisons, make sure any rat droppings found after the poison is put down are cleared up as soon as they are noticed, i lost a hen after she ate rat droppings from an poisoned rat. :) Good Luck
-
Thanks for the advice. Note to self: hunt for rat droppings in garden to add to 'to do list' :-\