How to Kill Moles & Gophers
Moles and gophers are considered common pests of lawn and gardens. If you don't remove them from your property in a timely manner, they can wreak havoc on your lawn and garden. Moles and gophers build tunneling systems and dirt hills and eat, destroy and expose the roots of your plants and grass. Use harpoon traps to kill moles and gophers if you want to keep your yard as beautiful and pest-free as possible. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Locate the moles' or gophers' main runways. According to the Iowa Cooperative Extension Service, surface runways appear as raised ridges running aimlessly through lawns, golf courses or woodlands.
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Press down with your shovel on a small section of the main surface runway until it's partially collapsed.
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Set the harpoon trap over the collapsed area of the runway. Raise the spring of the trap, set the safety catch and push the supporting spikes of the trap into the ground, one on either side of the runway until the trigger pan just barely touches the surface of the depressed runway. Purchase harpoon traps at hardware and lawn and garden stores.
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Check the trap regularly throughout the day.
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Place protective gloves on your hands and remove the dead mole or gopher from the trap. Place the pest into a plastic bag and put it into a secure garbage can.
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Wash the trap to remove your scent and the scent of the dead mole or gopher. If the trap is not clean, other moles or gophers will not get near it.
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Reset the harpoon trap in a different location on the main runway until you have removed all moles and gophers from your property.
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Tips & Warnings
Move the trap to a different runway if you haven't caught a mole or gopher after two days.
A new crop of moles and gophers may take over the previous pests' tunnels at a future date, so keep the harpoon trap(s) handy.
Use traps instead of poison to get rid of moles and gophers as poison may harm pets or children.
References
- Photo Credit lawn image by Sergey from Fotolia.com
