Moles, chipmunks, or BOTH?

I've been at war with moles, who love my leaf mulch and the worms I bought for the beds. Now I just found more tunnels seemingly filled with acorns, when I turned the hose on, the acorns floated up! Also, my wood hyacinth bulbs had sprouted and were chewed off at an angle about 2 inches down. Do those dang critters co-exist in the same areas? Not familiar with chippies, but I do border the woods.
Any ideas?

I've tried water blasting, mothballs, and rat poison in the holes. I have on order the "mole chaser" gadget, but don't know if it'll work on the chips.

Have you tried planting Castor beans? I've always heard that they will rid ones yard of them. Or now I have never tried this, and don't know if it works but I "think" it was the Jerry Baker book or something that says to put sticks of JuicyFruit Gum in the holes?? worth a try huh?

As for the Castor beans, I have plenty of seeds if you want some.

Huh? Are you sure this wasn't just some kind of ploy to sell more juicy fruit gum?

Have you ever heard of Jerry Baker? I have only seen his books, never read them from cover to cover. But he has tons of home-made fix all things, for all kinds of problems.
I just done a quick search on "Jerry Baker" and this is what I found. http://www.jerrybaker.com/JerryBaker/assets/html/faq.asp

Click on Critter Control, Although it doesn't say to use the Gum, it does give other methods. I'm pretty positive that in his book, he gives more ways to rid them from your yard. Hope this helps.

Thanks Mollybee, (Go GA!), what do you do with the Castor Beans, are they good for anything else?

This is what Jerry Baker says:


1) Plant daffodils, spurge, and castor bean plants, which moles absolutely hate, in your garden.
2) Place used kitty litter in their runs, which tells them that deadly predators are lurking in the area.
3) Apply an effective commercial repellent, like my Liquid Mole Repellent, for fast and easy control.
4) Insert a Natural Mole Chaser™ into the ground; the "clackedly-clack" of the windmill sound creates unbearable underground vibrations.
5) Apply Milky Spore Powder to the turf at the recommended rate, which will eliminate grubs.
6) Place Mole Control killer pellets into the runs; they take one bite, and it's adios amigos!

Funny, I have some daffodils scattered around there. And I'm NOT going to borrow some used kitty litter! Got my Mole Chaser thing yesterday, will see what happens! Would like to hear about the Castor Bean Plant.

http://plantsdatabase.com/go/70/
This is in the Plants Database here. You can't really do anything with these other than plant them. You can't eat them at all, because they are very poisonous. But they are very easy to grow in full sun. Even with 3 kids I have never had a problem with them, sooo if you want to try them we can work out a trade of somesort. I have plenty!
LMK

About moles? In as much as they are after worms and other small animal life, "gum" of any brand and "ex-lax" (another sometimes foolishly recommended fix) are not on their menu. As for daffodils and spurge - doesn't work here - and it is too cold for castor bean. What to do? Wish I knew. They even outlawed the use of scissor traps - the only truly effective way of mole control!!!!

About chipmunks? Love those guys AND the Douglas squirrels which I have all over the place and encourage. To protect newly planted containers, I tie bird netting over the top - until the plants come up. More often than not - they are looking for places to hoarde their snacks. Some things, however, like tulips - are on their list of favorites. I laugh as I watch all the serendipitous sunflowers that start from their hoardes - and thank them for their efforts.

Here in the Pacific Northwest - chewed foliage is usually either from deer or rabbits - although I did watch a squirrel nibbling the new red leaves from the Photinia last spring.

A dog or a cat - if outside most of the time - WILL reduce the squirrel/chipmunk population! (I have neither - which is why the rodents love me so much!)

Hope any of this helps ......

Vicki in Olympia, WA

I found out last year that Bloodmeal helps keep the squirrels away from my flower beds. Although you have to redo it every time it rains, it does manage to help keep them run off. I mean don't get me wrong I think they are pretty and all but when I work long and hard out there in my garden only to find the little holes they dig!! I don't think twice about putting out the bloodmeal!
Not sure if it would help deter the other critters or not?

Just saw the castor plant--jeeze, it's huge! I wonder if I'd have a hard time making it stand up on my hill? Do you stake them?

Molly, how much bloodmeal do you use? My dogs like bonemeal-I have to dig that in--is bloodmeal...? Hope you're coming to the round-up Molly, can't wait to met you and everyone else! This place sure is addicting--I'm learning so much!

Actually the first time I planted them I didn't stake them, but they were planted kinda close together. But last year I did have to stake them only after we had had a storm and the high winds blew them over. Believe it or not I waited several days before I staked them and in that time they actually turned and started growing up towards the sun! So then when I did get around to staking them, they were funny shaped...but within a couple of days, they were all back to normal and straight as can be! I think they are totally worth it though. You should give them a try.

About the bloodmeal, well all I know is that it doesn't have a very good smell. The Squirrels don't like the smell of it for some reason. Now as far as dogs liking it....???? I don't know. I just sprinkle it all over the beds thinly. Then if it rains within say 1 week of putting it down, I go back and sprinkle it around the outside edges of the beds. The bloodmeal is mostly nitrogen, and will help give plants their rich green color, and it stimulates leaf growth. Soo it does help the plants all the while it keeps the critters away.
I am still hoping to make the round up too! I can't wait to meet everyone there! It's going to be loads of fun. I can't hardly wait. So glad you are going to be there too!

Saw this today, (thanks to CoCo) look at the ingredients!http://www.vigoro.com/ well, then type Mole in "search"

Wonder how much oil would need to be used--Any suggestions?
It'll be a while before castor bean plants come up.



This message was edited Saturday, Mar 22nd 9:56 PM

My mom uses bloodmeal to protect her plants from bunnies and squirrels. You do have to reapply regularly to make it work. I have three cats. Used kitty litter for postage anyone?!?!? LOL!