Sammy, I understand your caution with regard to the dogs vs the posion peanuts.

As for rabbits and squirrels.........consider "Deer Off" at Lowes. It is working for me with regard to deer, squirrels, and armadillos........believe it or not I have NO rabbits....and I am in the country.....go figure! It's well worth buying and it's not just for deer, but a host of other critters, rabbits and squirrels being among them. It's not expensive. Even tho it says on the bottle it can be applied to the vegatable garden up to two weeks before harvest, I just spray it AROUND that garden and not directly on the plants. My garden is a raised bed surrounded with landscape timbers, so its easy to spray around it. Before using "Deer Off", I relied on mothballs which keep cats from using my flower gardens as litter boxes and kept armadillos and snakes out as well. I still use them in the beds against the house.

Thank you for responding to my post Sammy.........happy gardening and I would love seeing pics of your personal, favorite roses. Think about posting some?

David

Back In the eighties before I liked cats
Someone droped off this little siamis cat. It was just howling on my door step one night. It would not be quiet so I gave it a bowl of milk. Then told it it had to be gone by morning. Didn't work. The next morning on my way out to feed the chickens the little cat was sitting under the yard light eating june bugs.
The little cat followed me to the barn. I used to keep my feed in buckets. On ocasion I would find mice in the buckets. Well that morning there were two mice in the bucket. I snached up the little cat and tossed him in the bucket. He shot out of there in about three sesonds with two mouse tails hanging out of his mouth. I thought I might let the little cat stay a couple of days. Next morning he was eating bugs again.He got stuck with the handle bug.
That cat just followed me about any place I went. Pick up a hay bail if there was a mouse it was gone. In just a few weeks. The mice were few and far between. Then one day the cat didn,t follow me to the barn. He was sitting out in the pasture. When I left the barn he was still there. I went out to the pasture later that day to see what was so interesting. All I found were gopher teeth. For months every time I went the cat was sitting near a gopher mound. I would sometimes see him pounce.
One day a neighbor seen the cat and asked what is that cat doing.I told him that that cat would get a gopher. We waited about ten minutes and sure enough he got one. Next day he brought over his wife to see my cat.
A couple days later . Another neighbor stoped by to see the cat. Most of my neighbors were simi retired at the time.
For some reason it became a normal thing for someone to stop by and watch my cat get a gopher and have a chat.
After a few months all my gophers were gone. The cat started to wander farther and farther from home. People would drop in with cat reports. I saw your cat Two miles down this road or three miles down that road. I would only see the cat every few weeks and then it was only for a day or two.
After a couple of years I had to move. With a cat like that I didn't know what to do. I t didn't take long for volenteers to feed the cat. All the neighbors pitched in. I think the all were feeding him any way.I got an acasional cat report for years.
After a couple of years when I got back to a place where I could have a cat. A nice lady gave me one of his off spring.
I heve been able to keep his blood line going for years.
So if you are in need of a little gopher relief I might just have the answer.

David,
Years ago I tried the ultrasonic rodent repellers and they did not work for me. I also saw a segment on the news once showing a cage of mice sitting next to an ultrasonic device -- It didn't faze them. Don't waste your money.

If you find something that works, you'll get rich. I would gladly pay big bucks for something that works! This year the moles/voles ate all my Asiatic lilies, my tiger lilies, Oriental lilies, my hybrid lilies, some of my crocosmia, two Heavenly bamboo, six phlox, and several other plants I can't remember. Each day I would watch as more and more plants disappeared out of that bed. I hate the little bas+ards!! This fall I am resorting to using Milky Spore on my yard and gardens. I feel my only hope to rid myself of moles/voles/gophers and armadillos is to get rid of the grub problem in my soil. I have a cat, but she rarely gets a mole.

Good Luck and please let us know if you find anything that works.

Wolflover, milky spore doesn't necessarily work. You might want to try hardware cloth. You just cannot try to put it around the whole bed since the critter will just climb over it and have a feast. A length of 4 feet then circled is good for a rose. I don't know what would be good for bulbs. I plant min 12 inches deep, but you could actually create a cage with a bottom so it wouldn't have to go so deep.

Just remember that hardware cloth is like strong reinforced chicken wire. Cutting it requires patience, but hopefully is worth it.

David, I am going to look for the Deer Off. Thanks. I have just learned how to reduce the size of my pictures, and hope to share some soon. Even though I love my roses, it is the hydrangeas that are shining now.
Sammy

Terrance, I have a cat but he is so lazy that birds pretty much ignore him. A couple of years ago, he did kill a mole, but since then, he hasn't been worth a flip.

Sammy, moles have run rampant in my yard for years and have almost destroyed it. There are holes and burrows everywhere. I was so disgusted and frustrated that I almost gave up gardening because of these wicked rodents. However, I ordered some GOPHER AND MOLE MED from High Country Gardens a few months ago, and it actually WORKS!!! It is a spray that you apply with your garden hose--very easy and quick. I have found that it repels these vermin for 2-3 months. After that, you just re-apply. Yes, it is a poison, made from castor beans, so you might want to keep pets out of the treated area until it dries. I am now a loyal customer, very happy with this product. Hope this helps you. Linda

Thanks Linda. I am ready to try anything that won't hurt my dogs. I've just about had it with rabbits and squirrels. My hostas are eaten, my little ferns are almost gone, and quite a few coleus are gone or down.

Sammy

Yes Linda, thanks so much for the name of the product. I am buying some today! I am so sick of the moles eating my bulbs/plants. This sounds like an easier way of ridding the beds of moles than anything I've heard about.

Sammy, I may try your tip on the hardware cloth next year when I plant lilies. My hardware cloth is 1/4 inch though, and I've wondered how the plants can squeeze though that little gap of space without being injured. It seems like that would choke them off when they try to grow through it. Is your hardware cloth larger squares than 1/4 inch?

I just measured mine and they are 1/2 " squared. I bought some originally that is 1/4 " and that is too small for roses. I cut it 12" deep and 4 feet around. I put it in the ground so that about an inch is above the ground. I do not put anything on the bottom. This means that when a rose is planted inside a section that the length is 4 feet before making it a circle, there are only a few inches between the rose and the hardware cloth. The roots will go through, but there is too little area for a gopher to come up over the cloth and squeeze down between the rose and the cloth.

The word hardware cloth is really misleading. It is 10 times stronger than chicken wire (well, maybe not 10 times), and needs to be cut with a wire cutter. I think there are people around who have workshops or who know their way around hardware places. But me, I cut it by hand and find it difficult to do.

Sammy

I heard about something new the other day; Talpirid Mole Control. It's available on-line or at Estes, Inc. in OKC. I don't know anything about it, except that it has been extensively tested for effectiveness.

sara

Here is a link that might be useful: Info on Talpirid

David, I would suggest not buying 4 of them. I bought two and they have just created humps all around them. They don't work either. Don't waste your money on them.

I have the solution for you! Get a schnauzer.

My mom struggled with moles in her backyard for a couple of years. She tried EVERYTHING, but nothing deterred the little varmints. Her yard was almost ruined and would collapse under your feet because of all the underground tunnels. Then, one day I left for a weekend tennis tournament and Mom kept my sweet little mini-schnauzer, Bella. The next morning I get a text from Mom. Bella sniffed out that bugger. She sniffed it out and pulled it out of its hole. Mom hasn't seen another mole since. (3 months)
For the record, Bella is a small lap dog. She's all of 14 pounds and not the kind of dog you would expect to capture a wild animal. It must be a schnauzer thing. They are ratters by nature.

Is Bella for rent??????? Please?

Tulsa, OK

Garlic works. I use jumbo garlic. Cut clove in half and drop it down the hole. Feral cats helped, but nothing really worked until I used garlic. YMMV.

Hey, I will try the garlic. I have too many wild animals to have cats. I have poison but am afraid it will kill something like rabbits or squirrels or birds.....I love animals just not armadillos and moles/gophers. Thanks.

We hated the moles and tried many different things to no avail. Then the voles showed up, about 5-7 dozen of them. They took over the mole tunnels for the summer. I would have paid for the moles to be back! LOL At least the moles don't eat my plants!. And now, the moles have moved back in, after I spent 6 weeks pouring garlic and tobasco down the vole holes, and several garter and rat snakes showed up to help. Yeah, if it's not one thing it's another!