Moles and voles

[trappnman]

Steve, you forget some of us have tried the pan trap, the DK1 and all the rest many years ago

Didn't forget a thing.

I've bought and tested most gopher traps on the market. I'd use 1 type for 2-3 weeks at a time and switch. I kept meticulus records on success rates. Was using death clutch traps 45 years ago. tried the Lanesboro trap 30 years ago, tried the victors about te same time, tried cinchs about 8 years ago. Guess what? I'm back to the pan traps.

also- for those that check throughout the day. I tried that method HERE- and it sucks. Set traps- wait 3 hours- and movement rate HERE is less than 10%. Next 3 hour check- under 5%.
After several weeks of trying this method- I figured out its a waste of gas, time and effort.


HERE- your only bet to make it a money making proposition is to set traps, and check next morning.

[trapperjoemo]

Steve I think we can agree that different areas require different equipment. I also believe that your neighborhood seems to suit your particular style of trapping. We obviously have different ideas on the subject that we got by trapping the areas we know best. I can`t tell you the cinch would work for you. At this point I don`t think you would believe it if you saw it, but after hearing what you said I would like to try it myself in your area. I guess I`m just stubborn too. lol
But, proving something to (myself) is not reason enough for me to make a trip up-nort `eh. lol
Have a good one.

Joe

[trapperjoemo]

HD, We only saved the tails for proof of catch, and we turned those in for counting and payment every two weeks. It takes awhile to sit and count out 1,500 tails you know! LOL The carcass` were just dumped down badger holes or left on the field edges (away from any human traffic). Coyotes, badgers, hawks, owls and eagles were all fat and sassy. lol So do sell those gophers locally or ship them back east?

Joe

[trappnman]

we cut off the front feet for the bounty- thats what the townships want...

I just cannot believe not having to use a shovel. We have to take a metal probe and probe through to the tunnell- a sometimes easy, in mid summer tuff task to do. Many mounds I am unable to find the holes and have to go to another mound. Thats how deep and hard packed their tunnels are in summer, drought conditions.

[hdwolfer]

Every mound and hole has to be found here, too. Same gopher same size, close to the same conditions. Use a steal rod to locate the hole and a trowel to open hole and go onto the next, most times can open mound, set trap in 1 minute or less. Been trapping gophers full time over 25 years. My hat is off to you that you can do 3000 gophers a season with a pan trap. The farmers pay our fee, only a few counties offer a bounty and we cut tails only. Shipped! Who could afford to ship 1800lbs of gophers? Nope they are hauled to the buyer.

[trappnman]

trust me- its not the trap- the trap out performs in direct tests all I've tried- but the conditions.

Most time my mounds are flat driven over mounds- 1 minute would be a treat

if you like the cinch trap- you'd love the quickset- not jhaving the gopher come across any part of the trap is a bonus

[Bob Jameson]

Moles are best controlled with traps. I use out of sight victors or the spear type trap. Both have a high degree of effectiveness with proper setting mechanics being practiced. No mole traps are effective but are also labor intensive to set and especially to maintain fast checks efficiently.

Voles are best controlled with the use of bait stations placed in the active areas and rotated as needed to other areas of activity as needed until the active feeding in the bait stations has stopped. A good bait block such as Eaton bait blocks of the Peanut butter flavor have been our most effective and acceptable baits.We have tried them all and it is our choice for maintainence control of voles for residential and commercial applications.

Trapping can be very labor intensive with respects to voles .They are not hard to trap but very time consuming and requires repeated trips to the job site to remove captures and to reset . Not a job to make much of a profit on with that method in our experience.

[kevin606]

mainman,i just releasted 3 meadow voles,had them for 5 months.there number one food is grass but they also liked apples,peanut butter and tomtoes.i've tryed alot of different foods but sweet potatoes by far were the favorite.fyi the average life span is 2 to 3 months.....................kevin

[Maineman]

Interesting observation Kevin... Thanks...