between the insects destroying my veggies (and trying to keep things organic), ants crawling in every inch of whats left of my pathetic lawn, the snake living (IN?) or under the siding of the garage, the mole, voles and chipmunks eating every last plant in my flower bed I am going nutso. Guess thats waht I get for having the woods in my back yard but good lord something has to give here. The tunneling critters are destroying eveything and when I say everything I mean everything from the pavement in the driveway to the plants in the garden. WTF.

Aside of an all out chemical assault any good advice? Not a fan of dumping tons of pesticides all over my property.

Husband has a mole & vole "trapline" but they just keep on coming...set up the chipper dipper this morning and already caught 2 in about an hour, ants are being fed all the Terro they can eat and we have already spent a small fortune on organic sprays for the veggie garden.

What's wrong with snakes? They'll eat the rodents.

Terro is good stuff, keep at it.
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This small snake is likely eating more insects than the rodents which is fine but i think it is living in a hole (that I think was made by a chipmunk) in the siding of the garage. Now this is to close to the house for me, if it were out in the yard I would welcome it actually but not where it is now. Kind of like the spider in the house rule. In the house they die....in the yard they are allowed to live. :)

Get a cat and never feed it. :devil:
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I don't blame you for the in the house rule. I have lots of green snakes outside but when one got in the basement it died within seconds of attracting my attention. The ants are a big problem. I think you can get a pesticide that you spread like fertilizer all over the lawn with a lawn spreader.

Mole , vole , etc I have no idea. We had a few moles onle year but they disappeared and never came back. Chipmunks are cute...leave em alone! :)

If you want to keep it organic try dried blood, high in Nitrogen and
keeps alot of rodents away, except woodchucks. :(

Rotenone, a plant derivative, has been used as an insecticide for years
but now they are linking it to Parkinsons in rats.

Mexican bean beatle can be hand picked off with excellent success.
Drown them in a little kerosense.

Then there are some soap sprays that work pretty good on suficating insects
on the leaves.

Moles are usually there after japanese beatle grubs along with skunks.
Chemicals, like SH said, are the only thing I know of that kill the grubs they eat.

Good luck, tough to see all that hard work being ruined.

snakes are legless lizards....that grew a longer tail to propel themselves along.... i draw the line of course at the ones that are poisoness and they get shot. Anything that wants to attack me dies. Anything that eats my food becomes fox food. ANTS are very predictable ....you can lay down a garden hose in a straight line away from your house with a sugar stash at the end and they'll go marching that a way. Grow mint where you don't want them. moles/voles hate camphor or moth balls.

Moles/Voles: My inlaws had major problems with them. They got some kind of bait for them and haven't seen a tunnel in weeks since.

For the other rodents: I've heard planting mint and lemon balm around the perimeter of garden beds can help keep them away. But, both plants are extremely aggressive and you really need to keep on top of them to prevent them spreading too much. (Just saw the Raven also mentioned mint)

For the insects: My MOL just bought this: http://www.saferbrand.com/store/garden-care/organic-pest-control
Don't take my word on it, but according to her, you can eat the veggies even on the same day as spraying with the bug killer.

Good luck!

I generaly dislike snakes...but they are good for the garden.. as long as i see them first.... e verything else I can control.. it's the chipmonks... they are pure distruction in a striped coat.. NOTHING about them is cute... they got every strawberry while they were green...they now have turned their attention to the green tomnatoes... in past years.. I've had them chew the vines off at ground level to get the water in the vines... this weekend I trapped 17... i doubt it dents the population.. IMHO they are only cute in movies..

Get a cat and never feed it. :devil:
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I agree. I have 3 outdoor during day cats and they kill a lot of mice voles and chipmunks with an occasional rabbit and bird which I dislike.
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Vermitcong. license to kill golfers. sit back, and rely on superior firepower, and superior intelligence...in order to conquer an animal you have to think like an animal, and whenever possible, look like an animal.....

it's the chipmonks... they are pure distruction in a striped coat.. IMHO they are only cute in movies..

pure destruction in striped coats....... I like that. :)

They are also cute in music videos.

thanks all....I have mint & lemon balm but guess I will have to plant more. I almost forgot about the dried blood.....will try the trapping for a few more days and then turn to the repelling after I feel the action in the dipper has dies down (so far 2 chips and one red)

":they are pure distruction in a striped coat.. NOTHING about them is cute"

My BIL taught me how to make a serious dent in your yards chipmunk population...I call it the their "staircase to heaven"

get a empty drywall compound bucket and fill it 1/2 with water. Cover the top with black oil sunflower seeds. Place bucket near steps or deck and place a wooden plank between steps/deck and lip of bucket. Sprinkle a few seeds along the "plank"

I have caught 5-6 chippys per day with this method... they cannot resist the scent of all those seeds and jump right in... they drown with full tummies....

Better half leaves Friday for a week..... Gonna set up that rig just for thehell of it :grins:

Put dog poo in the chipmonk holes. They will think something bigger moved in and leave. Red squirrells......large rat trap with peanut butter and nuts from the bird feeder mixed in. Got five in a week doing that. Small have-a-hart for the squirrells as well. Dump the trap in water when full. Organic red hot ant spray at your local agway.

":they are pure distruction in a striped coat.. NOTHING about them is cute"

My BIL taught me how to make a serious dent in your yards chipmunk population...I call it the their "staircase to heaven"

get a empty drywall compound bucket and fill it 1/2 with water. Cover the top with black oil sunflower seeds. Place bucket near steps or deck and place a wooden plank between steps/deck and lip of bucket. Sprinkle a few seeds along the "plank"

I have caught 5-6 chippys per day with this method... they cannot resist the scent of all those seeds and jump right in... they drown with full tummies....


yup....this is the same set up I referred to as the chipper dipper. got another yesterday just got home and have not checked today yet. I will keep you posted on the progress but so far I am impressed with how effective it has been. Cant say I feel to badly about it except for the one I saw just after it jumped in (seeing it did not make me feel very nice so I had hubby end it more swiftly :( )

I just dropped another groundhog, he's been decimating my tomato plants... :fury:

I just dropped another groundhog, he's been decimating my tomato plants... :fury:

Eff groundhogs.
Eff em to hell.

The bucket works until they see enough of their brethren flaoting and become wise... if you remove the live trap as soon as you get them.. they never get wise to it...

I blind set them most of the time to keep the other critters out... but when i must bait... a tortilla chip covered in peanut butter and rolled in bird seed becomes irresitable..

Eff groundhogs.
Eff em to hell.

I haven't had an issues with yard pigs in years.. I hope it stays that way...

a ten foot section of 2" pvc pipe also works excellent
if your around to observe it and them feeding near it
they dash into it when startled

leave it laying flat on ground -toss some seeds into it

scare them into it and plug the ends with a nerf bat
and/or a rag

then stand it up- -> captured

the words out... they havent knawed on a green tomato in a few days... each day i pick off a few more... I've noticed the size has gotten bigger... I think I've exported the kids out of town and am working on the adult population...

My get rich plan was to start a speying and nuetering clinic for the striped lil mauraders...kind of a chipmunk planned parenting clinic...

that happened here too
suddenly it was a chipmunk ghost town