Non-toxic garden defense

[Eutycus]

The electric fence does work on the neighbors dogs but I haven't had much luck on small varmints.

 

[Eterry]

I know from personal experience an electric fence won't stop most critters... but it'll dang sure get my attention.

 

[Billy Boy]

Anyone got a surefire way to get rid of moles ?

Hire a weasel

 

[Carbon 6]

Hire a weasel

I got one tonight, was eating supper and the wife looked out the window and said "is that a mole", Sure enough it was one digging, out the door I went with the shotgun and now he's in mole heaven.
What's funny is, I was watching two Canadian geese 40 yards away while i was eating, the shot never even spooked them.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Carbon,

Back in England we trapped about 500 moles a year on the farm and neighbours farm.
Over here, I trap maybe 150 a year on the hayfields, but these are pocket gophers, that get Called moles.
Some traps are purchased, and some homemade.
Moles are pretty easy to catch, but maybe doing it forever helps.

Re Pounds of lead shot on your garden; That could only happen if you had to shoot piles of critters all season long.
You must be realistic. If you get the odd rabbit, it shouldn't take pounds of lead to knock them over.
It's ridiculous to think shooting the odd garden pest is going to cause problems.

Best,
R.

 

[fire bear]

If you cast try casting some wax round balls. They will hold up to around 5 or 600 fps for a 10 or 15 yard shot. A 4 ga load of .36 or bigger wax balls may take out a lot of plants so I hope you can find something slightly smaller. Like someone said, but not quite as much fun as a 4 ga with wax balls, would be an airgun with alloy pellets.

 

[Many Klatch]

Air Rifle? One accurate pellet, good practice.

 

[mushka]

I've a problem with gophers in my yard. It only runs about 3/4 acre of grass but I trap about 30 to 40 gophers a year. Troublesome little peckerwoods. In a bad month I'll only get one, in a good month I'll get four of them.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

A gun of about .410 gauge (M-L of course!) will clobber any garden raider out to a very decent range, and would use less than a half ounce of shot.
Look at the charge for a 2" .410 load, and use that in your M-L... (This Is a M-L forum after all....)
For chasing deer out of the yard, I have used dried maize or peas.
For a single projectile, a piece of a candle is good, But it can be very deadly within 20 yards.
(A normal white candle just fits a 14 bore, and at 10 yards or so will go straight through a door 2" thick. Jack Hargreves demonstrated this Decades ago)
Mushka,
Here on the farm when I trap each spring, I set about 20 -odd traps. I'm not short of pocket gophers. Maybe 10 a day for a start, but have to trap before the hay gets too tall , so season is short.

 

[Eutycus]

Are we talking live traps, like Havahart, or "kill traps"?

 

[Juice Jaws]

A weasel has no interest in your fresh garden veggies and eats insects. Why the need to kill one?

And moles and gophers and mice

 

[Juice Jaws]

With spring coming up, I’d like to prepare some non-toxic shot loads to defend our garden against varmints. What options do I have for a steel-barreled musket? I know that I can always use bismuth, but it’s awfully expensive for this application.

First you have not said what varmints you are trying to get rid of? Rock salt is a waste of time, only good for chasing kids out of the watermelon patch.

 

[Carbon 6]

I don't have a problem with gophers or chipmunks.

Hire a weasel

I surely would if i could, or a mink. I saw a weasel in one of my woodpiles a couple years ago. Cute little thing just stared at me, 3 feet away. He never stuck around though.

 

[Cobra6]

I connect a garden hose to my truck. Sick the hose down the hole and start the truck. One can make a plenum from scrap sheet metal to connect between the tailpipe and hose. There is also a commercial company that sells a rubber interface connector between the hose and tailpipe. Go on-line, they sell them on Amazon. Works great!


Cobra 6

 

[Carbon 6]

I connect a garden hose to my truck. Sick the hose down the hole and start the truck. One can make a plenum from scrap sheet metal to connect between the tailpipe and hose. There is also a commercial company that sells a rubber interface connector between the hose and tailpipe. Go on-line, they sell them on Amazon. Works great!


Cobra 6

Next on my list of things to try.

 

[Carbon 6]

And moles and gophers and mice

Moles and mice do tremendous damage, gophers will eat some veggies.

 

[Juice Jaws]

Moles and mice do tremendous damage, gophers will eat some veggies.

Here gophers due a lot damage, I just plant enough for all of us. Man can only eat so much squash.

 

[Eutycus]

I've tried that "rubber hose to muffler pipe" before and It must have been some inferior type of hose. The gopher probably only came of with brain damage because the hose melted. I did shoot him later but not before alot of damage was done.It's amazing how much damage one little varmint can do.

 

[nkbj]

From the techniques developed in 1970 with buried tomato cans and gasoline with a dispersal charge I started to suggest taking a lesson from the siege of Vicksburg but we're not allowed to do that sort of thing any more. So reckon the thing to do is some really inventive snares. Are we allowed to do that?
The options for a smoothbore are really limited and require close range and some serious sneakum.

On the moles, have yall seen the videos, propane and oxygen bottles filling up the tunnels followed by ignition?
I've got so many mole tunnels around here that I'd have to replace my windows and buy kitty tranq's.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

A weasel has no interest in your fresh garden veggies and eats insects. Why the need to kill one?

If you leave the weasel alone you won't have to shoot so many rabbits or moles.