!^%@#!* Voles!!

Controlling pests of bamboo

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Eastlandia
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!^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by Eastlandia »

So I have always laughed at needmore's stories... But I'm afraid the smell of fresh groves 2 miles away was enough for a small group of pioneering voles to trek my way. I can now say that my bissetiieye was bombarded by rhizome-eating voles during this spring, stunting its final height and spread.

When I was taking divisions a month ago, almost every single bud on the 1 year old rhizomes were gone. (not good)

My Henon grove looks like the moon with trenches, craters and tunnels. I'm not happy now. Oh, and the vole-loggers slowly chew the neck of my PV. Aureocaulis culms. By the end of August they look drunk.

Anyway, for all the fun I have provided for myself by making fun of the horror stories has slapped me in the face. @*^2# TERRORISTS!
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by foxd »

Eastlandia, perhaps it would be a good idea to post pictures of the damage. When you say the PV. Aureocaulis culms look drunk, do you mean drooping over?
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by Iowaboo »

I just set alot of baited mouse traps in danger zones and let the party begin. But villians seem to always win in movies...........
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by Eastlandia »

Image

Ok, so the culms are all about 8 feet tall...some are 10-12 feet tall. The culms to the left are standing up strait. The right group is....leaning.
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by Bamboo4me »

I had an invasion a few years back and was killing 65 a day and going backward!
I found that I had to poison them to gain control.
If your using mouse traps, you don't use bait. You set 3 or four perpendicular along one of their paths. -----|--|--|------- like this. With the trigger in the center of the path. Usually the second or third trap will get them.
Kill them all, as they can start reproducing 90 minutes after a litter or what ever a bunch of baby voles are called.
40+ varieties; trying to stay close to that until I get them all in the ground. 1 + acre to grow on. 30 in the ground!
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by Bamboo4me »

Anyone try the Castor oil and dish soap recipes for voles gophers ans moles?
I had good luck one year with the commercial version.
I now bought 4.5 gallons of Castor oil from a wholesale supplier and have made a few batches. I'll be trying it in large areas this week.
1 cup Castor oil 2 oz dish soap, emulsify with small amount of water and then add 2 oz. per gallon to the sprayer. (lots of different recipes for this on the web.
Anyone else tried?
I'll let you know how mine goes!
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by CJ_IS_HERE »

Castor seeds work as well... any ground dwellers for that matter.
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by Bamboo4me »

OK, I'm a little concerned they may become a pest plant? Besides the toxicity for animals an kids? Thoughts?
I actually threw some seeds in on one boo hoping they wouldn't grow! I'll know tomorrow, as most of my boo are about 2 hrs away now in a different location
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by foxd »

Castor is an annual here. I haven't had a problem with it taking over, but I also remove the pods. I have seeds for the red variety, which is rather pretty.

A lot of plants are poisonous, but people grow them anyway.
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Re: RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by CJ_IS_HERE »

[quote="foxd"]Castor is an annual here. I haven't had a problem with it taking over, but I also remove the pods. I have seeds for the red variety, which is rather pretty.

Are they red or Burgundy variety? I planted a few and none are sprouting :-)
Willing to send some?

this what you grow? http://swapseeds.com/castor_bean2.JPG
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by foxd »

I tend to call them red. Here is a picture:

Image

I could probably part with a few seeds.
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by ShmuBamboo »

We have a fairly large vole problem here. My cat is a great vole hunter, and has over 25 confirmed kills in the past 2 months, and probably 3 times that in all (he eats them completely so it is hard to tell how many he kills sometimes). You MUST reduce the vole population in large numbers in the spring, or they will get out of control and be impossible to control in late summer and early fall.

At least I do not have bamboo mites here, and the deer do not eat bamboo. They eat everything else.
Happy trails...
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by Bamboo4me »

Well, I guess my being afraid about the Castor plants is over!
I've lost about 20 canes to gophers.
But, the seeds I threw in near my Old Hamii are all growing . About 7 of the red variety. We'll see, but you can bet I'll be saving seeds this year.

Also the ground squirrel went nuts on a couple. I think I toasted him.
Big giant holes(maybe the cotton tails?

I think I'm going Wabbit hunting this weekend! At least the cotton tails are still edible.

I also did a dump of Castor oil and dish soap mixture around some.
I'll know Sunday, the Robert young had 5 canes down but about 10 new shoots up to 1.5 inches.

They may be gone, or the Castor oil saved them?

I'll let you know! My Phyllostachys violascens got hammered about 6 canes dead.
But about 16 new shoots if they live.
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RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by ShmuBamboo »

One reason I grow a lot of my boos in large 50 gallon tubs are all the damnable voles here. They are everywhere. Even the cats (4 of them) cannot keep up with their rampant breeding. The voles dined on my three nice big Phy. nigra Punctata stands in the ground recently, and they are not so happy now. The Phy. aureas seem to do better, and grow OK, but do not run as far nor shoot as high after being eaten. The voles keep them in check here. All the vivax is now back in big tubs; the only runners that the voles did not eat were 2 feet from the house foundation! Never mind that the voles are also now digging under the house and foundation, even through professionally compacted and dry clay soil. Dig dig dig... eat eat eat... breed breed breed...
Happy trails...
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Re: RE: !^%@#!* Voles!!

Post by Roy »

BambooBrother2 wrote:One reason I grow a lot of my boos in large 50 gallon tubs are all the damnable voles here. They are everywhere. Even the cats (4 of them) cannot keep up with their rampant breeding. The voles dined on my three nice big Phy. nigra Punctata stands in the ground recently, and they are not so happy now. The Phy. aureas seem to do better, and grow OK, but do not run as far nor shoot as high after being eaten. The voles keep them in check here. All the vivax is now back in big tubs; the only runners that the voles did not eat were 2 feet from the house foundation! Never mind that the voles are also now digging under the house and foundation, even through professionally compacted and dry clay soil. Dig dig dig... eat eat eat... breed breed breed...
And the sad thing about it is that the more bamboo you plant in the ground, then the more they will have to eat and then "breed, breed, breed" and have a larger population. :(
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