laceyvail- I find them a terrible problem. They have eaten the roots off a few apple trees and caused a large tree loaded with apples to fall over from the base.:-( I've had some success putting lava rock in the bottom and sides of daylily plantings, and haven't really seen any with eaten off roots since, but I tried the lava rock in rows of peas this year and they churned up the soil, ejected the lava rock, and ate the peas anyways. Then I tried planting beans by just digging small enough holes to put in the individual seed, and dumped cayenne pepper in. I did get some beans up. Then sometimes they come along and nip off the stem at the ground so the whole vine dies. I was trying trapping with mouse and rat traps under a large inverted pot this year and did catch a few, but then either the trap smells bad or they get wise and I stop catching any. Some people say to plant everything in hardware cloth baskets. That can get expensive. I think I may try some in the ground and some in pots.

We use hardware cloth as a barrier around our roses. They especially hurt the young rose, so the barrier has really helped. We are adding some perennials, and I don't know about them yet. I don't want to put out poison because it can hurt dogs and cats. THere is a creek behind our house so they will keep coming. The hardware cloth has been our best answer. Good luck. Let me know if you would like to know how to use it. If you have never heard of it before, it is like real strong chicken wire. Sammy

I've had mole problems in my yard. I've used castor oil products and sonic mole repellent stakes. The castor oil only seemed to work a few weeks. The stakes seem to work the best, only you need a lot of them (I have 5 to cover .15 acres) and you have to replace the batteries frequently. Once the batteries get weak, the moles come right back. Jean

When I read this I wanted to look up the common rodents found in the garden. I have a Mole problem so I know how you feel! Voles; Herbivore that dosen't tunnel, commonly mis-identified as a field mouse. Some conflicts about the tunneling, but this is the most common rodent in the garden. Shrew; Insectivore which which is very much like the vole, but has a very long snout/nose. Mole; Insectivore and larger tunneling rodent (rarely seen) that produces traces just under the ground with exit holes with a pile of earth where the Mole pop's his head up. Field (House) Mouse; Eats just about anything really and will invade (chew, dig, destroy) just about anything in search of food. Just as happy to eat the peice of cheese on the counter or the grain stored in the barn. If you're seeing damage to your plants like chewing on the lower stems/bark or evidance digging right down next to the plants to get at the roots, then the first thing is to make sure any mulch isn't right up against the plant. This gives the critters some protection while they feed on your plants. The internet is filled with useful info, but I've found that some of it is conflicting and at times completely useless. To rid yourself of Moles many like using chewing gum, but this will only waste money on Juicy Fruit, while eliminating the food source will only work if you want to launch the equilivant of a A-Bomb and kill all the bugs (good and bad) in the yard. In general terms to control rodents you want to trap, bait, or repell and make your yard/house uninviting to the critters so they find more a more favorable enviroment. Most mice are very smart and reproduce at an astonishing rates, so you may not be able to eliminate them once they've got an established colony, but you can bring the numbers down to a tollerable level. Also I've read making sure the grass is cut helps too as they'll use the tall grass as cover. My cat has caught 5 mice in the house so far this fall, if only he would "dispatch" of them. He pounces and then sit back to watch the mouse wiggle and jerk in obvious pain or the shock the cat gave them wears off and they decide to make a run for it, directly past ME of course. Amazing thing is last winter I never once saw a mouse in the house... so I can't figure out why I'm seeing so many now. I've put out traps and I've got this somewhat useless cat here, so I can only hope I've seen the last of Mickey and friends. Good luck!! Shannon