Mark:

When we lived in Monterey, California we used to sit on our porch after dinner on weekend summer evenings, enjoy a glass of wine, and watch the gophers pull plants underground. At first it was a declaration of war. Like "war on poverty" and "war on crime" we quickly discovered that there was little hope of victory. It became "look, dearie, there goes another cosmo..."

You will find all sorts of remedies and suggestions here on the list, and google is chock' full of methods for eradication, but personally I've found the best remedy to be cats. Corgis and basset hounds also seem to like digging up underground creatures (moles, voles, gophers), too. But, cats, in my experience, seem more determined and persistent. For dogs it's an entertainment, for cats it's a calling...

Good luck!

Mark - tell-tale signs of moles are different from "voles". Have you checked to see if you have those in your area? They do similar damage. They are smaller than moles or gophers and kin to the rat family but they are much more furry. They'll leave an occassional pile of dirt that looks similar to an ant hill, only the dirt seems to be piled up by something using a drinking straw to move it. Does that sound familiar?

Funny story about those voles - about 4 years ago when I had moved out here to DH's place, we were laying a flagstone area from the back deck to the newly installed above ground pool, using rock he'd had piled up for YEARS. One evening while working to move and place the stone, he uncovered a vole hole. That critter came up and out with the speed of a tazmanian devil, circled his ankle several times then ran over the top of his foot before escaping under the back deck. My 6'3", 300 lb. hubby squealed and stomped like girl who just saw a mouse. I still laugh at that memory.

Hope this helps and be sure to post any question here whenever needed as well as keep us posted on what you find. I was a "lurker" too for a long time. Be sure and let us know...we are all "inquiring minds"!

Paula

Mark,

I'm guessing gopher or vole. We have both here (and moles too), but the cats (and one cat in particular named Moose, who is no longer with us) keep them mostly under control, or at least out of the veggie garden. Every year the moles and gophers try to move into the sandier soil (not so much the clay) under the pecan tree, and the cats kill them relentlessly. Voles (aka meadow mice although they look more to me like a squared off hamster or rat) are harder to control because they can live in the woodlands and the pastures and 'visit' just long enough to do damage before they retreat back to the wilder areas.

The only tomato plant I've lost this year was lost to a vole who nibbled all the way around the stem, not severing the stem but leaving it too damaged to survive.

If you have gophers (or moles), the best way to protect plants is to line your beds with quarter-inch hardware cloth, which is an expensive solution. There are some gopher traps and poisons and such, but I don't know if any of them are effective. Since we have cats, I've never tried them.

With voles, I suspect baited traps might be the best way to kill them if you don't have cats or small dogs that will hunt them and kill them.

Sorry to hear about the loss of the tomato plant and good luck fighting the pests. It is nice to see you posting. You haven't posted in a long time!

Dawn

I agree with the above comments. I would say it is almost certain to be one of the above mentioned pests. I used to have a Border Collie who would dig up the tunnels when they would tunnel into the yard. I've never noticed my cats getting any. But maybe I've just missed it. But knock on wood I haven't had the trouble with them the last few years. I hope you don't lose anymore. Jay

Thanks everyone, I had cats at one time and they disappeared. I have 4 border collies in the yard now and one that won't stay out of the garden. In fact he is always digging holes in the yard and had dug one near the tomato plant the was killed yesterday. So maybe he is trying to hunt them out.

Dawn, How deep would you need to put the hardware cloth to keep them out? It is not an option now but might become one some day in the future.

Mark

We live in Tulsa, and grow roses. We plant them in hardware cloth cages. We cut the hardware cloth 4 feet around and 12" deep. We leave about an inch or so above ground. I am not sure if our hardware cloth is 1/4 or 1/2 inches.

This works for roses, but our tomato plants are in large pots because of the voles.

There is no real way to get rid of them since we live near a creek. Poisons will kill any animal, not just a vole. Cages were a huge source of stress for my husband, and they never worked.

Good luck.

Sammy

Paula, I laughed out loud at the image of your husband. My husband reacted the same way to a garden snake recently. Sure does make for a great belly laugh.
Good info on the "voles" - glad Dawn gave the a/k/a - I'm from TN was about to take offense!lol (vols - get it?). I truly learn something every time I check out the website.

Mark - good luck with the rest of your plants - now I have something else to worry about!

Mark,

I'd think if 12" protected Sammy's roses, it would protect tomatoes. Some people build raised beds and line the entire bed....sides and bottom. Others make a cylinder like Sammy did, sink them into the planting hole and then plant inside them. Others switch to containers.

Traci,

I had remembered you were from Tennessee and meant to ask on the other thread if your part of Tenn. came through the flooding alright. I certainly hope it did.

Dawn