1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,419 Welcome to the Sunshine Gardening Podcast, 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:06,179 your ultimate source for gardening tips and tricks. 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,859 I'm Kristen Hildebrand, your host. In today's episode, 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:11,539 which is episode 32, 5 00:00:11,919 --> 00:00:14,500 we will explore the world of pest control 6 00:00:14,894 --> 00:00:17,695 focusing on those pesky creatures that can ruin 7 00:00:17,695 --> 00:00:21,635 your home lawn. Doctor. Matthew Springer, UK Assistant 8 00:00:21,774 --> 00:00:25,154 Extension Professor of Wildlife Management, is joining us. 9 00:00:25,454 --> 00:00:28,434 From moles to voles and everything in between, 10 00:00:28,820 --> 00:00:31,939 we'll discuss practical ways to control these pests 11 00:00:31,939 --> 00:00:33,960 and keep your home lawn healthy. 12 00:00:34,340 --> 00:00:36,899 If you're dealing with unwelcome visitors to your 13 00:00:36,899 --> 00:00:39,780 home lawn, tune in to get expert advice 14 00:00:39,780 --> 00:00:41,320 on managing these creatures. 15 00:00:41,984 --> 00:00:44,704 So put on your gardening gloves, and let's 16 00:00:44,704 --> 00:00:47,604 dive in to the secrets of controlling moles 17 00:00:47,664 --> 00:00:51,024 and other unwanted visitors to your lawn. Let's 18 00:00:51,024 --> 00:00:51,765 get started. 19 00:00:52,385 --> 00:00:54,645 Welcome to the Sunshine Gardening podcast. 20 00:00:55,185 --> 00:00:58,170 This gardening show will equip and inspire avid 21 00:00:58,170 --> 00:01:00,490 gardeners with tips and tricks to help them 22 00:01:00,490 --> 00:01:03,210 navigate the gardening world. The show will also 23 00:01:03,210 --> 00:01:06,969 highlight specific growing requirements for seasonal plants so 24 00:01:06,969 --> 00:01:09,370 the sun will shine brighter over their Kentucky 25 00:01:09,370 --> 00:01:09,870 garden. 26 00:01:10,490 --> 00:01:12,665 And now, here's that ray of sunshine, 27 00:01:13,125 --> 00:01:14,905 garden enthusiast, and horticulture 28 00:01:15,204 --> 00:01:18,965 extension agent, Kristen Hildebrand, with the University of 29 00:01:18,965 --> 00:01:21,224 Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. 30 00:01:22,245 --> 00:01:24,965 Welcome back to the sunshine gardening podcast. And 31 00:01:24,965 --> 00:01:27,819 joining with us today is doctor Matt Springer. 32 00:01:27,819 --> 00:01:30,140 Hello, doctor Springer. How are you? I'm fine. 33 00:01:30,140 --> 00:01:32,540 How are you? Doing well. I'm so glad 34 00:01:32,540 --> 00:01:34,219 to have you on the podcast with us 35 00:01:34,219 --> 00:01:36,620 today because we are talking about something that 36 00:01:36,620 --> 00:01:38,140 we get a lot of questions about, and 37 00:01:38,140 --> 00:01:40,275 I'm sure you do as well. But it 38 00:01:40,275 --> 00:01:42,834 seems like with the spring and the summer 39 00:01:42,834 --> 00:01:44,674 now, with it being the month of May, 40 00:01:44,674 --> 00:01:46,674 a lot of people are more active around 41 00:01:46,674 --> 00:01:50,375 their lawns doing different gardening activities and performing 42 00:01:50,515 --> 00:01:53,280 lawn maintenance practices. And so it seems like 43 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:55,840 there's some common lawn pests that we do 44 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,159 get a lot of questions about, and specifically, 45 00:01:58,159 --> 00:02:00,319 we're gonna talk about those today. But just 46 00:02:00,319 --> 00:02:02,959 to kinda get our conversation going today, what 47 00:02:02,959 --> 00:02:06,560 initially interested you in studying wildlife management? You 48 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:08,294 might wanna share some of your background with 49 00:02:08,294 --> 00:02:11,254 us. Sure. So I'm originally from Pennsylvania, and 50 00:02:11,254 --> 00:02:12,935 I grew up in a family that was 51 00:02:12,935 --> 00:02:15,814 very outdoorsy in hunting, fishing, and those kind 52 00:02:15,814 --> 00:02:17,194 of things. And 53 00:02:17,495 --> 00:02:19,495 I was not very good at organic chemistry 54 00:02:19,495 --> 00:02:21,254 my freshman year, so the premed track went 55 00:02:21,254 --> 00:02:23,895 out the window. And I took a environmental 56 00:02:23,895 --> 00:02:26,030 science class. My dad has a forestry degree, 57 00:02:26,030 --> 00:02:27,710 and I've kind of been exposed to that 58 00:02:27,710 --> 00:02:30,270 stuff. And I really enjoyed it and had 59 00:02:30,270 --> 00:02:32,430 always kind of been attracted to the idea 60 00:02:32,430 --> 00:02:33,969 of managing wildlife populations, 61 00:02:34,270 --> 00:02:35,409 mostly in deer, 62 00:02:35,710 --> 00:02:37,550 and that's what I did all my graduate 63 00:02:37,550 --> 00:02:39,754 work on. But one of the cool things 64 00:02:39,754 --> 00:02:41,835 about the position that I'm currently in in 65 00:02:41,835 --> 00:02:44,814 general wildlife management is that I never know 66 00:02:44,955 --> 00:02:47,034 what kind of problems I'll deal with on 67 00:02:47,034 --> 00:02:49,275 a regular day. You know? Come in, answer 68 00:02:49,275 --> 00:02:50,634 an email, answer a phone call, and all 69 00:02:50,634 --> 00:02:52,469 of a sudden, I'm working on voles, moles, 70 00:02:52,710 --> 00:02:54,250 right, like we are today. 71 00:02:54,550 --> 00:02:56,150 Oh, or I could be dealing with bears 72 00:02:56,150 --> 00:02:58,090 or black vultures or who knows. 73 00:02:58,550 --> 00:03:00,889 And I think the idea of kinda blending 74 00:03:01,349 --> 00:03:03,830 the science component and the structure trying to 75 00:03:03,830 --> 00:03:06,194 understand how these populations are interacting with their 76 00:03:06,194 --> 00:03:08,275 environment, how they interact with humans is really 77 00:03:08,275 --> 00:03:09,094 cool to me, 78 00:03:09,395 --> 00:03:11,395 as well as the part about trying to 79 00:03:11,395 --> 00:03:14,775 make that interaction from the human wildlife standpoint 80 00:03:14,835 --> 00:03:17,075 more positive because of the benefits that it 81 00:03:17,075 --> 00:03:19,590 provides us as humans in terms of economics 82 00:03:19,590 --> 00:03:22,489 and nutrition from the gardening perspective and production 83 00:03:22,550 --> 00:03:23,050 perspective, 84 00:03:23,509 --> 00:03:25,030 as well as if we can make that 85 00:03:25,030 --> 00:03:26,569 interaction, then the conservation 86 00:03:27,270 --> 00:03:29,430 of those species becomes a little bit more 87 00:03:29,430 --> 00:03:31,349 appealing to certain folks as long as there's 88 00:03:31,349 --> 00:03:33,664 not always a negative connotation with the idea 89 00:03:33,664 --> 00:03:35,604 of having animals around your house 90 00:03:35,905 --> 00:03:37,504 and and garden. That makes life a little 91 00:03:37,504 --> 00:03:38,784 bit easier to make sure that we have 92 00:03:38,784 --> 00:03:41,425 these resources into the future. Yes. And you 93 00:03:41,425 --> 00:03:43,585 do a great job with all the things 94 00:03:43,585 --> 00:03:45,985 that I have questions related to. And I 95 00:03:45,985 --> 00:03:48,750 know, like, you mentioned there from Eastern Kentucky 96 00:03:48,750 --> 00:03:51,229 to Western Kentucky to South Central Kentucky or 97 00:03:51,229 --> 00:03:53,150 the central part of the state anyway, it 98 00:03:53,150 --> 00:03:55,469 can be very, very different across the different 99 00:03:55,469 --> 00:03:55,969 locations. 100 00:03:56,270 --> 00:03:58,750 Yeah. We have problems that are definitely regionally 101 00:03:58,750 --> 00:04:01,629 specific. Right? So you have you personally have 102 00:04:01,629 --> 00:04:03,525 been spared a bear problems for the most 103 00:04:04,004 --> 00:04:06,185 part. However, that may change in the future. 104 00:04:06,324 --> 00:04:08,164 But the new one that, I think we 105 00:04:08,164 --> 00:04:10,025 may touch on today are things like arbodillos 106 00:04:10,084 --> 00:04:11,685 that we never had to deal with before 107 00:04:11,685 --> 00:04:14,185 that I'm saved mostly from a Northern Kentucky 108 00:04:14,245 --> 00:04:16,564 for the time being. But you definitely now 109 00:04:16,564 --> 00:04:19,000 have to worry about them. And that diversity 110 00:04:19,139 --> 00:04:21,300 that the state of Kentucky provides is really 111 00:04:21,300 --> 00:04:23,379 a wonderful resource and also a headache at 112 00:04:23,379 --> 00:04:25,139 the same time. Yes. It's so funny that 113 00:04:25,139 --> 00:04:27,379 you brought up the armadillo because one of 114 00:04:27,379 --> 00:04:29,240 my friends from Todd County, 115 00:04:29,699 --> 00:04:31,479 they had posted a video 116 00:04:31,915 --> 00:04:34,555 and evidently the dog evidently had scared the 117 00:04:34,555 --> 00:04:36,555 armadillo. I mean, and it was trying to 118 00:04:36,555 --> 00:04:38,955 dig close to the foundation of their house. 119 00:04:38,955 --> 00:04:41,995 So that is definitely something new that I 120 00:04:41,995 --> 00:04:44,814 don't believe that we have ever seen before. 121 00:04:44,930 --> 00:04:46,689 Yeah. If you're from the south, especially as 122 00:04:46,689 --> 00:04:48,689 you get closer and closer to Texas, it's 123 00:04:48,689 --> 00:04:49,189 normal 124 00:04:49,490 --> 00:04:50,930 to see them. Right? They've been around there 125 00:04:50,930 --> 00:04:52,529 for a long time, but definitely the last 126 00:04:52,529 --> 00:04:55,569 decade or 2, they are in Kentucky. And 127 00:04:55,569 --> 00:04:57,250 the further west you go in Kentucky as 128 00:04:57,250 --> 00:04:59,295 you get out to LBL there and even 129 00:04:59,295 --> 00:05:02,095 further towards the river, they're just there. They 130 00:05:02,095 --> 00:05:03,855 have been there for a while now, and 131 00:05:03,855 --> 00:05:06,274 they are presenting new problems and new concerns 132 00:05:06,814 --> 00:05:09,694 as well as a sometimes very entertaining critter 133 00:05:09,694 --> 00:05:11,455 to watch as long as they're not being 134 00:05:11,455 --> 00:05:14,199 distracted. Yes. Yes. Well, they've eaten some of 135 00:05:14,199 --> 00:05:16,560 our dog food off the back porch. So 136 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:18,520 and I guess it's what they were trying 137 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,759 to find food. So it is definitely something 138 00:05:20,759 --> 00:05:22,600 that we're definitely gonna have to monitor. I'm 139 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:24,120 looking forward to what else you have to 140 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,084 share about armadillos a little bit later. But 141 00:05:27,084 --> 00:05:29,725 to get back to our original conversation, you 142 00:05:29,725 --> 00:05:31,884 know, can you help us understand a little 143 00:05:31,884 --> 00:05:34,925 bit more the differences between moles? It seems 144 00:05:34,925 --> 00:05:37,245 like they are the ones that seem to 145 00:05:37,245 --> 00:05:39,324 get the bad rap, but then there could 146 00:05:39,324 --> 00:05:42,279 be other culprits within the lawn like bolls 147 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:44,520 and, like you mentioned, there with armadillo and 148 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,580 other common lawn pests. Yeah. So I would 149 00:05:47,639 --> 00:05:50,040 put moles in a very m, moles with 150 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,600 an m, in a very unique kinda problem 151 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:54,845 child, let's call it, as they're 152 00:05:55,464 --> 00:05:55,964 mostly 153 00:05:56,425 --> 00:05:58,745 dislike the not because of what they're eating, 154 00:05:58,745 --> 00:06:00,584 but because of how they move around. They're 155 00:06:00,584 --> 00:06:03,464 a fossil mammal, so they live basically underground 156 00:06:03,464 --> 00:06:05,224 all the time. And in order to do 157 00:06:05,224 --> 00:06:06,444 that, they dig tunnels 158 00:06:07,019 --> 00:06:09,100 and push dirt up to make those tunnels. 159 00:06:09,100 --> 00:06:11,920 So often what you see is damage to 160 00:06:12,139 --> 00:06:14,860 your lawn or landscaping associated with dirt being 161 00:06:14,860 --> 00:06:17,259 moved around, pushed up, which sometimes causes the 162 00:06:17,259 --> 00:06:19,019 plants to die, you know, because the roots 163 00:06:19,019 --> 00:06:20,639 are disturbed enough or damaged. 164 00:06:21,074 --> 00:06:22,375 That grass would die. 165 00:06:22,754 --> 00:06:24,595 You'll often get this little lump in the 166 00:06:24,595 --> 00:06:26,354 ground where if you run over with a 167 00:06:26,354 --> 00:06:28,914 lawnmower, it it doesn't make things as visually 168 00:06:28,914 --> 00:06:31,794 appealing anymore and the blades hit dirt and 169 00:06:31,794 --> 00:06:34,790 all those kind of things. They're real challenges, 170 00:06:35,170 --> 00:06:37,569 and they're mostly just consuming grubs and worms 171 00:06:37,569 --> 00:06:39,649 and those kind of things. Whereas our other 172 00:06:39,649 --> 00:06:42,370 group of problem children per se are things 173 00:06:42,370 --> 00:06:45,009 like voles with a v, which are closely 174 00:06:45,009 --> 00:06:46,930 related to mice with basically, you can think 175 00:06:46,930 --> 00:06:48,964 of those mice without a tail. And they're 176 00:06:48,964 --> 00:06:49,464 actual 177 00:06:50,165 --> 00:06:51,865 consumers of vegetation 178 00:06:52,805 --> 00:06:54,964 and can get in very high densities and 179 00:06:54,964 --> 00:06:57,305 create colonies within lawns and landscaping, 180 00:06:57,845 --> 00:06:59,544 and they often are digging holes. 181 00:06:59,925 --> 00:07:02,004 Other culprits that do that in similar ways 182 00:07:02,004 --> 00:07:04,105 and slightly larger ways are things like chipmunks. 183 00:07:04,540 --> 00:07:07,100 And we also see damage from skunks who 184 00:07:07,100 --> 00:07:09,899 create holes, smaller holes as they're actually digging 185 00:07:09,899 --> 00:07:11,740 up and looking for grubs similar to the 186 00:07:11,740 --> 00:07:12,240 moles. 187 00:07:12,620 --> 00:07:13,759 But they're kinda 188 00:07:14,220 --> 00:07:16,939 all I would say, moles are dealt with 189 00:07:16,939 --> 00:07:19,120 very differently than voles and chipmunks. 190 00:07:19,595 --> 00:07:21,595 And then skunks because of their size and 191 00:07:21,595 --> 00:07:23,595 some other concerns are dealt with in a 192 00:07:23,595 --> 00:07:25,514 different way as well. And armadillos are now 193 00:07:25,514 --> 00:07:27,134 getting lumped in with those skunks. 194 00:07:27,435 --> 00:07:29,675 So there's lots of options to cause you 195 00:07:29,675 --> 00:07:31,595 headaches if you really, really wanna make sure 196 00:07:31,595 --> 00:07:33,840 that you have a nice lawn. Yes. So 197 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,100 the lawn, as far as the moles go, 198 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,100 is it generally more of a issue 199 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:40,960 at, like, say, spring and maybe in the 200 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,120 fall, or do you still get some questions 201 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:45,675 about it in the summer versus, like, say 202 00:07:45,675 --> 00:07:47,915 skunk? I mean, is skunk more of a 203 00:07:47,915 --> 00:07:50,314 issue in a certain season of the year 204 00:07:50,314 --> 00:07:52,555 here in Kentucky? Well, I would say almost 205 00:07:52,555 --> 00:07:54,395 all of them decline in the winter, right, 206 00:07:54,395 --> 00:07:57,355 for multiple reasons. Mostly things like voles and 207 00:07:57,355 --> 00:07:57,855 skunks 208 00:07:58,580 --> 00:08:00,920 and voles and chipmunks are hibernating 209 00:08:01,460 --> 00:08:04,180 or not very active in addition to the 210 00:08:04,180 --> 00:08:06,900 fact that humans are not out actively on 211 00:08:06,900 --> 00:08:09,060 their gardens and lawns and lawns aren't really 212 00:08:09,060 --> 00:08:10,819 growing. So it's not easy to see the 213 00:08:10,819 --> 00:08:11,639 difference between 214 00:08:12,245 --> 00:08:12,745 live 215 00:08:13,204 --> 00:08:15,204 and very vibrant green grass and the grass 216 00:08:15,204 --> 00:08:17,764 that is sitting on a mole tunnel that's 217 00:08:17,764 --> 00:08:18,264 dying. 218 00:08:18,644 --> 00:08:19,144 So 219 00:08:19,524 --> 00:08:22,164 basically, I would say that from the start 220 00:08:22,164 --> 00:08:24,519 of growing season in in March, in many 221 00:08:24,519 --> 00:08:26,060 cases, all the way through 222 00:08:26,759 --> 00:08:28,600 until mid to late fall, we have a 223 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,560 pretty good number of problems throughout that entire 224 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,440 time. Seems like there's a burst of activity 225 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:36,360 in the spring as most of those animals 226 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:38,600 are coming out of hibernation, things like chipmunks 227 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,144 and the skunks, and actively looking to build 228 00:08:41,144 --> 00:08:43,144 up their fat supplies again and and and 229 00:08:43,144 --> 00:08:45,325 get their health back up and their metabolisms 230 00:08:45,465 --> 00:08:47,065 going. So they're gonna be looking for a 231 00:08:47,065 --> 00:08:48,825 lot more food and consuming a lot more 232 00:08:48,825 --> 00:08:50,904 food as well as you have the burst 233 00:08:50,904 --> 00:08:53,384 of new population growth. Alright? So they're all 234 00:08:53,384 --> 00:08:54,939 having babies and they have to take care 235 00:08:54,939 --> 00:08:56,220 of those and you have a new mouse 236 00:08:56,220 --> 00:08:57,500 to feed and those kind of things. So 237 00:08:57,500 --> 00:09:00,059 you have a lot more metabolic need is 238 00:09:00,059 --> 00:09:02,059 like we would say. Right? Nutritional need, the 239 00:09:02,059 --> 00:09:03,899 meat. So therefore, you may have to consume 240 00:09:03,899 --> 00:09:04,720 a lot more 241 00:09:05,179 --> 00:09:08,924 food. And unfortunately, from the gardening perspective or 242 00:09:09,164 --> 00:09:12,284 landscaping perspective, whenever you have new growth coming 243 00:09:12,284 --> 00:09:14,144 up on flowers or vegetables 244 00:09:14,605 --> 00:09:17,504 or transplanted a new plant into an area, 245 00:09:17,644 --> 00:09:19,565 that's like a dinner bell going off for 246 00:09:19,565 --> 00:09:21,309 most of those animals, and they're gonna come 247 00:09:21,309 --> 00:09:23,149 and target that. And you're gonna try to 248 00:09:23,149 --> 00:09:24,750 take good care of what you just put 249 00:09:24,750 --> 00:09:25,570 into the ground, 250 00:09:25,950 --> 00:09:27,870 and all of a sudden, you'll notice the 251 00:09:27,870 --> 00:09:30,269 problems that come from those select group of 252 00:09:30,269 --> 00:09:33,070 problem children. Right? Yes. Well and that's interesting 253 00:09:33,070 --> 00:09:34,910 that you said that the need for the 254 00:09:34,910 --> 00:09:37,534 nutritional value because aside for us here in 255 00:09:37,534 --> 00:09:39,534 Warren County, we're number 1 in fruit, nut, 256 00:09:39,534 --> 00:09:40,815 and berry. And so we have a lot 257 00:09:40,815 --> 00:09:41,634 of fruit trees 258 00:09:42,014 --> 00:09:44,514 that go into the ground, even perennial fruits. 259 00:09:44,654 --> 00:09:47,294 And so I thought maybe the voles could 260 00:09:47,294 --> 00:09:50,100 be active during the winter months, but like 261 00:09:50,100 --> 00:09:52,019 you said, I think that makes more sense 262 00:09:52,019 --> 00:09:54,339 now that you've kind of discussed that. So 263 00:09:54,339 --> 00:09:55,399 you found the exception. 264 00:09:57,059 --> 00:09:58,839 I was more thinking as long as landscaping. 265 00:09:59,299 --> 00:10:01,700 You brought up, so the voles, though they're 266 00:10:01,700 --> 00:10:02,839 less active, they're 267 00:10:03,299 --> 00:10:05,934 not true hibernators. Like, say, chipmunks and skunks 268 00:10:05,934 --> 00:10:08,014 will be I mean, skunks are not really 269 00:10:08,014 --> 00:10:10,654 hibernators either. They'll they'll reduce their activity levels 270 00:10:10,654 --> 00:10:13,154 if it's really cold. But chipmunks, groundhogs, 271 00:10:13,615 --> 00:10:15,215 bears, bats, those kind of things are the 272 00:10:15,215 --> 00:10:17,054 ones that we think of as hibernating or 273 00:10:17,054 --> 00:10:18,035 going into torpor. 274 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,000 Vols activity levels will decrease and increase. They 275 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,639 are still looking for food, especially if we 276 00:10:23,639 --> 00:10:25,960 have a warm up period. And since they're 277 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:28,279 looking for new green growth and that doesn't 278 00:10:28,279 --> 00:10:29,740 happen in January February, 279 00:10:30,134 --> 00:10:32,134 A lot of our fruit producers have concerns 280 00:10:32,134 --> 00:10:33,815 about voles is because one of the ways 281 00:10:33,815 --> 00:10:35,754 they'll meet their nutritional needs in the winter 282 00:10:36,054 --> 00:10:37,355 is they'll girdle 283 00:10:37,654 --> 00:10:40,535 the roots of those trees to get at 284 00:10:40,535 --> 00:10:43,250 that nutrition that's in those roots or at 285 00:10:43,250 --> 00:10:44,889 the base of the trees. Rabbits will do 286 00:10:44,889 --> 00:10:47,610 it as well, and that will potentially kill 287 00:10:47,610 --> 00:10:50,269 the tree. So that's a very different issue. 288 00:10:50,330 --> 00:10:52,330 And you can actually there's a good management 289 00:10:52,330 --> 00:10:54,090 strategy that they're aware of that I don't 290 00:10:54,090 --> 00:10:55,610 think we necessarily need to go into for 291 00:10:55,610 --> 00:10:57,450 land lawn and landscaping because it's not a 292 00:10:57,450 --> 00:10:59,934 good one. But they have some more options 293 00:10:59,934 --> 00:11:01,394 from the restricted use pesticide 294 00:11:01,934 --> 00:11:04,274 side of things to help limit those populations 295 00:11:04,334 --> 00:11:06,495 that gets done right before winter and knocks 296 00:11:06,495 --> 00:11:08,334 them way back so that the number of 297 00:11:08,334 --> 00:11:10,574 mouse to feed is way below the amount 298 00:11:10,574 --> 00:11:12,414 of food that we want them to consume 299 00:11:12,414 --> 00:11:14,610 instead of the trees. True. And, you know, 300 00:11:14,610 --> 00:11:16,769 I think for homeowners that do have fruit 301 00:11:16,769 --> 00:11:19,350 trees, they may have some mulch that kinda 302 00:11:19,490 --> 00:11:22,129 make that perfect habitat for voles that could 303 00:11:22,129 --> 00:11:23,889 be an issue. Yeah. So when you only 304 00:11:23,889 --> 00:11:25,875 have 1 or 2 trees, there's some options 305 00:11:31,075 --> 00:11:31,575 rock 306 00:11:32,034 --> 00:11:34,434 barrier around those roots that they can't then 307 00:11:34,434 --> 00:11:34,934 access 308 00:11:35,475 --> 00:11:38,434 those roots because of their semi fossorial and 309 00:11:38,434 --> 00:11:40,690 often will, especially in the wintertime, do not 310 00:11:40,690 --> 00:11:42,610 want to come above ground because of temperature 311 00:11:42,610 --> 00:11:43,110 concerns. 312 00:11:43,490 --> 00:11:45,649 So if they don't have that soil substrate 313 00:11:45,649 --> 00:11:47,170 to get to those roots in the base 314 00:11:47,170 --> 00:11:50,129 of the tree, they are fairly protected from 315 00:11:50,129 --> 00:11:51,509 those issues. So 316 00:11:51,855 --> 00:11:54,014 there are options that you can look at 317 00:11:54,014 --> 00:11:56,815 in terms of planting ahead of time and 318 00:11:56,815 --> 00:11:59,455 making sure you kinda build that exclusion wall 319 00:11:59,455 --> 00:12:01,875 with about 1 or 2 inches of gravel 320 00:12:02,095 --> 00:12:04,350 instead of, say, mulch or substrate right next 321 00:12:04,350 --> 00:12:06,029 to that tree. I love it. So I'm 322 00:12:06,029 --> 00:12:07,970 gonna get us back on track. I promise. 323 00:12:08,110 --> 00:12:09,949 I know that I have you to talk 324 00:12:09,949 --> 00:12:12,429 specifically about lawns and so I will make 325 00:12:12,429 --> 00:12:14,190 sure that we get back to there. But 326 00:12:14,190 --> 00:12:16,269 in your experience, what are some of the 327 00:12:16,269 --> 00:12:18,769 most effective ways to control 328 00:12:19,085 --> 00:12:20,605 the moles in the lawn? I know you 329 00:12:20,605 --> 00:12:22,684 talked about exclusion there, but what are some 330 00:12:22,684 --> 00:12:25,404 options that homeowners have for moles to in 331 00:12:25,404 --> 00:12:27,325 their yard? Well, let's let's talk a little 332 00:12:27,325 --> 00:12:29,804 bit about mole in terms of their natural 333 00:12:29,804 --> 00:12:32,125 history and kinda frame things so that, folks 334 00:12:32,750 --> 00:12:36,029 They are a relatively solitary species. The only 335 00:12:36,029 --> 00:12:37,710 time that they actually get along with each 336 00:12:37,710 --> 00:12:39,870 other is when they're trying to make more 337 00:12:39,870 --> 00:12:41,250 of them for the next generation. 338 00:12:41,629 --> 00:12:44,110 4 mom is raising those young. Outside of 339 00:12:44,110 --> 00:12:45,950 that, they tend to have a home range 340 00:12:45,950 --> 00:12:48,394 that's about a quarter ish acre in size 341 00:12:48,454 --> 00:12:51,495 that they'll defend from other moles. They will 342 00:12:51,495 --> 00:12:54,294 use that entire area, but generally, they don't 343 00:12:54,294 --> 00:12:57,014 do so at one time. They will focus 344 00:12:57,014 --> 00:12:59,434 most of their activity in one specific location. 345 00:12:59,495 --> 00:13:01,674 And over time, they'll kinda move around 346 00:13:02,110 --> 00:13:03,730 to cover that entire area. 347 00:13:04,110 --> 00:13:06,269 So when dealing with moles, you have to 348 00:13:06,269 --> 00:13:08,350 kind of realize that and and figure out 349 00:13:08,350 --> 00:13:11,389 where that high density activity area is and 350 00:13:11,389 --> 00:13:14,429 start doing your management strategies there. So we 351 00:13:14,429 --> 00:13:16,504 often talk about, okay. You have a bunch 352 00:13:16,504 --> 00:13:18,945 of mall tunneling going on. You can see 353 00:13:18,945 --> 00:13:20,125 it all over your yard. 354 00:13:20,425 --> 00:13:22,504 They're probably trying to figure out where they 355 00:13:22,504 --> 00:13:24,665 wanna be. And once you find that way, 356 00:13:24,665 --> 00:13:26,105 they find that you're not gonna see as 357 00:13:26,105 --> 00:13:28,889 many new tunnels pop up, but you wanna 358 00:13:28,889 --> 00:13:30,649 figure out where they actually are in those 359 00:13:30,649 --> 00:13:32,169 tunnels. So you just walk around and you 360 00:13:32,169 --> 00:13:34,110 step on them and knock them back down. 361 00:13:34,169 --> 00:13:36,009 And you look for where they're popping back 362 00:13:36,009 --> 00:13:37,769 up the next day because the moles actually 363 00:13:37,769 --> 00:13:39,610 do spend a lot of time maintaining those 364 00:13:39,610 --> 00:13:41,929 tunnels because it takes a lot of effort 365 00:13:41,929 --> 00:13:44,454 to build them, and they wanna continue to 366 00:13:44,454 --> 00:13:46,454 use them as if they're not disturbed because 367 00:13:46,454 --> 00:13:48,774 it costs less energy to do that. So 368 00:13:48,774 --> 00:13:51,735 they'll actually fix tunnels pretty rapidly similar to 369 00:13:51,735 --> 00:13:53,735 like a beaver fixing a dam. So as 370 00:13:53,735 --> 00:13:55,254 soon as you figure out where that tunnel 371 00:13:55,254 --> 00:13:56,875 gets pushed back up, that's where 372 00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,480 that mole is at that time, and that's 373 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,179 where you wanna focus your activities. 374 00:14:01,639 --> 00:14:04,600 Preventive wise, you know, to avoid moles getting 375 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,039 in places you don't want to, you can 376 00:14:06,039 --> 00:14:08,200 try to put some screening in the ground, 377 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,154 say, around lawn beds or garden beds where 378 00:14:11,154 --> 00:14:13,075 you dig down about 12 inches, you could 379 00:14:13,075 --> 00:14:15,634 put hardware cloth there and bend it slightly 380 00:14:15,634 --> 00:14:17,554 out to prevent them from being able to 381 00:14:17,554 --> 00:14:19,014 tunnel into those areas. 382 00:14:19,475 --> 00:14:21,735 That's pretty time consuming energetically 383 00:14:22,195 --> 00:14:23,955 and can be costly if you're trying to 384 00:14:23,955 --> 00:14:26,434 defend a large area, say, your entire lawn. 385 00:14:26,434 --> 00:14:26,934 Right? 386 00:14:27,289 --> 00:14:29,610 So it may be quicker to or less 387 00:14:29,610 --> 00:14:32,509 expensive and a little bit more time friendly 388 00:14:33,049 --> 00:14:34,669 to try to proactively, 389 00:14:35,129 --> 00:14:37,610 when you look find a mole tunnel, go 390 00:14:37,610 --> 00:14:38,970 out there and treat it as soon as 391 00:14:38,970 --> 00:14:40,634 possible to to get rid of them on 392 00:14:40,634 --> 00:14:42,235 the quick front end rather than try to 393 00:14:42,235 --> 00:14:43,375 prevent them entirely 394 00:14:43,754 --> 00:14:46,394 across a large area. And often, when we 395 00:14:46,394 --> 00:14:49,115 talk about proactively treating them, there's 2 real 396 00:14:49,115 --> 00:14:52,235 methods that we want used. Can either try 397 00:14:52,235 --> 00:14:54,735 to track them with various traps 398 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,120 that exist. Most of them are are rather 399 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:58,420 gruesome, to be honest, 400 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,040 in terms of things like the harpoon trap, 401 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,120 and the name kinda tells you why they're 402 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:03,940 a little gruesome. 403 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:06,800 There's also the scissor trap. Guess what that 404 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:07,300 does? 405 00:15:07,634 --> 00:15:09,955 There are not necessarily pleasant ways. They are 406 00:15:09,955 --> 00:15:12,355 humane because they provide a very quick death 407 00:15:12,355 --> 00:15:14,115 to the animal, which is what we wanna 408 00:15:14,115 --> 00:15:17,394 do. But they're also very difficult for most 409 00:15:17,394 --> 00:15:19,394 homeowners who don't have a lot of experience 410 00:15:19,394 --> 00:15:22,639 setting them to be effective at. They're 30 411 00:15:22,639 --> 00:15:25,519 to $50 a trap. They will last multiple 412 00:15:25,519 --> 00:15:28,639 uses. But in terms of a potential user 413 00:15:28,639 --> 00:15:30,579 friendly option, there are 414 00:15:31,519 --> 00:15:32,100 a rodenticide 415 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:33,539 bait that exists 416 00:15:34,125 --> 00:15:36,445 that looks like a worm that's sold at 417 00:15:36,445 --> 00:15:38,785 most garden stores or box stores 418 00:15:39,165 --> 00:15:39,985 called talpirid. 419 00:15:40,605 --> 00:15:41,105 And 420 00:15:41,485 --> 00:15:43,644 you can basically take them and you push 421 00:15:43,644 --> 00:15:45,024 them into the tunnels 422 00:15:45,404 --> 00:15:48,044 where they're active, and the mole consumes it 423 00:15:48,044 --> 00:15:50,710 as a bait and then dies within the 424 00:15:50,710 --> 00:15:54,089 tunnel. And relatively cheap and easy to use. 425 00:15:54,149 --> 00:15:56,549 And one of the few rodenticides that in 426 00:15:56,549 --> 00:15:57,850 terms of wildlife conservation 427 00:15:58,230 --> 00:16:00,230 is probably the effective tool with no risk 428 00:16:00,230 --> 00:16:01,289 because those moles 429 00:16:01,784 --> 00:16:04,584 being fossorial do not make themselves available for 430 00:16:04,584 --> 00:16:06,745 consumption by a predator above ground like if 431 00:16:06,745 --> 00:16:08,044 you treated with rodenticide 432 00:16:08,504 --> 00:16:11,144 for, like, the mole or mouse baits where 433 00:16:11,144 --> 00:16:12,284 they consume the anticoagulant. 434 00:16:12,664 --> 00:16:14,345 And then, like, the last day before they 435 00:16:14,345 --> 00:16:17,180 pass away, brain's not functioning correctly, and they 436 00:16:17,180 --> 00:16:18,940 start running around in the open. And often, 437 00:16:18,940 --> 00:16:20,460 a a hawk or a predator will pick 438 00:16:20,460 --> 00:16:22,379 them up, and that works its way into 439 00:16:22,379 --> 00:16:24,940 their system as well. That's interesting that you 440 00:16:24,940 --> 00:16:27,259 described that there. And I don't know too 441 00:16:27,259 --> 00:16:29,965 even for the traps, we do get questions 442 00:16:29,965 --> 00:16:32,605 about what if I have, say, a outdoor 443 00:16:32,605 --> 00:16:34,845 pet like a dog or a cat. That 444 00:16:34,845 --> 00:16:36,924 kinda has concern for some of the homeowners 445 00:16:36,924 --> 00:16:39,004 that I talk to. Yeah. And as I 446 00:16:39,004 --> 00:16:40,889 mentioned about the gruesome nature of those traps, 447 00:16:41,049 --> 00:16:42,570 if you have a pet and you wanna 448 00:16:42,570 --> 00:16:44,250 use those traps, you definitely wanna make sure 449 00:16:44,250 --> 00:16:45,769 those pets are not worthy in those traps. 450 00:16:45,769 --> 00:16:49,610 Their injury or kids, especially kids, youth, injury 451 00:16:49,610 --> 00:16:52,009 can come quite quickly if things are messing 452 00:16:52,009 --> 00:16:54,009 with those traps. And it is not something 453 00:16:54,009 --> 00:16:56,024 to be taken lightly for sure, which is 454 00:16:56,024 --> 00:16:56,524 why, 455 00:16:57,464 --> 00:17:00,664 often recommend the talcid bait as a more 456 00:17:00,664 --> 00:17:03,464 efficient and safe option. Yes. And so those 457 00:17:03,464 --> 00:17:06,525 baits, the talcid product that you just mentioned, 458 00:17:06,744 --> 00:17:08,585 those are fairly easy to get a hold 459 00:17:08,585 --> 00:17:10,819 of in those, like, stores. 460 00:17:11,279 --> 00:17:13,359 Currently, they are. Yeah. You can pretty much 461 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:15,519 any box store, the big box stores or 462 00:17:15,519 --> 00:17:17,679 any of the, you know, agricultural based stores 463 00:17:17,679 --> 00:17:19,599 will carry them. So and I think they 464 00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:21,200 come in packs of, like, 6 or 12, 465 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:23,279 and you'd probably wanna put 2 or 3 466 00:17:23,279 --> 00:17:25,725 out in various locations where you think the 467 00:17:25,725 --> 00:17:28,045 mole's active to help increase the chances of 468 00:17:28,045 --> 00:17:30,125 them running into it. I have heard of 469 00:17:30,125 --> 00:17:32,205 individuals using half of a worm at a 470 00:17:32,205 --> 00:17:32,705 time. 471 00:17:33,085 --> 00:17:35,244 We wanna make sure, alright, the the label's 472 00:17:35,244 --> 00:17:36,940 the law, and we wanna follow labels. So 473 00:17:36,940 --> 00:17:38,779 if they're suggesting using a whole worm, you 474 00:17:38,779 --> 00:17:40,059 wanna use the whole worm because you can 475 00:17:40,059 --> 00:17:41,599 actually develop bait resistance 476 00:17:41,980 --> 00:17:43,899 or bait avoidance if they are you know, 477 00:17:43,899 --> 00:17:46,779 don't consume a lethal dose and survive. And 478 00:17:46,779 --> 00:17:48,539 so we wanna make sure you follow those 479 00:17:48,539 --> 00:17:51,095 label instructions. The label is the law. That's 480 00:17:51,095 --> 00:17:53,015 right. And those are good points to make 481 00:17:53,015 --> 00:17:54,775 out. But in order for this to be 482 00:17:54,775 --> 00:17:56,695 very successful, like you said, you need to 483 00:17:56,695 --> 00:17:58,695 go ahead and the tunnels that you're seeing 484 00:17:58,695 --> 00:18:00,134 in your yard, go ahead and tap those 485 00:18:00,134 --> 00:18:01,974 down first. Do we need to do that 486 00:18:01,974 --> 00:18:04,019 at night? Because it seems like moles are 487 00:18:04,099 --> 00:18:06,019 more active during the day or does it 488 00:18:06,019 --> 00:18:07,400 matter? They're being fossorial. 489 00:18:07,700 --> 00:18:10,180 Right? They don't necessarily even know the time 490 00:18:10,180 --> 00:18:11,859 of day. Often in the summer, though, like, 491 00:18:11,859 --> 00:18:14,359 the soil heats up and kinda changes temperature. 492 00:18:14,740 --> 00:18:17,914 I don't think they would really matter as 493 00:18:17,914 --> 00:18:19,674 much. I would probably check them in the 494 00:18:19,674 --> 00:18:22,154 morning just because that way nothing else kinda 495 00:18:22,154 --> 00:18:24,154 gets out there and starts screwing with it. 496 00:18:24,154 --> 00:18:26,335 But I push mine out whenever I'm outside 497 00:18:26,394 --> 00:18:27,855 when I'm dealing with moles. 498 00:18:28,154 --> 00:18:29,515 I'm like, just like, oh, I'm walking in 499 00:18:29,515 --> 00:18:31,275 the lawn. There's a tunnel. There's another tunnel. 500 00:18:31,275 --> 00:18:33,009 Alright. I'll go step on them, No. I'll 501 00:18:33,009 --> 00:18:34,450 just come back the next day. I don't 502 00:18:34,450 --> 00:18:35,970 know if it really matters the time of 503 00:18:35,970 --> 00:18:38,049 day. It's one of the few wildlife species 504 00:18:38,049 --> 00:18:40,529 that's not going to be active, you know, 505 00:18:40,529 --> 00:18:42,869 or concerns relative to activity in daylight. 506 00:18:43,250 --> 00:18:45,250 Okay. So I know we talked about moles 507 00:18:45,250 --> 00:18:47,054 and some of the controls, but just to 508 00:18:47,054 --> 00:18:49,615 kinda mention some of the other pests that 509 00:18:49,615 --> 00:18:51,615 can be a common problem for us in 510 00:18:51,615 --> 00:18:54,115 the home lawn area, how can we distinguish 511 00:18:54,494 --> 00:18:57,615 between, like you mentioned, the voles and I 512 00:18:57,615 --> 00:18:59,134 know I just had a recent call about 513 00:18:59,134 --> 00:19:00,815 the chipmunks that I had to call you 514 00:19:00,815 --> 00:19:03,190 about. So and even the skunks, and you 515 00:19:03,190 --> 00:19:05,029 can leave the armadillo for last if you 516 00:19:05,029 --> 00:19:05,690 want to. 517 00:19:06,950 --> 00:19:07,190 So 518 00:19:07,990 --> 00:19:08,649 Sure. So 519 00:19:09,269 --> 00:19:11,349 voles with a v are one of the 520 00:19:11,349 --> 00:19:13,349 other ones that we commonly see, especially in 521 00:19:13,349 --> 00:19:15,829 suburban urban landscaping issues. We have a whole 522 00:19:15,829 --> 00:19:18,205 different issue with them in row crop, but 523 00:19:18,205 --> 00:19:19,884 they're ones that can really cause a lot 524 00:19:19,884 --> 00:19:21,265 of problems in turf 525 00:19:21,644 --> 00:19:24,205 and gardens. And the indicators that we use 526 00:19:24,205 --> 00:19:26,384 for them is they will create, 527 00:19:26,845 --> 00:19:29,805 fairly extensive runways where they will bounce from 528 00:19:29,805 --> 00:19:32,690 one hole to another hole. So you'll see 529 00:19:32,829 --> 00:19:34,990 see basically these pathways that develop in the 530 00:19:34,990 --> 00:19:38,210 grass or especially under turf that's recently placed. 531 00:19:38,669 --> 00:19:39,169 And 532 00:19:39,470 --> 00:19:41,470 along with those runways, you'll see a whole 533 00:19:41,470 --> 00:19:42,609 bunch of 534 00:19:43,149 --> 00:19:46,105 golf ball ping pong sized holes, which are 535 00:19:46,105 --> 00:19:48,105 their entrances to the den and the underground 536 00:19:48,105 --> 00:19:48,605 tunnels 537 00:19:49,065 --> 00:19:51,065 that they use. So the size of the 538 00:19:51,065 --> 00:19:52,825 hole is the important part here when we 539 00:19:52,825 --> 00:19:55,325 start talking about holes versus, say, chipmunks 540 00:19:55,784 --> 00:19:58,924 or even larger things like armadillos and skunks. 541 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,500 So the ping pong size, 542 00:20:01,799 --> 00:20:03,640 golf ball size hole is gonna be a 543 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:05,640 hole. If you go up a little bigger 544 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:06,700 to about racquetball 545 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,119 size, tennis ball size, then we start getting 546 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:11,340 into things like chipmunks. 547 00:20:12,115 --> 00:20:14,934 And that is important in terms of management 548 00:20:15,075 --> 00:20:15,575 because 549 00:20:15,954 --> 00:20:17,875 one of the easiest ways to manage both 550 00:20:17,875 --> 00:20:20,115 of those species at small scales when we 551 00:20:20,115 --> 00:20:22,034 talk about lawns and landscaping because that is 552 00:20:22,034 --> 00:20:24,029 a small scale relative to things like a 553 00:20:24,029 --> 00:20:26,590 100 acre soybean field, which is my other 554 00:20:26,590 --> 00:20:28,109 group that I talk to about holes a 555 00:20:28,109 --> 00:20:31,009 lot, is you have the option that's relatively 556 00:20:31,150 --> 00:20:33,490 quick and a little bit time intensive, 557 00:20:33,950 --> 00:20:37,730 but quick and efficient and relatively conservation safe 558 00:20:38,054 --> 00:20:40,855 is you use basically mouse traps or in 559 00:20:40,855 --> 00:20:42,315 the matter of chipmunks, 560 00:20:42,694 --> 00:20:44,454 mouse trap isn't big enough, so you have 561 00:20:44,454 --> 00:20:46,134 to use a rat trap. And those are 562 00:20:46,134 --> 00:20:47,894 the snap traps that you see that have 563 00:20:47,974 --> 00:20:49,174 that are made out of wood and have 564 00:20:49,174 --> 00:20:51,309 that nice metal bar in the spring. You 565 00:20:51,309 --> 00:20:53,549 can use those in your lawn. You can 566 00:20:53,549 --> 00:20:55,230 cover them up with basically a half of 567 00:20:55,230 --> 00:20:55,890 a shoebox 568 00:20:56,430 --> 00:20:58,029 and cut some holes in the bottom so 569 00:20:58,029 --> 00:21:00,750 that they can run through and find the 570 00:21:00,750 --> 00:21:03,070 trap. And you wanna place those in areas 571 00:21:03,070 --> 00:21:05,090 that you see those tunnels and activity, 572 00:21:05,494 --> 00:21:06,234 the runways, 573 00:21:06,615 --> 00:21:08,634 bait them with peanut butter and oats, 574 00:21:09,174 --> 00:21:11,654 and basically run those traps. You know, have 575 00:21:11,654 --> 00:21:13,174 them go in every day. Make sure they're 576 00:21:13,174 --> 00:21:14,934 covered because if they're not covered, you could 577 00:21:14,934 --> 00:21:16,775 get birds in them. And that's why that 578 00:21:16,775 --> 00:21:17,835 coverage is important. 579 00:21:18,390 --> 00:21:20,470 And you trap until you don't catch any 580 00:21:20,470 --> 00:21:22,170 animals for 3 straight days. 581 00:21:22,630 --> 00:21:24,869 If you have a large area, say, you 582 00:21:24,869 --> 00:21:28,230 know, 15, 25 feet wide of voles because 583 00:21:28,230 --> 00:21:30,309 they get really high densities, you may wanna 584 00:21:30,309 --> 00:21:31,910 run a couple traps at a time to 585 00:21:31,910 --> 00:21:33,690 help decrease that amount of effort 586 00:21:34,134 --> 00:21:36,615 over in the course of days. Chipmunks don't 587 00:21:36,615 --> 00:21:38,234 get that high in density. 588 00:21:38,535 --> 00:21:40,535 So usually, it's it's only a couple days 589 00:21:40,535 --> 00:21:42,295 of trapping to get rid of them. But 590 00:21:42,295 --> 00:21:43,115 if you misidentify, 591 00:21:43,974 --> 00:21:46,214 the chipmunk most likely is gonna get snapped 592 00:21:46,214 --> 00:21:49,159 with that mouse trap and learn to avoid 593 00:21:49,220 --> 00:21:51,619 the trap. So you definitely want to try 594 00:21:51,619 --> 00:21:52,200 to go 595 00:21:52,740 --> 00:21:54,339 larger with them if you think it's a 596 00:21:54,339 --> 00:21:56,039 chipmunk. If it's a vole 597 00:21:56,659 --> 00:21:59,059 and they try to eat consume it on 598 00:21:59,059 --> 00:22:01,960 a rat sized trap, it'll either catch them 599 00:22:02,365 --> 00:22:04,845 and efficiently humanely dispatch them or that you 600 00:22:04,845 --> 00:22:07,085 keep missing because they're too small. So it's 601 00:22:07,085 --> 00:22:09,025 almost better to on the side of larger 602 00:22:09,244 --> 00:22:11,404 than smaller. That way, if it's a chipmunk, 603 00:22:11,404 --> 00:22:13,244 you have the correct sized trap. If it's 604 00:22:13,244 --> 00:22:15,904 a bowl, then there's no negative back learning 605 00:22:16,044 --> 00:22:16,784 that occurs, 606 00:22:17,149 --> 00:22:19,069 and you're good to go. That's good. I'm 607 00:22:19,069 --> 00:22:22,029 glad you explained the differences there, especially maybe 608 00:22:22,029 --> 00:22:23,789 being a little bit bigger than a little 609 00:22:23,789 --> 00:22:24,450 bit smaller. 610 00:22:25,230 --> 00:22:27,069 And then the completely different one that I 611 00:22:27,069 --> 00:22:29,149 don't wanna overlook here, and I forgot to 612 00:22:29,149 --> 00:22:31,674 mention because I actually was walking 613 00:22:32,134 --> 00:22:34,714 into my office this morning, and I saw 614 00:22:34,775 --> 00:22:37,335 the little holes that were all over the 615 00:22:37,335 --> 00:22:39,595 new mulch that was put down is skunks 616 00:22:39,734 --> 00:22:41,255 will do a lot of digging in lawns, 617 00:22:41,255 --> 00:22:42,855 but the other one that does digging in 618 00:22:42,855 --> 00:22:44,154 lawns are squirrels. 619 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:45,140 And 620 00:22:45,599 --> 00:22:46,099 often, 621 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,640 what you'll see is they'll dig about 2 622 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:50,880 inches into the ground. They might be golf 623 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:52,900 ball sized around. Right? 624 00:22:53,279 --> 00:22:53,779 Squirrels, 625 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,320 if they're, you know, in the process of 626 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,955 caching seeds or nuts, we'll then cover that 627 00:22:58,955 --> 00:23:01,035 back up, right, so that other folks can't 628 00:23:01,035 --> 00:23:03,595 find it. Scums are doing it while they're 629 00:23:03,595 --> 00:23:05,994 looking for grubs. So once they dig that 630 00:23:05,994 --> 00:23:07,515 hole, find the grub, they're moving on and 631 00:23:07,515 --> 00:23:09,855 creating another hole. They're not gonna backfill. 632 00:23:10,234 --> 00:23:10,734 However, 633 00:23:11,259 --> 00:23:13,259 squirrels now, in a lot of times, they're 634 00:23:13,259 --> 00:23:14,619 not doing a whole lot of caching on 635 00:23:14,619 --> 00:23:16,619 that. They may be looking for those previously 636 00:23:16,619 --> 00:23:18,779 cached food. You'll see them dig up something, 637 00:23:18,779 --> 00:23:20,299 and then they're not gonna fill that back 638 00:23:20,299 --> 00:23:21,839 in. So often 639 00:23:22,380 --> 00:23:24,940 with squirrels, you'll see a bunch of holes 640 00:23:24,940 --> 00:23:26,684 in one little spot, and then they'll move 641 00:23:26,765 --> 00:23:28,924 couple feet in a bunch of holes. Whereas 642 00:23:28,924 --> 00:23:31,164 skunks, it'll be either a lot of holes 643 00:23:31,164 --> 00:23:32,205 if you have a lot of grubs in 644 00:23:32,205 --> 00:23:34,605 your lawn and or there'll just be like 645 00:23:34,605 --> 00:23:36,684 a line as they walk through your lawn. 646 00:23:36,684 --> 00:23:39,105 It won't be like sporadic, you know, clumping. 647 00:23:39,420 --> 00:23:41,200 I like that you told us the differences 648 00:23:41,259 --> 00:23:43,019 there because I don't know if I knew 649 00:23:43,019 --> 00:23:45,100 really the difference between a a skunk and 650 00:23:45,100 --> 00:23:47,180 then also a squirrel that they cover it 651 00:23:47,180 --> 00:23:49,420 back up. We have several at my house 652 00:23:49,420 --> 00:23:51,740 that seems like they like to travel the 653 00:23:51,740 --> 00:23:53,660 branches of the trees because we do have 654 00:23:53,660 --> 00:23:54,400 some taller 655 00:23:54,724 --> 00:23:56,805 birch and then, you know, some maple that 656 00:23:56,805 --> 00:23:58,345 seem that they like to travel on. 657 00:23:58,644 --> 00:24:01,605 What are some common mistakes that you feel 658 00:24:01,605 --> 00:24:02,345 like homeowners 659 00:24:03,125 --> 00:24:04,965 make when trying to manage some of these 660 00:24:04,965 --> 00:24:06,884 lawn pests that we could maybe try to 661 00:24:06,884 --> 00:24:08,424 avoid? I think you mentioned 662 00:24:08,799 --> 00:24:10,400 one right off the bat is make sure 663 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,200 you identify it correctly, but maybe you've noticed 664 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,619 some other mistakes that we can kinda 665 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:17,680 stay away from. I think one of the 666 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,640 biggest mistakes in general is the assumption that 667 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,934 you can permanently solve the problem. That's 668 00:24:23,315 --> 00:24:25,654 really, really hard to do. It's not impossible, 669 00:24:26,035 --> 00:24:28,355 but it's 99% you are gonna have them 670 00:24:28,355 --> 00:24:29,095 back again. 671 00:24:29,394 --> 00:24:29,894 So 672 00:24:30,195 --> 00:24:33,714 understand that what you're doing is either trying 673 00:24:33,714 --> 00:24:36,869 to lessen or temporarily solve an issue. That's 674 00:24:36,869 --> 00:24:38,710 the you know, and that kinda comes around 675 00:24:38,710 --> 00:24:40,710 to the idea of setting reasonable goals and 676 00:24:40,710 --> 00:24:43,269 outcomes of what you're trying to solve. The 677 00:24:43,269 --> 00:24:45,269 second is, you know, we talked a little 678 00:24:45,269 --> 00:24:47,029 bit about the size of traps and make 679 00:24:47,029 --> 00:24:48,390 sure you just pick the right trap for 680 00:24:48,390 --> 00:24:50,684 the right animal, and that's really important. And 681 00:24:50,684 --> 00:24:53,164 that that holds true across all wildlife damage 682 00:24:53,164 --> 00:24:53,664 management. 683 00:24:53,964 --> 00:24:55,565 You wanna make sure you're using the right 684 00:24:55,565 --> 00:24:57,664 tool to solve the problem that you have. 685 00:24:58,444 --> 00:25:00,784 The other ones that I think are common, 686 00:25:01,404 --> 00:25:03,644 often we used to or some folks would 687 00:25:03,644 --> 00:25:05,565 recommend, like, oh, treat the grubs in your 688 00:25:05,565 --> 00:25:08,009 yard. That'll get rid of the mole issue. 689 00:25:08,009 --> 00:25:10,329 That's what they're eating. Well, often when you 690 00:25:10,329 --> 00:25:12,190 treat the grubs, you increase your worm 691 00:25:12,650 --> 00:25:15,309 numbers, and they're also getting those. So, 692 00:25:15,849 --> 00:25:18,650 you know, you're kinda just picking one food 693 00:25:18,650 --> 00:25:20,694 option over another. And a lot of those, 694 00:25:20,694 --> 00:25:22,375 I will say from the conservation side, a 695 00:25:22,375 --> 00:25:24,054 lot of those grubs and what end up 696 00:25:24,054 --> 00:25:25,494 happening when you treat for grubs is you 697 00:25:25,494 --> 00:25:27,754 kill a lot of beneficial insects as well. 698 00:25:28,134 --> 00:25:30,774 So in a way, it's it doesn't gain 699 00:25:30,774 --> 00:25:31,274 anything 700 00:25:31,654 --> 00:25:33,974 because you're not solving the potential for moles 701 00:25:33,974 --> 00:25:36,329 being in your yard. That's one of them. 702 00:25:36,710 --> 00:25:39,289 Trying the mole traps and having 703 00:25:39,589 --> 00:25:41,909 difficulty in terms of catching the mole is 704 00:25:41,909 --> 00:25:43,429 a is a pretty common one, which is 705 00:25:43,429 --> 00:25:44,970 why we recommend those baits. 706 00:25:45,429 --> 00:25:46,089 And then 707 00:25:46,549 --> 00:25:47,289 I always 708 00:25:47,954 --> 00:25:50,034 try to make sure people you know, this 709 00:25:50,034 --> 00:25:52,294 kinda goes along with lines of, like, temporary 710 00:25:52,755 --> 00:25:55,154 solutions is the more you can try to 711 00:25:55,154 --> 00:25:56,294 tolerate a wildlife 712 00:25:56,595 --> 00:25:58,355 and and kinda come to terms with the 713 00:25:58,355 --> 00:26:00,115 fact that you may have some problems, the 714 00:26:00,115 --> 00:26:02,134 the better off you're gonna be stress wise. 715 00:26:02,380 --> 00:26:03,679 And try to focus 716 00:26:04,059 --> 00:26:05,819 you know, if you have some specific plants 717 00:26:05,819 --> 00:26:07,980 you really like, try to focus within a 718 00:26:07,980 --> 00:26:09,200 landscape area, 719 00:26:09,500 --> 00:26:11,900 right, in your garden that you can really 720 00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:14,059 kinda defend and try to propagate those plants 721 00:26:14,059 --> 00:26:16,380 that you really don't want altered by wildlife 722 00:26:16,380 --> 00:26:17,359 in those locations. 723 00:26:18,115 --> 00:26:20,595 That is very hard for some people sometimes, 724 00:26:20,595 --> 00:26:22,194 and I get that. I will let you 725 00:26:22,194 --> 00:26:23,954 know that I have, you know, a PhD 726 00:26:23,954 --> 00:26:27,075 in wildlife, and I also despise chipmunks. I've 727 00:26:27,075 --> 00:26:29,394 been trying to get some sunflowers going and, 728 00:26:29,394 --> 00:26:30,615 you know, that's not working. 729 00:26:31,075 --> 00:26:32,134 So it's okay. 730 00:26:32,529 --> 00:26:34,549 I will figure it out, and I generally 731 00:26:34,690 --> 00:26:35,190 basically 732 00:26:35,490 --> 00:26:37,250 move to a different part of my lawn 733 00:26:37,250 --> 00:26:40,130 or landscaping and and usually a little further 734 00:26:40,130 --> 00:26:43,190 away from rocky outcroppings because chipmunks like those 735 00:26:43,250 --> 00:26:45,349 and have a little bit of success. So 736 00:26:45,490 --> 00:26:47,890 I don't I'm not gonna punish Chipmunk for 737 00:26:47,890 --> 00:26:50,124 doing what he's supposed to be doing in 738 00:26:50,124 --> 00:26:52,358 terms of trying to survive. But I also 739 00:26:52,358 --> 00:26:54,871 understand people are have priorities, and and that's 740 00:26:54,871 --> 00:26:57,105 okay. Just make sure that you're trying to 741 00:26:57,105 --> 00:26:59,339 to address the problem in the right way. 742 00:26:59,419 --> 00:27:01,500 And it's not affecting what we call non 743 00:27:01,500 --> 00:27:02,400 target species. 744 00:27:02,779 --> 00:27:05,339 That's all really good advice. And I wanted 745 00:27:05,339 --> 00:27:07,019 to ask you a little bit more here 746 00:27:07,019 --> 00:27:08,299 at the end of the show about the 747 00:27:08,299 --> 00:27:08,799 armadillos. 748 00:27:09,259 --> 00:27:11,980 So I know that there's probably new stuff 749 00:27:11,980 --> 00:27:13,599 being coming out about armadillos, 750 00:27:13,900 --> 00:27:16,474 but what should we know about that? Especially, 751 00:27:16,474 --> 00:27:17,755 because I know a lot of people that 752 00:27:17,755 --> 00:27:20,494 listen to the podcast, they're all in Kentucky. 753 00:27:20,554 --> 00:27:22,954 So what should we know about them? So 754 00:27:22,954 --> 00:27:27,029 armadillos are really funny animal. They basically clone 755 00:27:27,029 --> 00:27:29,029 themselves in some ways. Right? So they have 756 00:27:29,029 --> 00:27:31,350 4 young every time, and those 4 young 757 00:27:31,350 --> 00:27:34,090 are exactly identical to each other. They're quadruplets 758 00:27:34,390 --> 00:27:35,930 every time they have quadruplets. 759 00:27:36,789 --> 00:27:38,950 They have horrible eyesight. They have a good 760 00:27:38,950 --> 00:27:41,690 sense of smell. They're, for the most part, 761 00:27:41,984 --> 00:27:42,484 insectivores. 762 00:27:42,865 --> 00:27:43,684 Their dentition 763 00:27:43,984 --> 00:27:45,744 is such that they don't have the front 764 00:27:45,744 --> 00:27:47,365 incisors and and canines. 765 00:27:47,984 --> 00:27:48,484 And 766 00:27:49,184 --> 00:27:50,325 they have long 767 00:27:50,625 --> 00:27:53,025 nails and claws to do a lot of 768 00:27:53,025 --> 00:27:53,525 digging. 769 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,400 Their predatory response is to jump straight up 770 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,480 in the air because they can't see real 771 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,579 well. And when they get startled, they jump 772 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,200 because that would allow them to basically, if 773 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,759 it was a coyote or where they're from, 774 00:28:05,759 --> 00:28:07,700 which is South America and Central America, 775 00:28:08,144 --> 00:28:09,125 cats, bobcats, 776 00:28:09,904 --> 00:28:11,125 mountain lions, jaguars 777 00:28:11,825 --> 00:28:14,465 that can penetrate that shell would try to 778 00:28:14,465 --> 00:28:16,384 pounce on them. So if they jump up, 779 00:28:16,384 --> 00:28:18,965 they would increase their chances of being missed. 780 00:28:19,184 --> 00:28:20,884 Doesn't work so well with cars. 781 00:28:21,450 --> 00:28:23,690 They would jump right into the bumper, and, 782 00:28:23,690 --> 00:28:24,970 you know, we see them a lot as 783 00:28:24,970 --> 00:28:25,470 roadkill. 784 00:28:25,849 --> 00:28:28,250 They're kind of a very difficult animal to 785 00:28:28,250 --> 00:28:29,849 deal with in the damage side of things 786 00:28:29,849 --> 00:28:30,990 because they 787 00:28:31,450 --> 00:28:31,950 randomly 788 00:28:32,250 --> 00:28:35,130 move around, dig holes in weird places that 789 00:28:35,130 --> 00:28:37,105 don't make sense. They're not necessarily 790 00:28:37,644 --> 00:28:39,184 looking for specific features. 791 00:28:39,725 --> 00:28:41,644 They dig a lot of holes very quickly 792 00:28:41,644 --> 00:28:42,785 as they are forging, 793 00:28:43,085 --> 00:28:45,005 which is a problem. And if you try 794 00:28:45,005 --> 00:28:47,484 to trap them, they don't respond to bait 795 00:28:47,484 --> 00:28:49,400 real well. So you can't, like, throw a 796 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,559 pile of, you know, some kind of lure 797 00:28:51,559 --> 00:28:53,640 in the back of a cage. They'll never 798 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,279 go in unless they're just randomly walking it. 799 00:28:56,279 --> 00:28:58,200 So they're not attracted to a trap like, 800 00:28:58,200 --> 00:28:59,559 you know, say, a brown hawk or a 801 00:28:59,559 --> 00:29:02,085 raccoon would be. So in order to be 802 00:29:02,085 --> 00:29:04,164 efficient at catching them, you have to actually 803 00:29:04,164 --> 00:29:05,785 set up what's called a drift fence 804 00:29:06,164 --> 00:29:08,164 where you build a barrier that they walk 805 00:29:08,164 --> 00:29:10,805 into, and then they follow it, and they'll 806 00:29:10,805 --> 00:29:13,045 literally walk into the trap at the edge 807 00:29:13,045 --> 00:29:15,445 of the barrier. That's how you effectively catch 808 00:29:15,445 --> 00:29:18,309 them. So they're hard, and we're gonna see 809 00:29:18,309 --> 00:29:20,069 more and more of them as, you know, 810 00:29:20,069 --> 00:29:22,630 our temperatures are increasing. They're kinda moving up 811 00:29:22,630 --> 00:29:23,109 as they 812 00:29:23,910 --> 00:29:26,069 as our climate has changed a little bit. 813 00:29:26,069 --> 00:29:28,069 They're able to tolerate the winters further and 814 00:29:28,069 --> 00:29:29,529 further north, and 815 00:29:29,954 --> 00:29:31,015 they're gonna be increasing 816 00:29:31,634 --> 00:29:32,534 in frequency 817 00:29:33,234 --> 00:29:35,875 despite the fact that, you know, they jump 818 00:29:35,875 --> 00:29:37,894 into cars all the time. Their 819 00:29:38,434 --> 00:29:40,835 survival is pretty high, and their population is 820 00:29:40,835 --> 00:29:42,914 growing. They're ones that I don't think you 821 00:29:42,914 --> 00:29:44,515 have to worry about getting into your garden 822 00:29:44,515 --> 00:29:46,240 and consuming your garden, but they could get 823 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:47,519 into your garden and dig a bunch of 824 00:29:47,519 --> 00:29:50,159 holes for no reason at all other than 825 00:29:50,159 --> 00:29:51,599 there's probably fresh dirt and a lot of 826 00:29:51,599 --> 00:29:52,099 worms. 827 00:29:52,559 --> 00:29:55,359 So they're gonna be a challenge moving forward. 828 00:29:55,359 --> 00:29:58,079 I would say not necessarily a common one 829 00:29:58,079 --> 00:30:00,319 in the next 10 years, but definitely increasing 830 00:30:00,319 --> 00:30:03,065 in prevalence. There is some human health concerns 831 00:30:03,365 --> 00:30:04,964 in terms of the fact that they've been 832 00:30:04,964 --> 00:30:07,125 known to carry leprosy. We have a project 833 00:30:07,125 --> 00:30:09,045 that I was literally out trying to find 834 00:30:09,045 --> 00:30:11,444 roadkill armadillos the last 2 days in Western 835 00:30:11,444 --> 00:30:11,944 Kentucky 836 00:30:12,244 --> 00:30:14,805 because we have a student here, with doctor 837 00:30:14,805 --> 00:30:15,305 Cox 838 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,119 that is looking at trying to calculate the 839 00:30:18,119 --> 00:30:20,440 prevalence rate of leprosy in our armadillos in 840 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:22,759 the state of Kentucky. So more information to 841 00:30:22,759 --> 00:30:24,919 come there. But that has been known to 842 00:30:24,919 --> 00:30:28,039 potentially spread to humans, especially for folks that 843 00:30:28,039 --> 00:30:30,125 were consuming them, which is related a lot 844 00:30:30,125 --> 00:30:32,464 more to nutritional issues and the food availability. 845 00:30:33,404 --> 00:30:35,005 So they're gonna be a fun one for 846 00:30:35,005 --> 00:30:36,865 me and you in the future. 847 00:30:37,325 --> 00:30:39,585 Well, I appreciate the update on the armadillos. 848 00:30:39,724 --> 00:30:41,325 And like you said, I'll be watching for 849 00:30:41,325 --> 00:30:44,320 more information coming out probably a little bit 850 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:46,240 later. I do have a quick question. I 851 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:47,140 know we've covered 852 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,000 several common paths of the line. We mentioned 853 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:50,500 voles 854 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:51,700 and moles, 855 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:54,559 and then we also mentioned skunks and then 856 00:30:54,559 --> 00:30:55,059 chipmunks 857 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,335 and a lot of, like you said, even 858 00:30:57,335 --> 00:30:59,654 the armadillos. But does the university have any 859 00:30:59,654 --> 00:31:02,375 great publications that might be good follow ups 860 00:31:02,375 --> 00:31:04,634 if anybody has further questions 861 00:31:04,934 --> 00:31:06,615 about any of the ones that we might 862 00:31:06,615 --> 00:31:09,014 have covered today? Sure. There's we definitely have 863 00:31:09,014 --> 00:31:11,920 several publications related to all of these culprits. 864 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,320 We have a new relatively new poll publication 865 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,019 that has come out that kind of addresses 866 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,799 across multiple scales from row agriculture to lawns 867 00:31:18,799 --> 00:31:19,460 and landscaping. 868 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:22,160 We're in the process of updating the mole 869 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,960 one, and there's a great video that Kansas 870 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,774 State Extension Wildlife folks have put out about 871 00:31:27,774 --> 00:31:28,515 mole control, 872 00:31:28,894 --> 00:31:30,355 about a month ago 873 00:31:30,734 --> 00:31:32,974 that walks folks through how to set a 874 00:31:32,974 --> 00:31:34,734 lot of those traps so that they're a 875 00:31:34,734 --> 00:31:36,654 little more efficient about it. So that's a 876 00:31:36,654 --> 00:31:37,554 great resource 877 00:31:38,009 --> 00:31:40,570 as well. And then we have a, hopefully, 878 00:31:40,570 --> 00:31:42,970 in the very near future, a armadillo pub 879 00:31:42,970 --> 00:31:43,710 coming out 880 00:31:44,089 --> 00:31:44,830 as well 881 00:31:45,369 --> 00:31:47,470 as updating the chipmunk control. 882 00:31:47,849 --> 00:31:50,109 We also have the squirrel publication 883 00:31:50,410 --> 00:31:52,644 on how to deal with tree squirrels. So 884 00:31:52,644 --> 00:31:54,805 there's definitely a lot of resources available, whether 885 00:31:54,805 --> 00:31:57,045 that be at your local county extension office, 886 00:31:57,045 --> 00:31:58,724 or you can go to our Forestry and 887 00:31:58,724 --> 00:32:01,525 Natural Resources Extension page and find them there 888 00:32:01,525 --> 00:32:04,005 under our wildlife publications tab. You all have 889 00:32:04,005 --> 00:32:06,390 a Facebook page as well. Is that right? 890 00:32:06,549 --> 00:32:08,650 It is intermittently active. 891 00:32:09,029 --> 00:32:11,130 Okay. So maybe check out the publications 892 00:32:11,509 --> 00:32:13,750 then. Yes. Yeah. The publication page and the 893 00:32:13,750 --> 00:32:15,670 website is probably the best course of action 894 00:32:15,670 --> 00:32:17,369 in terms of finding most up to date 895 00:32:17,430 --> 00:32:19,430 activities. And then on occasion, you know, as 896 00:32:19,430 --> 00:32:21,109 you have a podcast, we also have our 897 00:32:21,109 --> 00:32:23,525 From the Woods Today Show through the Forestry 898 00:32:23,525 --> 00:32:25,605 and Natural Resource Extension folks. And often, we 899 00:32:25,605 --> 00:32:28,085 talk about wildlife damage management and control. And 900 00:32:28,085 --> 00:32:31,125 there's been some episodes in, available that has 901 00:32:31,125 --> 00:32:32,964 a whole bunch of information relative to some 902 00:32:32,964 --> 00:32:34,970 of those critters and dealing with them on 903 00:32:34,970 --> 00:32:37,289 that site. Perfect. Well, we'll have to link 904 00:32:37,289 --> 00:32:38,809 that down in our show notes for this 905 00:32:38,809 --> 00:32:40,890 episode. So make sure you visit on the 906 00:32:40,890 --> 00:32:42,509 blog for that information. 907 00:32:42,970 --> 00:32:44,890 Doctor Matt Springer, thank you so much for 908 00:32:44,890 --> 00:32:46,809 being a guest on the podcast today. I 909 00:32:46,809 --> 00:32:48,570 really enjoyed it and learned a lot at 910 00:32:48,570 --> 00:32:50,015 the same time. So hope we can have 911 00:32:50,015 --> 00:32:52,174 you back again in the future. Anytime. As 912 00:32:52,174 --> 00:32:53,534 long as I can figure out how to 913 00:32:53,534 --> 00:32:55,454 get my schedule to open up for you. 914 00:32:55,934 --> 00:32:57,855 But thanks for having me, Kristen, and this 915 00:32:57,855 --> 00:33:00,174 has been great. And and if anyone has 916 00:33:00,174 --> 00:33:01,934 any other questions outside of reaching out to 917 00:33:01,934 --> 00:33:03,714 your local county extension office, 918 00:33:04,059 --> 00:33:06,080 you can also contact me at mattspringer@uky.edu, 919 00:33:07,740 --> 00:33:09,180 and I'm happy to try to help you 920 00:33:09,180 --> 00:33:11,019 from there. That'll be great. Thank you so 921 00:33:11,019 --> 00:33:11,519 much. 922 00:33:11,980 --> 00:33:14,799 Thanks for listening to the Sunshine Gardening podcast. 923 00:33:15,099 --> 00:33:18,134 A special thank you to doctor Matthew Springer 924 00:33:18,134 --> 00:33:20,075 for being our guest on the show today. 925 00:33:20,215 --> 00:33:22,875 We hope that you found today's episode informative 926 00:33:23,095 --> 00:33:25,654 and learned valuable tips on keeping your garden 927 00:33:25,654 --> 00:33:28,955 free from pesky critters like moles and voles. 928 00:33:29,494 --> 00:33:32,695 Remember, a healthy garden starts with effective pest 929 00:33:32,695 --> 00:33:33,195 control. 930 00:33:33,820 --> 00:33:35,440 If you want to check out the publications 931 00:33:35,900 --> 00:33:38,400 mentioned by Doctor. Springer in today's episode, 932 00:33:38,779 --> 00:33:40,880 see the show notes for episode 32. 933 00:33:41,340 --> 00:33:43,340 You can find the show notes by visiting 934 00:33:43,340 --> 00:33:45,119 the blog at warrencountyagriculture.com. 935 00:33:48,194 --> 00:33:50,914 Now, if you enjoyed today's episode, we would 936 00:33:50,914 --> 00:33:53,394 greatly appreciate it if you would leave a 937 00:33:53,394 --> 00:33:55,815 review on your favorite podcast platform. 938 00:33:56,355 --> 00:33:59,154 Your reviews help us reach more people and 939 00:33:59,154 --> 00:34:00,214 grow our community. 940 00:34:00,950 --> 00:34:03,369 Additionally, we would love to hear from you 941 00:34:03,430 --> 00:34:06,410 if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions 942 00:34:06,630 --> 00:34:07,849 for future episodes. 943 00:34:08,469 --> 00:34:10,630 Don't forget to hit the subscribe button to 944 00:34:10,630 --> 00:34:12,730 our podcast for more gardening insights 945 00:34:13,284 --> 00:34:15,445 and join us next time as we explore 946 00:34:15,445 --> 00:34:17,844 new ways to cultivate the garden of your 947 00:34:17,844 --> 00:34:18,344 dreams. 948 00:34:18,724 --> 00:34:19,545 Until then, 949 00:34:19,844 --> 00:34:20,824 happy gardening. 950 00:34:22,804 --> 00:34:25,465 Thanks for listening to the Sunshine Gardening podcast 951 00:34:25,525 --> 00:34:26,744 with Kristen Hildebrand. 952 00:34:27,140 --> 00:34:29,460 If you enjoyed today's content, make sure to 953 00:34:29,460 --> 00:34:31,860 hit the subscribe button wherever you get your 954 00:34:31,860 --> 00:34:34,579 podcast to catch future segments of the Sunshine 955 00:34:34,579 --> 00:34:35,559 Gardening podcast. 956 00:34:36,099 --> 00:34:38,900 Gardeners keep on digging and learning more about 957 00:34:38,900 --> 00:34:41,619 gardening so the sun shines brighter over your 958 00:34:41,619 --> 00:34:45,404 Kentucky garden. The Sunshine Gardening podcast with Kristen 959 00:34:45,404 --> 00:34:48,204 Hildebrand is a production of the University of 960 00:34:48,204 --> 00:34:50,464 Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.