Gassing moles

[nod 285]

I do 3 farms that have a rodenator in their sheds.

[earth-thrower 493]

It makes me laugh to hear people talk about how deadly phostoxin is. I know it can be dangerous but when you have been brought up in a pest control household where cymag and stricnine were stored, phostoxin was always seen as the safe option, the thing you could use while crawling under a bush. I used it quite a bit and got reasonably good results once id worked out my own system for applying it. I will normally try to find long straight runs and gas every 8 ft or so. I believe that if there is only small pockets of gas a mole can be through it before it takes full effect. If you gas a long run or in areas full of hills then gas a block then once a mole gets into that block everywhere it goes there is gas, then it can be quite effective.

 

I get passed a few mole jobs from some quite big pest control companies and when I get there I often find they have failed with gas on a number of visits before passing the job to me. These guys have every qualification in the book but they often try it in mossy lawns or close to house walls! Which is just one of the reasons I refuse to pay to do the training, stuff em I'll just use traps.

 

I was told by someone very high up in one of the large pest control chemical supply companies that regulation of phostoxin was driven by the home office not for the safety of pest controllers or their customers but because of worries about what could happen if it got into the hands of terrorists ie. opening a bottleful on a tube train.

I agree with you,you can have a better outcome with it,depending on how it is applied.I dislike it as a method of mole control,so did not want to say anything, that advocates the use of it.Personally, id like it to go the same way as strychnine,but know this is unrealistic.Well,in the short term anyway.

[Deker 3,478]

I'm not following some of the die hard attitudes here about traps, and the gas being useless.

 

Aluminium Phosphide is simply another tool in the pest controllers box.

 

I have the paperwork and I use it, traps can be good to, both have a place and when used correctly, both are effective, and both can CLEAR an area.

 

Suggesting Phostoxin or Talunex doesn't work is exactly the same as saying traps don't work, correct in both cases if you don't know what you are doing!

 

Aluminium Phosphide is DEADLY, great care must be taken, and conditions MUST be right or forget it. The regulations around it now are unbelievable which is another big problem with the stuff.

 

But just the same it "CAN" have its uses!

 

PS

Very good for rats as well! Not had cause to use it on bunnies yet, but who knows!

Edited November 18, 2012 by Deker

[bigbailey 90]

Trouble is that paperwork you have to use the product will expire soon as the legislation is changing which means you will have to do another course.

[3175darren 1,100]

I'm not following some of the die hard attitudes here about traps, and the gas being useless.

 

Aluminium Phosphide is simply another tool in the pest controllers box.

 

I have the paperwork and I use it, traps can be good to, both have a place and when used correctly, both are effective, and both can CLEAR an area.

 

Suggesting Phostoxin or Talunex doesn't work is exactly the same as saying traps don't work, correct in both cases if you don't know what you are doing!

 

Aluminium Phosphide is DEADLY, great care must be taken, and conditions MUST be right or forget it. The regulations around it now are unbelievable which is another big problem with the stuff.

 

But just the same it "CAN" have its uses!

 

PS

Very good for rats as well! Not had cause to use it on bunnies yet, but who knows!

I know you thnk we are die hards,but some of us have different soil types than you,soil here can go from loam,sand,peat,high clay contents,in a matter of fields,no one is saying it will not work,I have tried it, and dont like using it I believe it can be effective,when used right,most farms around me are small farms and wont spend that amount of money,alot are sceptical about it,traps in my mind work in any soil type's,and mole catcher's should catch moles, as in the farmer see's where his money is going,again in my mind catching them is where the skill is, the old men who passed down there little trick's,they did so in order to keep them alive,

[earth-thrower 493]

Im going back a bit here,but i remember reading the instructions for use,on the flask (this was phostoxin,and before the applicator was thought of !)It stated you should scrape back the molehill soil to expose the shaft exit hole.Then insert a tablet or two down the hole,and heel in.I thought to myself,well i dont think i will be following that ADVICE.At the time that was the only way, they recommended applying it for moles!

Edited November 18, 2012 by earth-thrower

[3175darren 1,100]

Yep then they brought out a peice of plastic tube and charged a fortune for it,then talunex brought there own one out,and guess what they charged a fortune for it as well,I will stick to traps I have the gear,and only use it if the landowner insists on it,

[DIDO.1 22,831]

I'm not following some of the die hard attitudes here about traps, and the gas being useless.

 

Aluminium Phosphide is simply another tool in the pest controllers box.

 

I have the paperwork and I use it, traps can be good to, both have a place and when used correctly, both are effective, and both can CLEAR an area.

 

Suggesting Phostoxin or Talunex doesn't work is exactly the same as saying traps don't work, correct in both cases if you don't know what you are doing!

 

Aluminium Phosphide is DEADLY, great care must be taken, and conditions MUST be right or forget it. The regulations around it now are unbelievable which is another big problem with the stuff.

 

But just the same it "CAN" have its uses!

 

PS

Very good for rats as well! Not had cause to use it on bunnies yet, but who knows!

 

Yeah totally agree, it is another very effective tool when used right. Yes it can be deadly but so can rat poison that you buy from BnQ. Personally I believe rat poison has more dangers if used wrong than a pest controller/farmer who is even half intelligent using phostoxin. I aint going to line someones pocket to keep getting the paper work when traps are more versatile.

 

Im going back a bit here,but i remember reading the instructions for use,on the flask (this was phostoxin,and before the applicator was thought of !)It stated you should scrape back the molehill soil to expose the shaft exit hole.Then insert a tablet or two down the hole,and heel in.I thought to myself,well i dont think i will be following that ADVICE.At the time that was the only way, they recommended applying it for moles!

 

Nothing wrong with applying like that. its not cymag.

[earth-thrower 493]

I was talking about the best way to utilise the product,to try and achieve maximum effectiveness from it.Personally,i wouldnt stick the tablets in this way.

[DIDO.1 22,831]

fair do's

[Man in Blue 15]

I've used Phostoxin with mixed results. You obviously need to get it down in the deepest runs that you can find and never in the surface runs. If you use it in light sandy soil, then you truly are wasting your money.

You need to fill the complete complex with gas, so aim to get your pellets down at either end of of each patch of mole hills so that you bracket the critter and if you're feeling generous, put one in the middle too.

 

I realise that I'm probably teaching my grandmother how to suck eggs here, but never use the pellets in wet weather or near any buildings. The gas is lethal, thats why you buy it. I believe that it was one of the gasses that they used in the trenches during the Great War. The vile stink that it gives off is added to it, in order to warn users that its about.

Having said that, trapping is much more fun but I must say that I personally found phostoxin useful in gardens when a long journey was involved to the job as it saved having to go back to retrieve traps. Time and petrol are money.

[Matt 160]

Phosphine is more toxic than cyanide, and there is no antidote.

 

You would have a hell of a job eating enough anticoagulant rat bait to kill yourself, whereas, the residue from one Phostoxin tablet is capable of delivering a lethal dose.

 

There was a suicide just a few weeks ago with Phostoxin.

 

As for it's effectiveness, I've used the product for more than 25 years, and I've never found it to be of any use against moles. For rats, and when used properly rabbits, it's a very useful tool though.

 

Whatever you think of it's use, always respect it. It's one of the few pest control products still available that is capable of killing people very easily.

[pigeonman 8]

i use the doofus trap, you can see the results for yourself that way, the only time ive used phostoxin is as a backup and thats very very rarley

[IanB 0]

i use the doofus trap, you can see the results for yourself that way, the only time ive used phostoxin is as a backup and thats very very rarley

 

doofus trap