Last year I lost everything I planted in my raised beds in front of the house. It became apparent the two beds were infested with voles.... field mice. Tunnels all through them. In a week those little buggers ate every seed I put in the ground.
I tried traps. They ate the bait. After a few days, they moved the traps out of their way to get at the seeds better. I tried planting under clear plastic domes... they tunneled under them. I put baited traps inside clear plastic domes. They tunneled in, ate the bait, and left.
This was.... frustrating. I refused to use poison (We have chickens and ducks). I needed something clean, easy, and above all... FINAL.
Looking in the garage I noticed a milk crate of elderly reloading powder (Smokeless gunpowder. Burns with a whoosh but no bang unless contained). It was old powder I needed to discard, which is cool since it makes a great high-nitrogen fertilizer. Learned that from an Amish guy.
AH HA!!!
I grabbed a pound can (Yes, a POUND. Enough to load 1000 target pistol rounds) of it and proceeded to the first bed. Poured it down several holes I could see, and then poured a trail of powder to light. Setting up my cell phone to take video, I lit the trail and jumped back.
The fire whooshed along the powder trail until it went down a hole. A moment later smoke and flame came roaring out of at least a dozen holes in that bed, making a wall of flame over four feet high.
It was out in seconds, but the bed smoked for an hour even with heavy watering.
That was last spring. To this day there hasn't been a mouse sighted ANYPLACE near those beds. Even the snakes moved away for lack of food.
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