>The big problem in bulbs is field mice and voles. The other day I >talked to a state pest control officer about them and was told that >the only effective control was poisoned grain, and that this is hard >to obtain. I knew about it but never used it because Koshka was an >omnivorous forager, but now she has died at a ripe old age, and my >present dogs don't forage as she did. I'm going to contact a pest >control company to see what I can get against these rodents, so I >can grow crocuses in the borders again, and not have to cover my >most precious pots of crocuses with wire mesh caps in the bulb >frames. **The problem with poison grains is that the critter will pack its cheeks with it and travel on. Gophers can go 500' from the source of the grain. I had an acquaintance lose his Borzoi a couple of months ago from eating a gopher whose cheeks were packed with the poison. (The autopsy showed the grains in the dog's stomach, and they checked with neighbors surrounding their 2 acre parcel. Unfortunately their neighbor had been baiting. Once the dog starts seizing their not much anyone can do.) The normal poisoned gopher probably wouldn't kill a large dog except if he was storing the grain in the cheek pouches. Gracie was picking off a couple of gophers a day in the spring and we were just hoping we weren't close to anyone using poison for control. Having animals keeps us honest about using pesticides and poison. I had 3 Basenjis climb a 6 foot ladder to get at an unopened box of Corry's Snail bait. They ate enough to kill them, so off to the vet they went. The vet said that most snail baits taste like licorice so they're very appealing to dogs. The poison rodent grains are probably equally tasty. -- susan, who is..... owned by Jasper & Schubert the Standard Poodles, Gracie the Rhodesian, Pup-Quiz the Basenji and their Basenji brother, Jones.... on the North Coast of CA, USA susanann@sbcglobal.net, copyright 2004