You know, Ground Hog Day came and went without a bit of notice or mention. Given the harsh, cold winter many of us are enduring, I was expecting maybe a Jive Combat Team address to the Nation about the situation, to help us get through it. We haven't had a winter this cold for this long since Sean was born, and there was a record set for cold the day he was born.
   I hope there will be a positive side effect to the deep, long lasting cold. I have been battling moles in  my yard for the last ten years or so. I don't mean one of two pesky little runs, I mean an infestation of them in my yard and the surrounding neighborhood. I have tried all of the remedies, potions, traps, poisons and even just plain hunting them with a special "kill spike" that I made up. I have killed well over 2 dozen over the years, verifiable body counts. But new varmints keep moving in from an area behind my house near a large creek. There is just too much good environment and habitat for them, I think.
    We had the first cold snap and snow fall at the first of December, and I noticed more activity, but not much I can do about this time of year. Then we had a 12" snow and zero degree weather around Christmas time, and when that foot of snow melted off and I could see my yard again, it was unbelieveable! The number and size of the runs was not to be believed. looks like a giant case of varicose vains! That is what got me to thinking that we have not had this deep cold for a long time. I have been in my house for 25 years or so, and for the first ten years, I never saw a mole. And then for the last ten years, they have been at it non stop. But we haven't had this bitter cold  since just before I moved here. My theory is that the cold is killing off what ever is in their food supply, and they have been going on a feeding frenzy looking for food! Maybe the little bastards will starve! Lots of people will say that if you have moles, you have grubs and if you get rid of the grubs, you get rid of the moles. Well, in my research, moles main diet is earth worms, but they will eat just about any bug. If there is a good chance that this is what's happening, I'm willing to put up with it for one more good cold snap, but let's get some warmer weather in here for our Ice-O-Lated contest at the end of the month!
  Stay warm Ya'All!
   Dan McEntee

When I was a kid my dad would take care of gophers by attaching a hose to the lawnmower exhaust, insert hose in gopher hole, fire up and let 'er run a good long while.

Jim