Thread: Wallets, Watches and Boots...The Man thread.

Originally Posted by Creeping Death

If you can find their holes, you can try putting dog poop around it and inside of it.

I’ve actually tried a variant of this already. At the local Agri-Supply, they sell a concentrated Fox, Coyote and Black Bear urine mix that you drizzle around your yard and in their holes. It did nada. In fact my wife still gives me grief about paying $125 combined, for piss. lol. She told me to piss into the bottles and return them for a refund. lmao. I should have.

Originally Posted by lunchbox

ya, it's a bummer when you have to kill them. they're so cute... but also so destructive.
my parents have had a gopher problem for the longest time and finally got rid of them by sticking a hose down a tunnel and drowning them. it made me sad to hear it, but for my parents, having to redo their garden constantly and fix their lawn because of all the holes was driving them mad. the dead gophers in the hole supposedly made all others relocate far far away.

nocturn, mentioning that you hope the groundhogs don't die under your house reminds me of my parents' neighbor who had a mouse problem because she had some grape vines that she let grow wild in a standard southern california backyard (so we're not talking acres or anything). i'm not sure what she did or didn't do but they all died under her house and caused a horrible stink. blegh.

I tried the Water hose and Shovel trick (fill their burrows with water and bash their heads with the shovel when they run out) when I first realized I had a problem back 7 years ago. The problem with these Groundhogs is they are not only HUGE (up to 35 pounds!), volume wise they make HUGE tunnel systems that will hold 1000's upon 1000's of gallons of water. I ran the water hose once for 9 hours and didn’t see a single thing. Their tunnel systems have 5 or 6 entrances/exits, can cover 100's of feet with a large central den that can be as deep as 10 feet below ground and be as big a common household refrigerator. These are a gopher’s bigger, brighter, smarter and more destructive cousins. If I had to use an analogous relationship to describe them a Gopher is to a Ground Hog what a Toy Yorkie is to a Cocker, Seriously.
The Engineer in me actually thought about having a cement truck with a pumper hose, pump a really wet slump concrete into the holes like you would when capping a well. That was a good idea until I found out it could take upwards of 50 yards of cement and it is illegal because my house is too close the river…aka Chesapeake Bay Estuary/Watershed to “blind” pump something containing so much lime. 3 years ago while the GH’s were hibernating, I placed 6 sheets of plywood around the yard covering the “known” tunnel entrances. Well, spring came and they all popped out like nothing ever happened. Obviously I missed an entrance somewhere…prolly down near the river and in the woods.
So honestly, I have absolutely done my due diligence on finding an alternative method to control these guys. Every avenue possible has been looked at exhaustively. I have consulted Professional Pest Control, Chemical and Structural Engineers, Landscapers, Virginia Dept of Wildlife Conservation, Local Extension Service, Virginia Tech Wildlife Extension…and all on my own dime. That is why I feel the glorified BB gun method is justified and my last resort. All my research has pointed to the airgun. Even the tree huggers at VT told me to use a .22. Luckily Woodchucks are not on the endangered list and I have enough “proof of damage” that the City has no problem this method as long as the bodies are disposed of properly.

As for the stink...oh yeah. We had a Racoon get locked into our crawl space and die a few years back thanks to a HVAC tech that left te door open. HOLY S*** did that thing stink to high heaven when spring came.

Speaking of manly men's gadgets, I've ordered me a Speedo Aquabeat waterproof MP3-player for swimming and watersports.



Overpriced, underpowered...I only hope that:

- it's actually waterproof
- I don't look like an idiot with it
- it can make swim sessions less boring
- this crazy looking device makes me THE person of interest in the pool...preferrably with the ladies.

Originally Posted by Salty Dog

Any tips on dealing with this? I've gotten shoes with better support, cushioned insoles, etc. and it's done nothing. Pain isn't terrible, just annoying as hell, especially first thing in the morning.

Plantar Fasciitis Stretches - Calf Stretch

Some of those stretches are really, really helpful. Just make sure you get in a good habit of doing them all the time.

Originally Posted by DRGinLBC

Jesus man. I had a Freestyle Shark back in the 80's that looked pretty close to this except the plastic labels on the band were turquoise and it had that silly excuse for a rubberband protector thingy across the top:


Between surfing and sk8ing, I beat the crap out of that thing. If I remember correctly, I bought it at either CI Surf Shop or Big Dogs on State in SB. In fact, I do believe I lost it at Indicator, Rincon circa 1987.

I havent thought of that in YEARS! Thanks!

This is the closest I found to my shoes. Except my shoes are black and white and these are $450 or so. Ouch. I would pay if I had the cash.



And if anyone wants to get me a Christmas gift, feel free to get me this. I always thought this was the coolest tuxedo/dress shirt evar.

Originally Posted by DRGinLBC

Seduce me, reduce me, dress me up in Stussy

Broadening the scope of this thread...

Any boat owners here? Specifically Yamaha 4 Stroke Outboard owners?

For the life of me, I cant find a 50 amp horseshoe fuse on the interwebs for a 2006 Yamaha 150 4 Stroke anywhere. Ive tried West Marine, iboats, Yamaha's part site, Thehulltruth...EVERYWHERE!

Any suggestions?