varmint control -- moles and voles

Speaking of electricity. I can remember making a worm shocker from an old lamp cord, ri-bar rod and a plastic handle from a bike. Stick it in the ground and those little wigglers just shoot up out of the ground. Should do the same to the rodents. Pretty easy to make. Strip back the ends of the lamp cord and fasten one wire to the rod and wrap with plastic tape. Cover the other end with plastic tape. Put plastic handle on end of rod. Plug in the cord and stick the rod in the ground. If the rod vibrates than you're on your way...if it doesn't, rotate the lamp plug in the socket. I wore rubber soled sneakers and never got shocked and the circuit breaker didn't trip YMMV. Sure it's dangerous as hell but so is setting off oxy-acet gas. With the worm shocker, I wouldn't have Fido around or barefeet.

Good point, Jim. My son the silicon peddler should be able to come up with some treated bags.

'Course, I could just do it when it's humid, as when there is a big black cloud overhead....

| >>Passive measures have been somewhat effective, but deflected varmints | >>breed more varmints to deflect. Not acceptable. Tulips and iris | >>deserve defense. | >>

| >>

| >

| > Be careful. ESD has been known to prematurely ignite acet/Oxy | > mixtures in polyethylene bags. | | My thought as well. Pink antistatic | bags are available. I'd treat the mixed | gas as capable of exploding at any time.

You can also wipe it down with or spray it with a pink dishwashing soap solution, which is what the ESD sprays are anyway. Conducts just enough to bleed off any static.

Jim, this piques my curiosity. What could spark to what if there is no metal inside the bag? I could maybe see a spark to ground or squib wires outside of the bag. (The squib is taped to the outside)

Any ideas how one might instrument a baggie to measure static field with a FET-input amplifier? I suppose one would connect it from where a spark would originate to where said spark would go -- but where might that be?

Just because I don't understand it doesn't make it not so. That's why I'm curious. I bought a can of Static Guard at Wal-Mart this afternoon.

Along the lines of "how did we live to adulthood?": When I was a lad, frineds of mine (it wasn't me, honest!) regularly filled dry cleaner bags taped shut with either natural gas, or oxy-acetylene. A dry cleaner bag of oxy-acetylene is extremely powerful, and the fact that I'm typing this means I was very fortunate my friends didn't have a serious ESD problem.

The usual approach was to use two bags, one with natural gas for lift, and one with oxy-acetylene. They would rig a time delay fuse, and then send them aloft. The resulting kaboom would rattle windows for miles.

Doug White

Grant, Take a closer look - also in the text. Don says the wire passes over the match head. I used to ignite charges of black powder with a 1-1/2 volt cell (igniter) wired with zip cord to a 1/4" section of fine steel wire. The steel wire was salvaged from an old screen door. It would heat to "red" in maybe a half second.

There was a place in Wickenburg, AZ that sold the *best* waterproof fuse I ever found. The local hobby shop sold fine nichrome wire for use in model rocketry.

Combining the two produced a very reliable elecrical ignition system. For various things. That won't be discussed because I'm not sure what the stature of limitations is....

Jim

I mentioned this because of anecdotal comments I've heard regarding this type of device. I think somebody on this ng had one go off prematurely, but it was larger, sort of dry-cleaner bag or something.

I think the idea is that charge can build up on the exterior of the polyethylene, possibly to the level where it can punch through to ground, even if it means going through the bag.

I've never done this, so I can't say from experience.

Jim

Don Foreman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

A little ammonia nitrate and a bit of diesel fuel has an even bigger whack.

Yeah, but in the eyes of the government you've crossed the line from 'nuisance' to 'possible terrorist'

In the old days, "grunting for worms" consisted of two barrel staves. One was driven about a foot into the ground. The other was then rubbed over the top end of that stake, in long strokes. The vibrations were of a low frequency, and earthworms would come up out of the ground.

Now we just hook up a couple of wires, and do it the easy way.

Steve

It takes a bit more to get it started though!

I used to order it in small quantities for a cannon when I was a kid; looks like they're still in business, too:

Jon

Don Foreman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Just be careful handling plastic bags and O/A. A friend of mine was filling those big lawn/garbage bags with O/A on the fourth of July and setting them off. He was carrying one when it went off from static electricity. He wasn't seriously injured but it put a pretty good hurt on him, removed a significant amount of hair, and he spent the next couple of days saying "Huh, what? Did you say something?" The most effective mole killer I've ever seen is my Miniature Schnauzer. When I was living in Ct. My neighbors on both sides of me had a huge mole problem. The tunnels stopped in my yard just past the invisible fence. The big plus to the Schnauser is that he doesn't dig big holes in the yard. Most times you can't see any evidence at all, other than the soon to be dead, squeeking mole he's toying with. We don't have any rabbits either. I've seen him run down rabbits and catch them, much to the wife's horror. He doesn't toy with the rabbits, he catches them and shakes them and they're done. If a mouse gets in the house or garage that dog is on it like white on rice. If it's hiding out under a bech or the washing machine, I'll flush it out with a yard stick and he'll pounce on it. I read where they were bred for varmint control. I don't know how true that is, but he seems to fit the profile. Plus he's a great companion and as smart as a whip.

About half that of dynamite. Both are impractical for this purpose.

First, one needs caps to detonate either reliably. Pros don't even rely just on caps with NH4NO3, but fortify the primer with primacord or a walnut-sized gob of C4 on each charge.

Second, I seek comparatively mild overpressure of about 2 megapascal, or 300 PSIG rather than blast or brisance.

Third, blast is local, overpressure is less so. The instantaneous pressure in the chamber of a .30-06 is >50,000 PSIG but the overpressure created by the gasses leaving even a short barrel don't stun the shooter. Another example: ya don't run a dragster on gunpowder. The objective here is a longer pulse of lower pressure with enough total energy to achieve the desired effect without unneccessary and undesirable collateral damage.

Energy content of an ounce of NA4NO3 is about 49 BTU, which is about the content of a pint of propane gas at atmospheric pressure. A quart-sized baggie (propane + oxy) makes a pretty good bang.

NH4NO3 is a pretty good cratering charge. I'd rather kill the tunneldwellers without doing more damage than they do. YMMV.

On 11 Apr 2005 10:48:59 -0700, the inscrutable jim rozen spake:

I truly want to meet Miss Lillian. She sounds like a true character.

---------------------------------- VIRTUE...is its own punishment

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 11:31:53 -0700, the inscrutable "Harold and Susan Vordos" spake:

Ayup. Ah hear tell they caught summa them 'lectricity critters 'n run 'em around in things called "lidgit bulbs" in the car instead of waterin' thet carbide in the lanterns any more.

Tarnation, ain't technology wunnerful?

---------------------------------- VIRTUE...is its own punishment

Gunner

"To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem. To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized, merely the domesticated." - Trefor Thomas