Mole Gel Review

Research Review
Pest Management Professional
Jan 1, 2005

CINCINNATI — Bery Pannkuk, technical director of Cincinnati-based Scherzinger Pest Control, is known around the company as "The Science Guy." With his zoologist background, he's particularly partial to learning more about vertebrates. So when Pannkuk met Scimetrics Ltd. Technical Director Richard Poche at a Purdue conference three years ago, the two quickly forged a strong bond.

Poche, whose company is based in Fort Collins, Colo., is the man behind the Kaput line of bait gels for rodents and moles. It was the latter category Pannkuk was quite interested in, as relatively little is known about the biology and behavior of this solitary species.

Pannkuk is no stranger to Experimental Use Permits (EUPs), and that spring, he agreed to conduct some testing of the Kaput Mole Gel Bait on the common Eastern species.
 
"I used six sites," Pannkuk recalls. "Each were typical accounts, ranging in size from a ¼-acre residence to a 5-acre property with a horse pasture, pools — the whole nine yards. I wanted a variety of sites to test the product in different settings. Moles typically breed in March, and I did the testing from April through mid-May when the babies were around."

It only takes eight weeks for babies to develop into adults, Pannkuk notes. The young are small and weak and don't tunnel as deeply as their older counterparts. In fact, they run across the top of the ground in looser soil. That's why tilled soil in flowerbeds is such a target, he says.

"I used Kaput even in mulched beds, where it was nearly impossible to detect," Pannkuk continues. "I used it according to the label, following the mole runways and applying every 20 feet to 25 feet. What's nice about the applicator is that it has a geared and marked syringe barrel, so you know how much you're putting out. It's easy to train your technicians because the barrel shows ½-ounce markings. Typically, you use 6 dabs per burrow system, although that's a gray area since a runway could go for half an acre."

The Kaput label mandates a certain amount of visits. Before applying, the end-user visits the account and puts in quarter-inch holes with a rod.

"You come back a couple days later to determine the active burrows and where to apply," Pannkuk explains. "When I would come back to the test sites a week after applying Kaput, the product was definitely found in the tunnels."

Pannkuk used the Kaput mole bait that features warfarin as the active ingredient. He did not try the newer sibling product Kaput-D, which features diphacinone, but points out that the good thing about both actives is there's no secondary poisoning.

"You rarely see the mole carcass," he continues. "Although you want to keep pets out of treated areas, it shouldn't hurt them if they chew on a carcass."

Pannkuk sees specific benefits with the gel formulation for Kaput.

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