Print PDF
Favorite
Email
If you live out in the stick of the Midwest as I do, one of the many pests you may run into is gophers. You typically do not see gophers in your yard because they spend most of their time underground. But you do see the dirt they have dug out to make their tunnels. These show up in the form of "Gopher Mounds."
I am going to show you how I take care of these rodents. There is plenty of information out on the Internet about gophers but not on how to catch them. What I have found is very basic and it always goes back to "You should hire a professional because you won't be able to do this on your own."
I am here to tell you that you can do it on your own and it won't cost you an arm and a leg. It will cost the gophers their lives. You need to make the choice as to what is more important, your lawn, garden, trees, personal safety, or the life of a gopher. At my house, the gopher loses.
Here is what you will need:
- shovel
- leather gloves (or use your bare hand if you don't mind all of the greasy, grimy, gopher guts.)
- gopher traps (assume 2 per mound)
- chain or wire to secure the traps in place
- stake to hold the chain or wire in place
- wood, plastic, cardboard, something to cover the hole you dig to help block out light
Optional
- two feet of rebar or wooden dowel (to help find tunnels)
I am going to show you how I take care of these rodents. There is plenty of information out on the Internet about gophers but not on how to catch them. What I have found is very basic and it always goes back to "You should hire a professional because you won't be able to do this on your own."
I am here to tell you that you can do it on your own and it won't cost you an arm and a leg. It will cost the gophers their lives. You need to make the choice as to what is more important, your lawn, garden, trees, personal safety, or the life of a gopher. At my house, the gopher loses.
Here is what you will need:
- shovel
- leather gloves (or use your bare hand if you don't mind all of the greasy, grimy, gopher guts.)
- gopher traps (assume 2 per mound)
- chain or wire to secure the traps in place
- stake to hold the chain or wire in place
- wood, plastic, cardboard, something to cover the hole you dig to help block out light
Optional
- two feet of rebar or wooden dowel (to help find tunnels)
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1Finding a fresh gopher mound
When trapping gophers, you want to make sure you focus your energy on fresh mounds. There is no sense wasting your time on a mound and tunnel system that is vacant. I try to walk my property every day if I can. I know where the gophers tend to do their thing so I keep an extra eye out in those areas.
New activity is easy to spot when it is new. After a rain, it can be difficult to tell new from old. New activity can be spotted by pushed over grass, wet dirt, or a mound in the middle of your yard and you are sure you didn't put it there.
When I fine new activity, I make note of where it is. When I get back to the house, I get out my hunting tools and go back.
New activity is easy to spot when it is new. After a rain, it can be difficult to tell new from old. New activity can be spotted by pushed over grass, wet dirt, or a mound in the middle of your yard and you are sure you didn't put it there.
When I fine new activity, I make note of where it is. When I get back to the house, I get out my hunting tools and go back.
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
Check it out at www.gophergoo.com and feel free to ask for help, they are great and its what they love to do!
Heather Vallier
AKA: The Crop Doctor
www.cropdoctor.net
Any comments or advice?
You could set up an invisible barrier in your yard with these things. Then they become your neighbor's problem.
To the kooks below who ask that we live in harmony with these beasts, come play in my backyard. I'll send you on a fly route. I bet you'd have a broken ankle withing two passes. I get the "coexist" sticker on the back of your Prius but I do not understand your love of destructive pests. They are welcome to go anywhere beyond my fenced in acre. They are a threat to my safety and property. I have 10 young trees in my backyard that cost me $80-$200 per tree. These herbivores can destroy their young roots in no time. What if a field mouse got into your "stash" or protest sign supply? Would you turn a blind eye to this OR would you put an end to the problem?
I don't quite understand the minimal digging approach. Could you elaborate about this? There is a gopher here that is really tough to catch, as he keeps tossing dirt past the traps. I am going to try covering the traps and holes completely.
Another thing is there are are lots of mounds but it is hard to find the main tunnel.
If your gopher is putting dirt past your trap, that means he is pushing dirt down the tunnel and over your trap. I have had that happen several times as well. Keep at it and check the traps twice a day if you can.
I had a gopher last year that I never did catch after months of trying. I hope not to find any more activity in that area this year. Fingers are crossed.
The last few mornings I've dug deep and wide around the holes but did not find any tunnels, just hard clay in every direction. Apparently it is closing off the tunnels completely every time it makes a new hole. Best regards.
Gophers can be driven away with sound devices. To a neighbor.
Look in the Yellow Pages under pest control. Notice the absence of "Gopher".
As to raccoons, Bellevue Parks told me to take any I live trapped and drown them, since every time I relocate one to distant woodlands, either it or another was back in a couple of days.
Are there any Thai recipes for either?
All animals have their place (even most humans) but where humans outnumber the wildlife, you have a choice on which to remove.
Don't ask me what my choice is, I figure the problem will be resolved within a lifetime.