California Gardening: Ugh, gophers, 1 by buffaloroad

buffaloroad wrote:
As for the gopher subject. I started a thread in the "Rodents and Pests" general area. I like to get ideas from other states. In fact I have received free gopher gadgets from people that way. I live in Central California and they are terrible here. We bought a Rodenator a few years ago. CSUF's (Fresno State) Ag Department stated that the Rodenator got rid of 90% of their gopher problem. They have a very large AG program and many acres of land. We decided to go ahead and pay the $1700.00 for the equipment. I can tell you it only works if you stay after it. You can't go out there and blast them one day and expect them to be gone. The Rodenator is manufactured in Idaho. I believe the soil where it comes from is rather sandy. Ours is not so. We were disappointed at first because some of the holes were not collapsing. Let's face it, if you don't destroy the tunnel then you might as well put up a sign for the next free-loading gopher in need of a home. We timed it better this spring. We went out when the ground was moist and not so hard. We stayed out there for about 4 hours. We have 7 acres. I have to say it was good fun watching those tunnels blow 10 feet in the air!!! We kept after it and so far we have a few stragglers but nothing like we did before. Now, I have used Weevil-cide (the gas pellet that is activated by moisture) and I can tell you this is where it's at!!!! It was almost like the neighbors gophers could smell it and decided we had crappy real estate in the gopher market. I love this stuff!!! It is by license only but I can tell you that I think it would be worth the money if you have a landscaped yard or have precious plants. We have tried everything. You have to make sure you cover all holes around the area or the gas will escape. (Same thing goes for the car exhaust system) It may be worth the money to look into that. A pic of my honey with his toy!