GOPHERS!!!

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starlightcat Fallbrook, CA(Zone 10a) Aug 19, 2009

I hate them! they are killing everything! What can I do to get rid of them? The owl next door doesn't take them, I've tried feeding them gum. I don't want to poison them because they are in my garden, and I have cats and tons of birds that I don't want to hurt.

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Aug 19, 2009

I have an exterminator who comes out and takes care of mine--they have something that they stick down the holes and it reacts with moisture in the soil to produce a gas that suffocates the gophers. Because of how it works, it shouldn't harm cats, owls, etc who might happen to catch a gopher that manages to stagger out of its tunnel. Or you can set traps, that's probably the most effective non-toxic DIY remedy. I don't like the idea of having to clean out the trap after I catch them, plus I'm not confident in my ability to properly position it in their tunnels so I don't use that approach, but there are other people that have had good luck that way. I will say that I've tried castor oil, vibrating thingies, flooding their tunnels, etc and nothing works so I wouldn't waste your time. There are some plants they won't eat like castor beans, but I tried planting castor beans near some plants I wanted to protect, and they left the castor beans alone but ate the plant right next to it that I was trying to protect so I was less than impressed with the repellent properties!

The other thing I would suggest is whenever you plant something, plant it in a wire basket. Even if you have the exterminator or you trap them yourself, there are probably fields near you which will provide pretty much a never-ending supply of gophers, and you usually don't know you have a new "visitor" until they've destroyed at least a few plants, so if you want to minimize garden damage it's worth the extra time to plant everything in wire.

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