Any gopher solutions?

SW easy girl. No love loss I get that. Death to all rodents.

The city of Vista built a new park about 2 miles west of us.

It is an 50 acre park all landscaped except for the athletic fields. We walk there quite frequently. Ever since they opened the park ...I've seen no evidence of a single gopher or ground squirrel.

I am wonder how they do it....!!

It rained 3 inches here last week. We went for a 2 mile walk there 3 days after the rain...Still no signs of dirty little rodents.

I had one of the best gopher days in years the days after the rain. I think I'm ahead of them now for the year. after 26 years of fighting them here. we are enjoying the moment. I know it won't last.

Ground squirrel invasion this year was legendary. They moved in overnite in April.. before we knew it they destroyed a valuable 40 year old Aloe tree. Then a week later they had stripped 2 Tangerine trees completely. Many hundreds of choice tangerines.

We ridded them out with bait boxes. I hear the dirty little rats whistling all around us...but so far I see no more damage

So for the moment we feel good.

Tomorrow is another day.. We got new bait for the ground rodents Ready for more war.

Bob

See, now the rodent thing is one reason I am hesitant to have fruit trees. I know the ground squirrels will get anything as they did dig out and kill neighbor's old pine trees. But they do stay outside. Rats eating fruit from trees makes me wonder where they will go when fruit is gone.

Not-so-DSS next door is planning on putting in an enormous lawn (on just less than 1 acre) with sod in front and seeding the back/side areas. I think lawns are just stupid out here what with the water needed, the heat, the maintenance should they survive. BUT, the good part, I am thinking, is that it will give the rabbits and gophers a great place to go! One neighbor put in a lot of work prepping ground, sprinklers and such several years ago for a lawn bigger than most home lots. When it started to grow it looked like the scene from a B movie at night, what with the number of bunnies grazing. He never did need to use the lawnmower. And the weeds! It never really was a real lawn and now it is dirt. Another neighbor put in sod in a much smaller area and it got established mostly because he put up a low electric fence to zap those rascally rabbits. Before he had dogs. DSS has 4 dogs, so guess the electric fence thing wouldn't work.

Ground squirrels were the devil this year here too. Never had them prior to this in 7 years.

i wish i had a solution!! pig poop so far is working where i have used it. also they dont seem to go near my eucalyptus trees but was told those leaves are not good for the plants. my dogs and cats keep the squirrels away (so far) but my neighbors property looks like a lunar landscape with all the squirrel holes.

Too funny, sherman.

I'm feeling your neighbors pain. I hope to get rid of them over the Winter.

Good news is right now with all the green sprouting they aren't going after my plants in the garden, or the fruit in the orchard. I saw a squirrel before the recent rains, but if he comes in my yard, either the cats or dogs will eat it. For all I know they already have.
About rats. I really hate them. They will nest anywhere, and it isn't uncommon for them to nest up high in Palm trees . The dead fronds make great shelter for them. Hope I didn't just ruin your day, but you asked. Be sure to seal even the tiniest opening, especially where the pipes come into your house, or you'll have company this winter.
Be strong! Keep up the good fight!
WIB!
SW

When I moved into this house 15 years ago, the gophers were so bad that we couldn't walk across the yard without breaking an ankle. A few years ago a family moved onto the street and brought a couple of outside cats. They moved out fairly soon but left the cats. The cats had babies. At first everyone complained about the straycats. Then we noticed we had no more gophers. The entire street is gopher free. Now the cats get fed and loved. Every once in a while someone will take about getting rid of the cats, but the rest of us love them.

This thread is much too long. Let's continue our largely futile quest in part 2:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1230704/