Any gopher solutions?

Well, I'd really like to encourage the ferrets, so I'm thinking I'll put out some "Welcome, Ferrets" signs.....and "tell your friends about us", "please ask about our free gopher continental breakfast!"
I distinctly remember picking up a snake when I was about 5-6, but I must have gained some good sense somewhere in the subsequent years.

then again, you could offer the neighborhood kids $1 a snake for any they bring so you can watch them release them into your gopher holes! LOL

That sounds like when my son was little and I would offer him and the neighbor kids a penny apiece for snails they found in the yard.
Wages have gone up, but then snake handling should pay more than snail handling.
I always laugh when I remember a friend telling me about the day she was out in her yard and she kept hearing this little "plop", "plop, plop, plop" and couldn't figure out what it was til she realized her neighbor was throwing snails from his yard over the wall into hers. I never could figure out why she didn't stand there and throw them back!

This message was edited Feb 16, 2007 9:19 PM

I've been making note lately of which plants my gophers don't seem to bother once they've reseeded and spread,etc. My Mexican Bush Sages have spread way,way, way beyond the original 1-gal wire baskets that they were planted in and the gophers have never eaten them. They also have not eaten Oak Leaf Geraniums that reseed.
Sherry

Here you go, Sherry. Can you see the lump? It's probably a gopher!

My DH left the garage door open one day and this guy came to sun himself. My brothers had snakes I used to handle when I was little, but not this big. I understand they can bite if cornered, so I patiently shooed him off so I could close the door, then he went to the front steps! A little sweeping motion with the broom did the trick, though. Haven't seen one since.

Our up-the-hill neighbor, who has a wild life rescue, discovered one of her neighbors had gardeners who were killing snakes they found. :-(

We really are considering an owl box in our pine trees.

Kathleen

I see a few lumps! Can I have that snake? I think the going price is $1.00. Maybe at the RU we can trade plants for snakes.

No way! If I find that guy I'm going to train him up - "go get 'em, Snakey!"

I am still laughing at the snail stories.

Well, my touch is back. Set the black hole traps out at the first sight of a mound, and had a gopher the next day! Yay!!!! 'Course, now I have to fill up the hole!

Cool on the black hole traps...we used them to wipe out the avocado rats and was thinking I'd make myself get out and hunt gophers with them...and them found out about the ferrets. Now I don't want to put out anything that will kill the ferrets. I'm hoping there's more than one and it's really hungry 'cause I've seen some fresh gopher mounds.
Sherry

I need to try them, but do you have to set them next to the holes or dig up a hole and make a crater and put the trap in? I am not familiar with these, I think someone said before but I need them, all I have is a big wire giant mouse trap kind and I am afraid to set it and trigger it on my fingers.

They are easy to set - you won't hurt yourself. But you do need to put two of them end-to-end for best results, which means a bit of digging to get them into the run. They aren't cheap, either, but very sturdy and will last a long time.

Kathleen

but your digging up the main holes and what opening a trench. Will they come in the open? If you cover them how will they snap with the dirt on them. How expensive.

We paid $20 apiece but I just found them on Amazon for $12.95! Heck.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Hole-Rodent-Trap/dp/B0007O24US

Rebeccanne gave some tips on Jan 30th above http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=3136967

What I do is poke around (not in the mound, but to the sides) until I find the tunnel. Sometimes this is frustrating if they've left a lot of mounds. You have to set the traps in a main run - one that has both an entrance and exit, not one that just leads up to the plant it was destroying! Widen the tunnel until you can just fit the traps in end-to-end. The air holes will fool them into thinking the tunnel is still usable, then whichever way they go in, SNAP! You need to close the hole back up on the ends, but not block the trigger, as you said.

The directions will be on the trap, I'm sure.

Good hunting!

Honestly i wish I could see someone set one, i can`t visualize it. I was wondering if you set a good sweet bait and put a shoe box over the hole so it looks dark if they may venture in.

All the pros (golf courses and CALTRANS) use bait.

Anybody t serious about eradicating gophers (I've heard at least a hundred different theories) will learn the most efficient method is by baiting..

that is all I have used and it doesn`t seem so helpful plus those peas when watered grow into grass like things and my dogs eat grass so i have to be very watchfull.

Well, the secret is very good with gophers! I use old trap and set it up then put some lettuces to cover the trap which gophers cant tell the feel the metal trap is cold to know back up! Make sure trap have long chain to pole that cant lose the trap. So, make more long in hole gopher dont like to hear the noise so I cover the wood on hole. Keep cats out.

I has been caught gophers 100 for 9 yrs! (as I count it and mark the date & year.) So, new law now cant kill it any more. Once in S. F. area, I heard there is law for cats who own and caught the gophers for fine!

Anna

Dawn, see if this helps - scroll down the page http://icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/PocketGophers.asp - there's a diagram and explanation of the tunnel system.

There is also information about using bait.

Well,
County of San Diego's erradication program provided bait for 50cents a 1-lb bag until retailers like HD complained.

I have 20 rusty traps with attached chains that I haven't used in 20 years. Traps work, no doubt about it. It is for people who have no faith. You get the satisfaction of seeing these nasty little hole rats dead and it makes you believe.

But, if you have 1/2 acre or more (I have 2 acres) to keep cleared bait is the answer. Facts are facts. Neither Caltrans, nor any state agency that has experts assigned to gopher control use traps except in very highly specialized situations. If you know how to use bait and use it properly (u have to be smarter than the rat (gopher)) you will control them best with bait. If you have over a half acre you will never completely get rid of them, you can just hope to control them. We used traps for the first winter 22 years ago and caught 26 that year, before I learned about the county program. As I have said before on this thread, these vermin are migratory. If you didn't get the bait in the right place you might as well flush it down the commode. I now control by killing maybe 20 per season by baiting. I have border collies who will not permit them to live in the non-landscaped areas.

You have to find the burrow. The fresh mound is a silly decoy. There is a burrow nearby, but it is almost NEVER right under the mound. When you find the burrow, (by poking around with a piece of small diameter metal). (i use a probe now that both finds the burrow and delivers the bait to the burrow). If you don't have a probe the metal rod finds the FRESH burrow then you have to dig into the burrow and I put a teaspoon of bait down each branch (always 2 burrows at least) because when the burrow is covered the passage is closed and you don't know which direction the gopher is situated. If there is activity in the area within a couple of days you missed and you have to get right back on it. You can't be casual about it.

As to the peas sprouting, indicates you are not burying the bait in the burrow. Most burrows are at least 8 inches below the surface and I doubt that bait in the bottom of the burrow could sprout thru that kind of distance. I have never had a case where a dog got any of the bait and I have had dogs for over 40 years of baiting and trapping gophers. I am very attentive to not spilling any of the bait. If a few grains get away, I find them and put them in the burrow or flush them down the commode.

bob
:>)



This message was edited Mar 9, 2007 12:43 PM

Bob, this is very useful information. We have 1.25 acres in Bonsall and I have been using both bait and traps recently. When you say burrow, are you talking about the main tunnel that goes across the one to the mound? Like a T-junction? I do always put the bait down the tunnel, and I'm glad to hear you've had no trouble with your dogs.

The other thing we are concerned about are the owls - we are bird watchers and wanted to put an owl box up in our pine trees. But the article I found (link above) states,

"Underground baiting for pocket gopher control with strychnine presents minimal hazards to nontarget wildlife, either by direct consumption of bait or by eating poisoned gophers. Poison bait spilled on the surface of the ground may be hazardous to ground-feeding birds such as mourning doves."

I will do some more searching, but perhaps we don't have to worry the owls after all.

Kathleen

Owls aren't scavengers, they go for live kill, and will not take a dead gopher.

There are several burrowing (tunneling) strategies. Consistent among the pocket gophers in this area (I'm in the Bonsall Planning District also) is the compacted backfill that is used after mounding. It serves dual purpose. A burrow used during contruction permits a path to extrude the soil that is moved from the burrow to the mound. Then backfilling and compacting furnishes additional storage space for more soil removed from the main burrow and nesting area(s). It also keeps the casual predator out of the burrow inasmuch as there is no soft or open path to the main burrow.

Depending on the lay of the land, the size of the adult rat may have several paths to the main burrow that happen to be near the mound. When setting Macabee traps its important to have a chained and staked trap down each burrow opening exposed. (I've seen as many as 4 openings. in the tunnel that is exposed to place traps).

The article related to Mourning Doves is relatining to spillage. I am extremely careful not to spill any bait and if I do I put the result in the burrow before I close it.

bob
:>)

I just got back from vegas and i will read the link after the race, but thanks, I am overwhelmed and have 5/8 of an acre. I used to put some bait under the roots of my roses to hope that in the winter the gophers would eat the bait if they worked their way to the roses roots, before they ate the roses during the winter months(that is where the peas were growing, near the tunnels where my bait was near rose roots. I do need to visualize the den to get a mental picture of what i am doing. thanks all.

Thanks, Bob - good news about the owls, too. Have to get my DH busy with that box, maybe we'll have some next year.

Bob is right on the money. I fought them for years - I tried Juicyfruit gum, traps, human hair, smoke bombs, you name it. None of this stuff works. What got the litter critters under control was going out every morning and looking for fresh mounds, then poisoing the tunnels. My back yard is only 50' x 30', so this isn't a big chore. Using this method I haven't had any new gophers in months. But I'll never stop my daily rounds, because I know you can never get rid of them completely. They always come back.
Ann

I'm starting to think I may need to go the poison route...I didn't want to do it but I've exhausted all my other options. I started off with the vibrating "Mole Chaser" thing, but gave up on it one morning when I went out to the garden and the little fellow poked his head up out of a tunnel not 2 feet from where the mole chaser was. If I'm not mistaken, I think he stuck his tongue out at me! So then I resorted to spraying gallons of castor oil on the garden (leaving a nice path open to the field behind me for him to make his escape of course), but it doesn't seem to be doing anything except encouraging him to dig up more plants. I almost bought poison this weekend when I was at Armstrong, but since I had an armful of nice organic stuff like John & Bob's soil optimizer, Neptune's Harvest, etc I wasn't sure what they would think of me if I also bought gopher poison!

I understand I am an animal lover but it is costing way too much time and money now, so i have to kill them anyway I can. One of my devils, flipped me the bird when I kept drowning the holes and carried on with his digging. I bought the black hole trap thingy. I put pepper and chili seeds in the bottom of my plant holes and on the sides too.

I have a spot outside my French doors where I now feed birds. Since the last cat remaining outside has now been made an inside guy, I wanted to provide some entertainment. The DH says it's cruel for him to be able to watch the birds but not get at them, but I think it keeps him from being bored,so I started putting out birdseed. Since there's no cat out there now to get them, they also got a great new bird bath. I love it, now while I'm at the pc, I can watch all the action at the feeding station, The 'regulars' are....sparrows, bluebirds, bluejays, gray thrashers, robins, towhees, bunnies........had no idea that rabbits would love birdseed......and a gopher! It's so funny, it's like watching a video game or something. The open space in front of the birdbath is surrounded to the sides and back by ferns and other vegetation and the birds and bunnies duck in and out of there if they feel the need for cover. Well, this gopher comes darting in and out of there like a cuckoo clock. I mean, he is fast! It could almost make me like gophers. I keep waiting for himm to jump up and do the happy dance. So now I'm thinking that if I just maybe put out enough birdseed to feed the gophers, I can get them to leave my plants alone....if you can't beat 'em...feed 'em?
Sherry

Hmmm...I wonder if I put a trail of birdseed leading to the field behind my house (which is where I'd like my gopher to move to) if that would work better than what I've been doing (chasing him that direction with the vibrating mole chaser and castor oil spray). Still haven't been back to buy that poison because he's moved into the area of my back yard that I haven't planted yet. I'd still like to get rid of him and I'm spraying the castor oil every day trying to keep him moving in the right direction but it's not as urgent since he's not munching my plants anymore--he can eat all the weed roots he wants and that's the only thing growing where he is!

That is funny, I probably would think it was cute too, but I can not deal with them at all. I spent a fortune of money and plants and my back, in labor. My roses that they didn`t get last year had lots of deep open holes under ground(I felt with a piece of rebar and it went far) so I poisoned the holes I poked and shoved it way down. Hope I kill your seed lovin friends family or else i will have to buy bird seed lure and night vision goggles and bust out my guns. I alo got repellent that they said smells like a septic tank. great

My admiration for salvia leucantha 'Mexican Bush Sage' just grows and grows. Not only is it tough and absolutely beautiful, but I learned when moving some years ago that I can just pull it out of the ground (in lieu of more gentle dividing, since I was in an extreme hurry). I've been pretty sure that the gophers don't bother it, since it spreads and spreads beyond the original wire cage and has not been eaten and this week in pulling out chunks for dividing, I've found that directly beneath the roots are large gopher tunnels and they haven't touched the roots at all. In case I haven't mentioned it earlier elsewhere, my favorite planting of this sage is with tagetes lemonii. It's incredibly beautiful together...really vivid.

I`ll look into that. I found out recently that many beautiful plants that grow here are not sold here in the AV., I never knew why and I would have to go to San Fernando VLLY nursuries to get some, but out local guy at out nursury had the same questions and found a grower in Scottsdale that will send us stuff. I think tagetes lemonii is not a familiar name. I will look it up. Do you have Chaste trees in SD,gyps?

Ok bush marigold, I haven`t seen that type here but in the Valley or santa clarita maybe. Want to trade seed? I have drought tollerant wild flower mixes and cottage garden mixes, bunny tail grass but it is dormant still, just sprouting. What was it you were looking for again, in native? I never traded before.

Dawn,if you want some tagetes lemonii, I'll do some cuttings for you. I had a bunch left in 1-gal that I finally planted (with the Mexican bush sage). The tagetes is golden yellow and against the purple they're incredible together. If you're in Cambria, go out to Linn's restaurant (out Santa Rosa Creek Rd) and there's a mature planting of the two together. I came home and planted some together right away. I have seed pods on the tagetes, but just left them on there all winter. I haven't tried them from seed since the cuttings take so well. Chaste trees grow in our area. I have seeds for them, but didn't get then wintersown to be stratified (think I read that they need that). I'm planting seeds today, so I'll go ahead and try them. Also brought home one of the purple leaved vitex (I'd have to go outside to look at the label, and then I wouldn't make it back in), but haven't placed it in the ground yet...too much to do.
Sherry

It is a crazy season for sure. i do not know what stratified means. One more thing to look up. I really do need to start cuttings, I have had no luck, I think I need to add some sand to my soil where i start them because too much caleche. I want to multiply my roses and pyrocantha so i need to start on it soon, trying again. Do you have a germinator? I would love some cuttings. muchas gracias

I'm pinning high hopes on the ferrets and hoping their territories allow for having quite a few on the property. I was beginning to despair that they had moved on....til I almost tripped over one while coming in the kitchen door yesterday...little sweetie ran right under my feet! I hope he's gobblin' gophers.

me too. I want to kill my dogs they are digging up all my flowers to get a gopher and never do.

I was feeling pretty good about the gopher situation until this afternoon....at least one of my whiskey barrels has rotted out on the bottom (even though it's raised a bit on bricks) and a gopher came up through the bottom and got one of my hollyhocks.

that %^&***((((#@

I lost a special plant this week, too - whole thing down through the hole!