Any gopher solutions?

What does the exterminator do to get rid of them for you, Liz?

He puts pellets down their holes which react with moisture in the soil to form phosphine gas which is toxic to them. I like it better than poison bait which could also kill my dog or my neighbor's cats! Unfortunately the stuff he uses is a restricted pesticide that only licensed pesticide applicators can buy, so I have to pay him to come out and do it rather than being able to buy the stuff myself.

Maybe it would be worth it to take the class to become a licensed pesticide applicators. I do not know how hard it is, but I think Susie is one. You are going to be a gardener forever more.

I am freezing today. I just put on a big soft bathrobe over my clothes and upped the heat. My husband has it where it turns off during the day as if I do not feel the cold. I am supposed to go out and prune roses but I am shivering too much inside to go outside.

Hey, Kell, come on down to Gilroy and sit in the yurt at my propane "cocktail table" heater and have some hot cider with me while I cut out tiles!

I never thought about becoming a pesticide applicator--I'll have to check into how much the classes would cost. I don't really have time for stuff like that though, I'll probably just keep paying the guy to come out!

I'm freezing too--fortunately I control the temperature in my house so I can set it wherever I want, but I had some pretty outrageous PG&E bills last year (I wasn't really keeping things that warm...I seriously think my house doesn't have insulation!) so I'm trying to keep things on the cold side! I keep hoping the sun will come out so I can take my dog for a walk without having to bundle up in gloves, scarf, etc!

Somehow I always feel guilty saying I'm freezing when it's 49 degrees in December in California. That temp in Denver when I was growing up would have had me outside with no jacket. Ah, youth.......sigh......

This is a perenniel thread. It always seems to liven up at the onset of 'gopher season'.

I know about gophers. I don't know much about ground squirrels, moles, ground hogs, badgers or any other underground pest.

Gophers are vermin. The worst kind of rat for people who grow desirable plants! There are 2 things to be considered when dealing with these vermin. Deterrents and Kills!

The treatment with peppermint is a deterrent (if it works at all on gophers). I have permanent deterrents that are seriously effective and don't have to be repeated every time a gopher digs new burrow. In fact they don't dig new burrows around the deterrents. The deterrents keep an area clear of gophers. Because these deterrents are plants that don't fit all occasions they can't be used in many landscape situations.

I've dealt with KILLING gophers now for 23 years. I've tried many things that a serious gopher killer would pursue. The most important thing is to approach the serious task with seriousness. In our area near the famous Gopher Canyon Rd. it requires vigilance and some commitment if you are serious about gopher control.

So after many stories (to date over must be over 100 different ways I've heard about to kill/ gophers). I have settled on one major program. I've described it on this thread previously. But the thread is too long and boring for somebody who has a serious problem and wants to deal with it in a serious way. It's too hard do dig out the details from the long thread. So here is a basic repeat of HOW to kill gophers. It will work.

23 years ago County of San Diego's eradication program provided bait for 50cents a 1-lb bag. Then retailers like Home Depot must have complained that the government was cutting into a major "money cow". The county quit the program. Now we pay over 15 times as much for a bait that is no more effective. After all if a grain of wheat kills a gopher, how much more effective is a grain of maize mixed with a raisen and half-dozen other edibles. If a gopher has some grain he isn't at all picky. The fancy stuff is designed to appeal to the human buyer, not the gopher!

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. I used to give my boys $0.25 per head for gophers that we caught, just to keep them motivated to help me work gopher traps everyday after work during gopher season.

Because of the work involved and the effectivity of bait, if you have 1/2 acre or more (I have 2 acres) to keep cleared, you have to develop faith...bait is the answer. Facts are facts.

Neither Caltrans, (the state transportation agency who in their normal course of business has to deal with millions of gopher problems every year) nor any other state agency that has experts assigned to gopher control, use traps except in very highly specialized situations. Neither do many of the thousands of golf course maintenance people in the state use traps much, except in special cases.

If you know how to use bait and use it properly (u have to be smarter than the rat (gopher)) (I AM SERIOUS - the longer you fool with a gopher the smarter the gopher gets and the dumber you will feel) you will control them best with bait.

If you have a half acre in the prolific gopher areas of Calif. you will never be completely get rid of them, you can just hope to control them. If you have a small yard and don't want to fool with it call an exterminator.

We used traps for the first winter, 22 years ago and caught 26 that year. That was before I learned about the county eradication program. As I have said before on this thread, these vermin are migratory. Unless you have totally deterred doesn't mean because you don't see them this year they won't come back. They move above ground at night. They are territorial and if they find an area that isn't inhabited by other gophers and there is no deterrent they will dig in.

I control by killing maybe 20 per season by baiting on the 1+ acre that is landscaped. I have border collies who will not permit them to live in the non-landscaped areas. I have no idea how many they kill, but they know how to do it and it is one of their favorite sports. I can't even imagine the notion of calling an exterminator every time one of these migratory critters 'digs in'. There is no permanent fix for some situations.

Here is what you need besides vigilance and tenacity.

1.Metal rod at least 3 feet long, with a pointed end. I use an old chain link fence gate latch handle on a 1/2 dia rod about 42" long. A piece of metal tubing hacksawed to a point is just a good tool for this.
2. Gopher bait. Comes in a cardboard can and is available at all serious hardware stores .
3. old round-bowled small soup spoon (small enough to comfortably fit into bait can)
4. small ditch spade. You won't need to make a wide hole but it may have to go down a ways.

I have found gopher burrows running over 3 feet below the surface, but that is not normal. (the gophers that dig those burrows are some of the ones that are smarter than me and are probably still toying with me out there somewhere). They don't hurt anything of mine that deep, so I figure let them have that space. Maybe its an exit route out of here.

It isn't unusual to find a burrow 12" below the surface.

Here is one of the games that entertains and keeps us at it during gopher season. The game starts whenever the gopher puts up a mound in your domain. You win if you kill him before he puts up a 2nd mound. (There is another game that involves some tricky smarter than average gophers. I will deal with the simple-minded gopher)

To kill any gopher, unless you are very lucky,you have to find the burrow. The fresh mound is a silly decoy that confounds your effort to find the burrow. If you fall for this decoy and dig right under it, you will in most cases, give the gopher 1 point to your 0 point. Many many gophers win the game here and don't ever have to get any smarter. Some "would-be" gopher killers give up here and go call an exterminator. Then its you against both the Gophers and the Exterminators. In this case you lose by default.

The occasional dumb gopher will build his burrow right under the mound and you won't have to be real smart to get this one. You may get to beat him here.

There IS a burrow near every mound, but it is almost NEVER right under the mound. I forgot to mention that the soil will be damp. If the soil is dry the gopher has won this game - Score the gopher with a WIN. Gopher wins 1 you lose 1.

The fact that you didn't notice the mound the morning after it was dug is testament that you really aren't serious about dealing with gophers. (There are much more enjoyable pursuits - even watching the grass grow is more fun). However in the gopher Kill game your lack of vigilance has been your defeat.

Whenever you have a damp fresh mound you have a chance of successfully finding a fresh burrow., Poke around with a piece of small diameter metal. (i use a fancy bait insertion probe that both finds the burrow and delivers the bait into the burrow).

If you don't have a bait insertion probe, use the metal rod to find the burrow.

After finding the burrow dig to expose the openings. Put a teaspoon of bait down the openings that form each branch. There are always at least 2 branches (one each in opposing directions).

After inserting the bait in each branch (sometimes there are 3 branches), stuff the open burrow branches with leaves, dry vegetation or anything that will block backfilled soil that you use will to fill the hole.

Then cover the hole you dug If you don't see any more activity in the general vicinity after a few days, score yourself with a KILL.

If you do see activity ( remember vigilance). Score the gopher a point and repeat the process.


Most burrows made by 'pocket gophers (the species that plague us) are at least 8 inches below the surface.

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
:>)

I am on my way down, imapigeon, LOL. It is supposedly 48 here. I am still chilled!! I am on my 3rd cup of tea. I received the best Earl Grey tea for Christmas. I am drinking it all up. I am also eating the best cinnamon bread. I bought it at first at the Filoli Christmas sale and just found it at Berkeley Bowl the other day. So here I sit eating cinnamon bread an sipping tea in my bathrobe at almost 2 in the afternoon. Having gotten nothing done yet.

I just emailed the powers to be to see what I need to be able to poison my gophers Liz. Not that I have ever had one.
http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/qac.htm

Kell--let me know what you find out about licensing! I really don't think I'd want to go to all the trouble, but I'll give you plants if you come over here and kill mine!

Thistlesifter--can you share what the deterrents are that you know are effective? I've tried castor bean plants and while they didn't actually eat the castor bean plants, they did destroy a plant that was right next to the castor bean, so it didn't seem very effective to me!

I know that poison baits work and I know how to use them, but I can't take any chances on poisoning my neighbor's cats. They hunt my gophers...I've seen them in my yard poised over an area where the gophers have just been digging waiting for one to pop its head up, and the last thing I need would be for them to catch one that had just munched some poison bait. Although technically it would be their fault for letting their cats run around loose, I'm friends with them and wouldn't want to be responsible for killing one of their kitties! That's why I like the phosphine generating tablets instead. But those only work in irrigated areas, so if you have a large yard and don't regularly irrigate some areas then it won't work.

So far the flare seems to have done the job on my little patch of land. I saw smoke coming up 20 - 30 feet away in two directions, so I know it was at least traveling some distance. This set of pests is at my office, which is a converted 1950's home. The city bought the two houses next door and just finished building a parking lot. When they dug their first test hole for whatever the city felt needed testing, the gophers went nuts. The city must have disturbed their burrow. The front corners of three homes all had huge mounds of dirt thrown up. Now that the two houses are gone, I think the gophers have set their sights on all the new planting of the parking lot area. Fortunately I don't have too much landscaping, but they have taken out two Nandina and I have some nice hydrangeas to protect. Unfortunately I have some taro that has become a weed and they don't seem to want to touch it.
It has been a full day since the BOMB! and I don't see any activity. I know I was coughing pretty good after a small problem with the fan when I started. Turned out the insulation on the wires was frayed and I got some nice sparking. As I hustled to find another fan, the smoke built up and I took in a bit more than I had planned. What we risk to win just a little skirmish with these critters.

Do you think a Dachshund would do a good job? I might be in the market for a new pet.

I'm glad you survived your experiment...and I'll keep my fingers crossed that the gophers didn't! I'm not sure if I want to try that myself though, sounds a bit too dangerous for me!

As far as dogs go, I think Jack Russells are supposed to be one of the best at hunting rodent-like creatures. I don't know about Dachsunds though, maybe they could do a good job too.

That is about the same way I rid myself of them too, though it is probably time to reapply and search. I have 5/8 of an acre and my next door neighbor is an exterminator and gave me a whole big story about the habbits of the devils so I use a big piece of rebar and probe for soft spots, if I find one, I use my little laidal and pour it down then push further, cover with leaves etc., then poke about three more areas nearby and poison them too. I really do a lot near my roses because I lost so many 2 years ago. It has helped alot, plus I have a gopher snake, atleast one and an owl hangs out now sometimes so it all helped.

Thanks. Ecrane, any pest control can do the bait but the gas you have done is a specialized thing with a lot more cost and time and a State test for it but I think you have to be an exterminator for a while before you can take that test or atleast have a lot more time and money because there is only one or two in our whole area certified for the gas, and one with the machine that does the propane o2 explosions to collaps the tunnels.

My friend has 40 acres and two Jack Russels and they bolt out the door and you see heads shaking violently and rats and gophers and mice flinging left and right, their obsessive.

ecrane,

I use 5 different species of Euphorbia in places where they are not obtrusive to the landscape. There are 2 that are especially nice and add color and interest to landscape. Neither of this is much help to a lawn or turf situation.

The best one for borders and background area is one that is available now at many Nurseries is a cultivar called 'Firesticks'. Euphorbia tirucalli
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/58092/

Mix this in hedges and borders
Euphorbia trigona
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57020/

Another great shrub,. bacground
Wood Spurge
Euphorbia amygdaloides
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/3128/

There are hundreds of these spurges that can be and are used.

One of my former neighbors had a rare plant nursery before he passed. He put a particularly defensive succulent Euphorbia with vicious thorns around his entire 1 acre lot just inside the fence. This kept all kinds of animals out of the beds where his valuable succulents grew. He had no trouble with rabbits and gophers didn't tunnel under nor crawl under or go over these plants.

He once told me that it kept out all kinds of predators including the 2-legged kind. The plant is not rank, but slow. Any time I see a gopher mound in a non-landscaped area around a fence (over 1000 feet of chain link fence here) I put insome of this succulent plant. Don't see many mounds anymore. Dogs won't even go near this plant! But it isn't a plant one can fit into just any landscape so we use it advisedly.

We landscape with xerophytes. Many of these are very bottom of the gopher menu.

I must confess that I don't have cats. I have had. I like them, but not in the house and there is no way a cat lover will let them out on their own in this environment. Coyotes, hawks and eagles all prey on cats. My neighbor is a cat lover. Her cats spend a lot of time hunting gophers in our gardens.

I've not ever seen a cat dig around for dead gophers or touch already dead rats. Dogs will bring them up when they are puppies. We train them to leave dead animals alone. Cats will bring up their own kills, but not already dead gophers as far as I know. I was raised on a wheat/corn farm. In the 1940's and 1950s we had milk cows and beef livestock and our grain was often stored in wooden graineries till we got it to market. Rats infested those graineries. We had dozens of cats. most of them weren't were never domesticated. They lived in the barns. They hunted/killed/ate rats.

Dad baited rats by the thousands with stricknine and arsenic. Dad never killed a cat. Cats don't eat road kill. When on their own they kill their own food.

Your concern is easy to understand. But I don't have the same concerns because my own experience has given me the confidence to use bait. I understand others not using it. I wouldn't recommend anybody else to use it if you have the concerns about killing a pet. There is always a risk. There is always a tradeoff. We live here and love it. But there are many tradeoffs living in Calif rural communities.

bob
:>)

Thanks--I may try some of the Euphorbias. I don't have a lawn so it's just garden beds that I'm trying to protect, and once the plants are established it'll be a pretty low water use garden for the most part so the Euphorbias should fit in. Will pretty much any Euphorbia species work, or is there something special about those three?

As far as the cats--I wasn't worried about them finding dead gophers, I know they wouldn't bother with something that was already dead. I was more worried that they might catch a gopher that had eaten poison but hadn't died yet--I figured the poison might take some time before it kicked in, and if the cat happened to catch it then there could be trouble. Or does the poison work fast enough that something like that couldn't happen? Either way I know the chances of killing one of the neighbor's cats is pretty small, but they're nice cats and the neighbors are nice people so I didn't want to take chances! If I were in your area though I'm sure I'd use the bait, it would be much better for a large area. But I'm here in the middle of suburbia on 2/10 of an acre so it's a different world!

My neighbor said that the poison in a rodent will not kill a dog anyway, which I am a sceptic about but he explained why at the time and seemed to belive it from a professional stand point. Not worth it to see if he is right to me though even though he probably is.

Especially if it's a big dog that wouldn't surprise me, after all gophers are very small so the amount of poison needed to kill them would be a lot less than the amount needed to poison a dog (unless maybe you have a Chihuahua!)

lol ther was some other reason he said it didn't work that way but I will ask him again why he said this, but I'll let him poison a gopher and feed it to his dogs first. Not really.

My thought is that even the most honest exterminator, while he probably has access to some information, has a little bitty conflict of interest.

There is always Google.

I requested an article from DG's Palm Bob who is a practicing Veterinarian.

I asked him about use of Round Up several years ago. He replied he had never treated a pet affected by Round Up and that it was safe to use in the recommended dosages. His thought that unless a pet licked quite a bit of the RU right after application there was no danger and even questioned the toxicity of taking in that amount.

here is a link to his recent article on certain winter plant hazards for pets.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/800410/

bob

I didn't know Palm Bob was a vet. I could go to him as he is only an hour away if I ever needed a better Vet than we have here.

Funny I talked to him before about my friend who rented a guest house from someone who had more succulants and cactus than I had ever seen and from all over the world, they made their own pots too and owned a large kiln. He was interested in seeing it but my friend moved and the people were funny about others seeing their yard I guess.

If I had the address I would write to them and ask for Palm Bob to see it if they didn't mind. It is in the San Fernando valley where he is.

Malathion is illegal now in Cal. unless something recently changed.

Malathion has been in general continuous use since the 1950s. It has the shortest half-life of any commercial chemical fertilizer I know.

Home Depot, Lowes, Armstrong Nurseries, and all my nursery suppliers have sold it continuously for years. It is even used periodically by both San Diego and Los Angeles counties to control fruit flies.

I use it lightly whenever natural, less potent, remedies fail.

Despite all the hoopla that is raised in the news when it is used by the state and county and after much research, no evidence has been found of it creating any health hazard when used in accordance with instructions.

That makes it much less dangerous than automobiles and electricity, while not quite as useful as either of those.

bob:>)

Yeah, Bob, but the stink of malathion will kill you! blecccchhh!!! Once while working in a hospital, we had a patient come in who drank a bottle trying to commit suicide. How he swallowed it I'll never know. The whole ER reeked and they had to put him in a room by himself, of course, because the smell came out of his pores.

Several of our neighbors let their dogs roam - until a coyote gets them or the highway does. I've had great results with Sluggo (non-lethal) and don't worry about it. The snails aren't a huge problem for us anyway.

Thanks for the link to the article - I missed that one.

Wow, just stumbled on this thread (we're probably moving to Santa Clara area or beyond in the Spring). I've never seen a gopher in my life, so I'm glad to be forewarned of the gopher issue.

Well, you'll most likely see some here! Depending on where you live you may see more or less of them. At my old house (20 or so miles north of here) I had one that came in occasionally, probably lost 4-5 plants over 3 years. Then I moved here and lost hundreds of plants in one year. Well, guess that's exaggerating a bit but that's what it felt like! But I know other people who live within a few miles of me who don't have problems with them. I probably have more trouble because I have an open space behind me, but I had an open space behind me at my old house too and didn't have as many problems. So I'm not sure what it is that determines whether they're going to invade a particular yard or not.

ecraine responding to your statement,

Thanks--I may try some of the Euphorbias. I don't have a lawn so it's just garden beds that I'm trying to protect, and once the plants are established it'll be a pretty low water use garden for the most part so the Euphorbias should fit in. Will pretty much any Euphorbia species work, or is there something special about those three?
I didn't forget about your Euphorbia question.

Your guess is right. Pretty much any Euph. will help.

Once in a very dry year I had a big Scarlet Macaw on the patio that fed squirrels and rats, we inherited a ground squirrel that year who we witnessed eating one of the Euphorbias in great quantity. I thought it humorous, 'shades of Caddy Shack' lol. It was funny to watch a plant being chewed on from below and 'sucked' into the ground. When one considers that it was one of the more effective gopher deterrents I thought it hilarious. I digress.

We had to sell the food-generous Macaw, there were too many issues with him. In addition to his outdoor untidiness (he fed vermin and our family dog who loved the peanuts, while we were away during the day) he developed language issues while at the commercial bird sitter where we left him while vacationing. He used X-rated vocal drama he had picked up from another bird while at the bird sitter. Quite an embarrassing set of heated expressions had been learned. Trouble was, some of our neighbors some 300 yards away told everybody at a local pool party of "intimate" bedroom drama sounds in the neighborhood and we realized they were talking about our bird Bogey! We sold him to a couple that thought his vocabulary was entertaining.

We have many plants that seem impervious to pests. We have four kinds of garden pests. No. 1 worrisome enemy at present is an Aloe mite. Hundreds of Aloe in the landscape and since the ban on Cygon 2e we have had an invasion of Aloe mite. I patrol the gardens twice a week and have a treatment that will cure a new infection, but there is no general preventive from re-invasion. There are litterly thousands of Aloe in landscapes in this area and many people are not aware of the damage these Aloe mites are doing to their plants. I believe it is approaching an epidemic. Not too important in the overall scheme of things, but is a major concern for us Aloe lovers.

The last 2 years (until the recent rains) with the drought; rabbits have been another curse. They eat young aloe leaves and when very hungry will devour a good-sized plant whenever there is an absence of other greenery. So we've had to develop defenses against them. We do not wish to harm cotton-tail rabbits. And we don't. But I don't have problems with putting up defenses against their destructive habits and so we have learned a few.

Of course, gophers are still ones we have to deal with. All the dumb gophers are gone and there are some very evasive 'home boys' who do their tunneling without the tell-tale mounds. I'm on to them so it is only a matter of time till they will meet their end. I've already found an effective deterrent against this unique variant of 'submerged rat'.

Finally, the famous 'Argentine Ant' who is also the enemy of many succulents/xerophytes. It 'farms' or 'daries' mealy bugs and aphids for enslaving them for their ability to suck the soft tissue in many of the 'clear sap' desert plants. So we have developed ways of ridding ourselves of ants and that is a challenge to keep up on 1 acre of xeroidal (my word) succulent landscape. Again vigilance.

So we have sought plants that are suited to defending themselves of these predators. Aloes were among our best-suited till the Aloe mite became such a problem. Here are the plants we find most effective for landscape here.

All species and culivars of Aeoniums! We have probably 2 dozen species/cultivars in our landscape. Nothing bothers them!

Gophers won't touch them. Only a couple are bothered by rabbits during severe drought periods. Ants and mealies don't bother them and no bother from aloe mites. They just grow and look beautiful. For climates like the Canary Islands (which ours is like) Aeoniums is the most politically correct and versatile and enduring landscape bedding and background plant out there. Very very drought tolerant and we had temperatures as low as 27F last winter and sustained no damage at all.

Agaves are perfect also. Gophers don't touch them after they get a little taste of the alkaloids in the roots of agaves. There are many small and beautiful agaves under development that will be available in years to come for the smaller yard xeriscapes. Rabbits dont eat Agaves. The alkaloids disturb the athleticism of Cotton Tail. Snails, are somewhat of an issue, but they are easy to control.

Euphorbias are all but impervious. There are over 10,000 in this tribe so there is always something to suit your fancy if you are looking for the 'Dangerous Beauty' type xeroid or xerophyte to defend your landscape from gophers and squirrels.

Echeverias are not bothered too much by submerged rats or rabbits. There are several dozens of these that we use in the landscapes and beds around our gardens. Biggest threat to these are ants and their slaves.

Well this turns out to be an article. Too much Starbucks after the movie tonite!

bob :>)

Thanks Bob! I had a couple Euphorbias at my old house which I really liked, so it's good to know that those should work against the gophers. I'll have to pick up a few and add them to my current landscape!

Gophers are really my only major problem in the garden. I also have huge amounts of ants but they seemed to like my house and my hot tub better than my plants. I do have to figure out how to keep them out of the hot tub next year--I was thinking of getting some Tanglefoot or something along those lines and putting it all along the bottom of the hot tub so they won't crawl up.

E crane I had so many ants too and I was told that that is what the gophers really love so when I got rid of the ants, I stopped seeing so many gophers too.

An exterminator told me that malathion was ilegal now in California 3 years ago, if it is not than I have been missing out. You are right the smell of that is nauseating. I don't know which is worse that or the stuff to kill bores, both give me a headach and make me want to vomit.

Gophers are vegetarians, maybe they accidentally eat an ant or two in the process of munching people's plants, but they definitely aren't after them on purpose. Moles are carnivorous, I think they like grubs and things best but I suppose they'd probably eat ants too if they ran across them--maybe the person who told you that had moles and gophers mixed up?

Maybe but it is wierd that I have not seen the mounds since I got rid of the ants. The ants were almost as bad as the gophers, they suffocated all my plants, every one that I dug up that was suffereing was covered in fire ants. All I know is that a combo of things changed for the better and I pray it stays that way.

I'm glad I don't have fire ants--mine are just the pesky Argentine ones. Nasty and annoying, but at least their bites aren't horribly painful when you accidentally step in a bunch of them!

It looks like my road flare did the job. It has been a week and no new signs of activity. One of the local throw away papers had a little article on history of Centerville (now little Kabul, part of Fremont) and it mentioned " A Centerville farmer found in 1856 that it was more profitable to raise pigs than grain because of the hordes of gophers that destroyed the grain." I started digging a bit more and found the Gopher and Squirrel act, passed March 2, 1870 http://books.google.com/books?id=T9I3AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA3-PA707&lpg=RA3-PA707&dq=gopher+and+squirrel+act+passed+march+2+1870&source=web&ots=ifLPN5JFbU&sig=m7PtLgJpY3NQHXEVjEjrn6fFYMY It looks like repeal came pretty quickly - probably because they found out that throwing money at gophers was not very successful.
Maybe we can hire the guy with the big truck that sucks prairie dogs outa the ground. Watch the movie at http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9612/16/sucking.dogs/

I hope it did work, but it could just be a coincidence too. I saw some gopher activity the week before Christmas and called the exterminator but they were closed for the holidays so nobody's been out yet to do anything. But I've seen no new activity since the 21st which was the day I called the exterminator. I think they're really just starting to get going for the season, plus I've noticed that they tend to not be as active when it's rainy, but then when things dry out and get warmer again and dry out a little bit then all of a sudden they'll be back . So I'd keep an eye out for a bit longer. Hopefully it did work though!

I spoke too soon, went in the back today and saw a butt load of recent activity in my new sod. DH raked a few days ago and I said,"Why didn't you tell me we had gopher activity and he said it just didn't compute." I told him to tell me if he sees it again asap. grrrr. Went out and poisoned the area all over but didn't have my rebar so I just dug.

BTW I am sorry it is not malathion that I was told is illegal here now but diazinon. (however you spell it)

Hmmm I have tons of gopher activity again. I though they were gone but it must have been a long vaction. They are back in full force!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was able to watch one of my corn plants start to disappear into the ground but I was so hoppin mad that I pulled it back up!! (nothing left o fthe roots but I sure did feel like I won for a second or two. Mine are enough to make throw a tantrum like a 2 year old. I have had them come out of their holes and just stare me down.

I swear I saw a beady eye today when I was stuffing poison in a hole. Oh no Marie. I feel your pain. I am on vigil now watching my last remaining roses.

I have a lot of gopher activity in my garden but I don't see any damage. They just keep piling dirt around my irises and I'm always uncovering them. But there's a lot of interesting ideas here that I might try. They sure a nuisance. Do you think that because there are alot of cats in the garden, they might be keeping the boogers from doing damage? Every time I get out there to weed, I smell evidence that a cat has been there. I don't ever see dead gophers or live ones for that matter.

Hi Louise I was thinking about you today and there you be. The cats are in your favor though my neighbors have cats that get all the gophers in their yard but they live in my yard well. Last year when I shoved the fecal matter from the dogs in the holes it seemed to help ward off the boogers.

Hmmmmm, 3 dogs, lots of fecal matter!
Yeah it just looks like the gophers are enjoying making a mess of the garden but they aren't eating my plants so I guess that's good!
I've been wondering where you were too Dawn.

I have a dog and his poo has never seemed to repel the gophers. And my neighbors have three cats who roam the neighborhood all day and spend plenty of time in my yard, and that doesn't seem to deter the gophers either. But maybe I'd have more if I didn't have the cats and the dog in the yard!

OK, I heard back from the powers to be.

I sent:

>>> 12/27/2007 1:38:34 PM >>>
Hi
I just want to get a license so I can poison gophers on my own property. It gets way too expensive getting a professional out here every month. The pesticide I want to use is a restricted pesticide. Which license do I need to get?
Thanks

They replied:
on my own property, KEY WORD, my own property, restricted pesticide

You only need to obtain a qualified Certifcate, http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/app_packets/packet_qac.pdf

But you can obtain the greater qualified license if you 'd like to perform this work

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/app_packets/qal_packet_rev_01-07.pdf

License or Certificates are obtained by examination
You qualify as experienced by passing your exam
After you pass your test there are continued
education requirements you will have to meet

QL Exams

A one time Application fee of $80.00

This fee is repeated if you do not obtain a
license or certificate in testing after a years
time

You are mandatorily required to test on Laws and Regs,
the cost is $50.00

You can select up to 3 other categories at $50.00
each

Test periods are for at 3 ½ hours to 4 hours and
we normally only schedule for 240 questions,
a minute per question

You should be sure you understand what study materials
are available and from where

The applications are written in as self explanatory
manner as the department has deemed possible

But some things are still a little hard to comprehend,
you are welcome to call with questions to our phone
line, 916 445 4039, and reach our receptionist
Tell her the program you are interested in and
she will transfer you to the technician who
is better suited to give you your answers.

October thru late January are heavy periods on phone calls
because thousands are renewing their Pesticide Licenses,
we ask for your understanding in any delay or oversights.

Study materials are available at cooperative extensions
Throughout the state:

http://ucanr.org/ce.cfm

They are also listed on a pages of our applications:

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/pubs/L&R_Study_Guide_2001.pdf

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/inhouse/calcode/chapter_.htm

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/study_mat_qal.pdf



They can also be obtained thru:

Agricultural Sections
Local libraries
College Libraries


There are private agencies who keep up with our exam programs
That offer study materials and pre test cram courses

Call ask a lot of questions and make your decision
On each



Univar USA -- Home Page
http://www.univarusa.com


P And L

http://www.pesticideguides.tzo.com/gwpl/top.asp


Target Specialty Products
http://www.target-specialty.com

PAPA
http://www.papaseminars.com/seminar.html

technical learning college

http://info@tlch2o.com/Pesticide_Courses.htm

You can qownload a 134 page Laws book:

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/pubs/L&R_Study_Guide_2001.pdf

Or you can order one from our Cashier Department:


DPR/Cashier
1001 I Street
Sacramento CA 95814

Make check, cashier's check or money order to:

DPR/Cashier

You can also download a credit form off of our web site:

Under Miscellaneous:

Visa/Mastercard Transaction

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/lcforms.htm


Here is the link, http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/lcforms.htm
Scroll dowm to Miscellaneous then
view VISA/MASTERCARD TRANSCATION FORM
please complete this entirely, check your account
digits and expiration date and be sure to sign and date

>>> LicenseMail 1/2/2008 11:04 AM >>>
Please respond and when complete cc LicenseMail