Brugs vs Gophers

I have my brugs growing in pots so far. I'd love to try one in the ground because I have lots of land and great soil. The gophers are outrageous this year and have eaten two bananas, four rose bushes and many more plants. I guess the folks who lived here before me had four outside cats who kept the gophers at bay, but my poor Lionel boy kitty, though he loves to stalk them, just isn't fast enough to catch them......and they know it. So they've gone pretty much crazy. OK, here's my question. Brugs seem to be pretty poisonous. Does anyone know if the gophers will leave them alone if I put them in the ground?

When we lived in TN, the voles ate everything except brugmansia and daffodils. I never lost a brug to the voles(they're these itty bitty mouse like critters that make tunnels underground and eat the roots of everything). Thankfully we do not have them here!

Are you sure? When Lucky had outdoor privileges, he sure brought in a lot of half gutted voles as gifts. Those privileges ended when he brought in a baby water moccasin.

Well, I'm hoping they won't fall prey to those darn things..... I had a real hard season last year: lost a bunch of stuff. I was hoping to put a couple of brugs in the ground this year (my first brug year). Any other experiences??


Sanna

Sanna, late last summer, 1 very large green caterpillar ate all the leaves off a bushy 3 foot Brug. At first, I though the partially eaten lower leaves had been eaten by grasshoppers. When I went out to water two or three days later, all that poor Brug had were the stem stubs and a few small leaves at the tips.
Veronica

Veronica, I haven't seen any damage and the cats haven't brought any in. Could I interest anyone in a lonely armadillo or a momma javalina and her babies???? The armadillo isn't too bad, he just digs for grubs and such, but the javalina has made a mess of my ginger bed!

Susie,
Armadillos are kind of cute especially when mama is followed by 4 little ones. A smallish hole here and there isn't too bad until the yard begins to look like it was strafed by machine gun fire. I'll trade you a wild hog or two for the javalina. Hogs churn the top 2 or 3 inches of sod and leave large patches of upturned grass. Every few years, a neighbor organizes a hog hunt that covers about 1,500 acres, but within a few months, the hogs are back.

No thank you on the hogs! I saw what they did to Frannie's pasture. It looked like someone had been out there with a plow. The javalinas are more of a nuisance than anything. They root around in the flowerbeds and uproot stuff and if I don't catch it the next morning, it wilts. I just wish they wouldn't eat my gingers!
I will have to watch for the armadillo to see if it has babies. It sleeps under my neighbor's boat.(a little rowboat, propped up against the fence)