Gopher problem - looking for solutions

[Brian Tymchak]

Well, now that I spent time and money to create a nice butterfly garden, a gopher has taken up residence right in the middle of it. I've tried filling holes, flooding burrows, strong language :(, but still have a problem.

So, I query the great wisdom and experience of the collective. Does anyone have a tried and true remedy? Prefer not to trap or kill. Do any of the repellents work or the sonic gadgets?

Appreciate your advice.

Thanks!

[Mike Kees]

Where there is one there will soon be more. The only sure way to get rid of your problem is to end his days on this earth..

[Brian Elfert]

You're going to have a hard time getting rid of them if killing or trapping is not an option. I have a lot of gopher problems, but I pay a guy $25 per gopher he traps. The traps are like a mouse trap in that they kill the gopher. I average $250 to $300 a year with him to get rid of gophers and moles.

I really should just buy some traps and do it myself, but finding the tunnels inside the hills is a bit of a black art.

[Jerome Stanek]

If you can find the holes you could use Giant Destroyer smoke bombs

https://www.ruralking.com/the-giant-destroyer-poison-gas-mole-killer-333?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=shopping&utm_content=64900010&gclid=CjwKCAjwlZf3BRABEiwA8Q0qq_fiEFLpDh0ZQYvjU4em 4Oaf36F0B6mpu08aE8bdcJRULfRMj9vB6xoChtsQAvD_BwE

[Larry Frank]

When you say gophers, exactly what are you talking about. I have seen people call gophers everything from moles, ground squirrels and ground hogs.

I have striped ground squirrels tearing up my beds and plants but I use baited traps and get 20 or more a year. If you do not want to trap or kill, I think you are out of luck.

I have put out a lot of plants for butterflies and hummingbirds. One plant the animals not bother is milkweed. I grow several plots of it for the Monarchs.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Brian,

Unless you have a good dog or cat that loves hunting gophers, you are not likely to be successful without trapping or killing. My wife uses the black traps that go in the tunnel and are spring activated. She is good at catching them but i have to dump the dead body. We have put lots of the gassers (and road flares) into holes with limited results; the next morning we find several of the cheeky bastards have spit the empty paper tube/cannister back out of the hole. Assume that is the gopher equivalent of thumbing its nose at us.

We have tried the solar sonic buzzers in the garden, and i know they are buzzing because i can hear them, yet we have had gopher holes pop up within a foot or two of the buzzer. Won't be trying any more of those.

Kind and honorable thought about trying to chase them away without killing, but at end of day you will have many more new ones joining the party. Sorry i cant give you better news.

[roger wiegand]

Coyotes can be quite effective if you can attract a small pack.

[Jason Ost]

set some gopher traps, when you set them spray them with WD-40 and wear gloves when you set them.

[Brian Tymchak]

Thanks for the responses. Seems almost unanimous to trap/kill. Ok. Let me rethink this.

Larry asked if I was sure its a gopher. Have never seen the animal but the holes seem larger than those we have for the chipmunks. Hence my conclusion I have a gopher. Also, this bed is designed to support Monarch lifecycle, so it has various plants blooming into the Fall Plenty of milkweed in the middle, which is just now blooming. It's a lot prettier than I thought it would be. But it is one of the 3 plants that have nearly been destroyed. The others are a daisy and an aster.

Patrick, appreciate the first hand experience with the sonic buzzers. I was skeptical that they really worked.

Roger, we used to have a pack of coyotes in the neighborhood..but haven't heard them in a couple years. Probably a good thing with all the dog walkers around.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Ask Carl Spackler

[Michael J Evans]

I have heard of people hooking up high temp hose to the exhaust of (your vehicle of choice or generator) and gassing the hole den. Actually I had a customer who built some type of machine just for it.

[Larry Frank]

I use Intruder brand rodent traps with peanut butter and bird seed. One year I got close to 40 ground squirrels. I also drilled a hole and wire the traps to a stake.

You can try putting 1/2" mesh on the ground around the plants. I do this with some planters and it helps.

I have had good luck with Monarchs and capture almost all Monarch caterpillars and raise them in cages. I get 95% to butterflies this way where if left out in the wild only a small percentage make it.

[Brian Tymchak]

I have had good luck with Monarchs and capture almost all Monarch caterpillars and raise them in cages. I get 95% to butterflies this way where if left out in the wild only a small percentage make it.

Oh boy, you are really into it! I thought about putting up some mesh or screen around and over the milkweed when I see eggs on the leaves, just to keep the birds away, but not much more than that, at least for now.

[Tom M King]

Rodenator


Google " Rodenator youtube"

[Ken Barney]

Rodenator

Google " Rodenator youtube"

Heck, I don't have gophers but I still want one of these things!!

-Ken

[Larry Frank]

Monarch eggs and caterpillars are attacked by all kinds of things including insects and wasps. We have really enjoyed the monarchs. We get them to form a Chrysalis and then give them away to people with kids to enjoy them coming out and flying away.

[Brice Rogers]

I have tried the following along with my guestimate of how well they worked:
1. Urinate in gopher hole - 3 or 4
2. Empty cat's sandbox in gopher hole - 4
3. Expensive smoke bombs - 2 if using only one and maybe 3 if using 2 or 3 at the same time.
4. Auto road emergency flares - 5
6. Macabee gopher traps -4
7. Garden hose - 3 or 4
8. Gopher Hawk trap (I got one 2 days ago and got the first gopher in less than 24 hours. - So, I'm giving this one an 8 plus (but I'll need to do more testing). One of my neighbors bragged that he is "7 for 8" attempts. He swears by these traps. That is why I bought a pair. (BTW, you need at least one "kit" - - don't get the trap only for your first one. The probe and the "dibble" are worth the extra $6), They are made in the USA and either there is a huge demand for them or the company is production limited (or both). There are a lot of places that carry them but they are reporting that they are out of stock. I found a local Ace hardware and called before driving down. They had received a case of 24 in the morning and were down to perhaps 8 left by 2 pm. They were the only company I found in the area that had them. The mfr. isn't taking internet orders right now, but I was told by a friend that if you call the mfrs number and talk to them, they will take your order as long as it is for only 1 or 2 units.

On all but #6 and #8, I would find that the gopher would seem to disappear for a week or two or three and then return. So, I never knew if the technique worked and other gophers returned or if the gophers just left for a while and returned. But on #6 and #8 I had proof that I had got the little critter.

[Bill Dufour]

My neighbor claims that burying oranges will chase them off. I gave her a bucket of old oranges and she put them in the holes in her front yard. I see no reduction in activity. I have heard of chewing gum killing them.
I suppose a gopher snake will help.
Bil lD

[Mike Kees]

In Rural Alberta the favorite way to deal with Gophers is a .22. My favorite way is my compound bow. My nieghbor farms a quarter section right across the street from my house that now has an irrigation pivot on it. This year the gopher population destroyed half of the crop seeded. They had to apply for a permit to poison gohpers before reseeding the Quarter. I have permission to "hunt" gophers whenever I want.

[Brice Rogers]

Mike Kees, while it may be fun to shoot gophers, I suspect that my gophers are above ground (shoot-able) perhaps 2 or 3 minutes a day or night. In fact, in my entire life I've only seen gophers sticking their heads up twice. Ground squirrels, and prairie dogs may stay above ground for a bit longer.

[Mike Kees]

What you guys call "gophers" must be different than what we call gophers... Ours are definitely diggers that live underground but spend a lot of time above ground and visible. Maybe what we have are along the lines of what you call prairie dogs ? Gophers here are the absolute bottom rung of the food chain,everything eats them. (cats,seagulls,hawks, foxes,coyotes etc. yet they still remain. They are prolific breeders producing litters of 8-10 per pair (of which maybe 1-2 live till the next year).And yes it is fun to shoot them.:D