The other day a friend of mine, John, sent me an email about his gopher problem. He has lots of gophers that are starting a community in his backyard. Apparently it is becoming a serious problem. He is worried that is he starts redoing is garden then he will be simply feeding the gophers and giving them exactly what they want. So he wants to control his gopher problem as soon as possible.

Well there are so many ways to go about handling your gopher problem. When I was a kid we used to help out around church and the lawn had a gopher infestation and we would get long hoses and fill the gopher tunnels with water. Then we would wait til they came up and chop of their heads with the shovels. And if you have a summer available then this method will work for you. I spent a day with john doing this and it does work. But it does not really work all that well. It is not something that most people have time or patience for.

Most people really dont have the time to deal with pest problems generally and specifically this is true of gopher control. So what to do? Well in most cases with people dealing with gophers in their yards, you need to call a gopher exterminator. This is the most sensible option. Getting rid of rodents when you have a serious infestation is a lot of work. It takes a bit of experience to know how they live, how they move, what they want etc. So in most cases it is best to get a gopher exterminator.

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How to identify gophers?
One can easily identify gophers, which have long and hard front teeth, tiny ears, small eyes and short tails. The gophers have soft brown fur and have four legs. The size varies from 5 to 10 inches long. In United States you can find more than 100 types of this rodent.

When do you call an exterminator or go the do it yourself route?

The biggest factor is time. If you have the time to research the methods, buy the tools, implement them correctly and clean up afterwards then the only reason you would call an exterminator is if you failed to eradicate the rodent presence. It really is that simple. Also, there is the issue of scope: the larger the area affected by gophers or voles or moles the longer it will take to exterminate them.

Another factor is money: if you can’t afford a professional gopher exterminator then you have no choice but to attempt to use the baits and traps that are available at your local hardware store. These are less expensive options but will take more time and require you to learn and test and relearn how to use the tools. If you go with an exterminator then this is all done for you of course.

For business owners and home owners with big open spaces, I would recommend hiring a gopher exterminator. Whether you have moles, voles, gophers, or any other rodent causing problems professional help can really make the difference between a quick resolution of the problem or a drawn out battle.

The first time you twisted you ankle in a gopher hole, you learned that gophers, these real rodent pests, can be dangerous and make your yard look crappy especially in the bay area, san jose, gilroy, santa clara palo alto, menlo park, and other south bay area towns and cities in california. Also, these pesky gopher rodents cause problems for the foundation of homes and other kinds of structures. So, it is very important to be on top of these pesky gopher rodents and the rodent-related issues as part of your regular lawn management schedule.

Getting Rid of gophers in your lawn.

Generally, you are able to identify the existence of gophers living in your lawn by the large holes begin to appear which are dugg by the pesky gophers because they provide access to their burrows. Generally these are open holes that are really easy to point out or fall into if you are not careful. Unfortunately, seeing a gopher hole does not mean there is a gopher there at the time you locate it. Gophers do abandon their burrows from time to time, so disturb the ground as little as possible when setting traps. Generally, lethal traps found at your local lawn and garden retail outlet are fairly effective in terms of getting rid of gopher rodents, but be careful around area where children and pets like to play. You don’t want to injure a child just to get rid of gophers.

Of all the different gopher pest control methods the one that most people will use will be the bait and trap method. The reason for this is that most people like to try things on their own before hiring someone else and this method is easy to understand and simple to implement, though many people will use this method and just waste their time and money. So when should you use this method?

1. First, if you have a limited gopher infestation, maybe one or two gophers, then using bait and traps may be effective. It may take a week or so but you should be able to get the gophers one at a time and dispose of them as you need.
2. Second, if the gopher infestation is in a limited area, like your front lawn or backyard garden then this might be a good method to use. The bait and traps can only be effective in a limited area if you plan on doing this yourself.

Most people will be looking to save money rather than getting rid of the problem. There are many companies that will sell you all kinds of equipment to install bait and traps but you should be wary of these different products. Many are designed to be used by professionals. They can also be expensive.The other thing to consider is that gopher infestations are rarely confined to a small area. The tunnel systems gophers create can be vast. They can stretch for a whole block of homes. In this case, as it often is, you need to seek professional help.

Gophers can be a huge problem for property owners, home owners, farmers and property managers because they eat plant life, they can eat away the root system of a tree, and can leave holes all over a lawn. What can be done to get rid of these rodent pests?

There are a range of methods that can be employed to manage the gophers in your life. One simple way is to use bait and traps. It’s an age old method for dealing with rodents. Get their attention with the bait, lure them into a trap then displace or dispose of the gopher. It is fairly effective. It is also time consuming. This is not an overnight solution. Also, dealing with the rodents can be unpleasant. But depending on your budget and time constraints this may be a great way to deal with gophers. Though if you have a large problem, I would recommend exploring other options. One home owner in Los Angeles and another in Fresno reported that had they realized how long it would take to get rid of gophers themselves then they would have hired a professional to take care of the gophers.

With gopher pest management the key thing to remember is that patience and persistence is the key. And especially with this method you will need to take the time to put the traps in the right places and pick the right bait. There are so many different kinds of bait out there. Pick bait that is well reviewed and recommended. You may have to try a couple different ones out, but generally if you get a commercially produced bait product you should be fine.

For more information about what gophers are, how they live see this article about Pocket Gophers.

Pocket gophers are rodents, medium to small in size, which burrow, spending 99% of their lifespan in underground tunnels and nests. Gophers have external fur-lined cheek pouches located on the outside of their mouths in which they store food which is brought to the nest in order to feed their young. There are many different species of pocket gophers in North America.  They are powerful diggers, have front paws with large claws which make them the enemy of many home owners with well manicured lawns. The pocket gopher is well adapted for digging and burrowing because they mostly live underground, and when overpopulated, one of the most difficult to control.

Pocket gophers eat roots of grass, forbs, shrubs, and even someitmes small trees. They can be very destructive for forest plantations. Actually, every year the US Forestry Service contract out work to manage pocket gophers in order to safeguard newly planted tree seedlings. These animals are herbivores, loving to eat all manner of plants in yards, lawns, gardens, and flowerbeds. The burrow systems gophers dig are multi-branched and individuals tend to be territorial. During studies in California, practiced with radio collars on gophers, some gophers moved 200-300 ft per night. Just one single pocket gopher may dig over 250 soil mounds in a year, moving 4 tons of soil within a few weeks of work. Burrows constalty change and evolve, with some tunnels sealed off and new ones created. How many feet of tunnels are created? No one can really say but gophers cause serious damage for property owners.

Pocket gophers work year round, during the winter, the summer, even during heavy snow fall. In alfalfa fields, gophers are often watched feeding above ground. Generally, gophers cruise along their tunnel systems and eat roots from plants growing  directly above the tunnels. An simple way to figure out if a pocket gopher occupies a tunnel system is to simply dig open the tunnel. If gophers are active then they will fill in that hole, in this case, you have gophers.

Gophers are one of the most difficult to manage in the U.S. EPA approved baits and traps are generally used to reduce potential impact gophers may have on the environment. Some baits include active ingredients like strychnine, diphacinone, chlorophacinone, and zinc phosphide. Fumigants in tablets or ignited cartridges are good ways to manage pocket gophers. However, because of the length of the tunnel systems, such fumigants may not be very effective.