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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Thanks for the information, it was very thorough. I have found a great new “green” solution that would be perfect for your site. It is made of a starch, and it fills the burrows and tunnels up with the stuff without harming anyone or anything. No gloves, traps, poisons or other tools necessary, just the product, a gopher hole and a water hose.
Very cool, very green, and it works like a charm! Check it out on the web at http://www.gophergoo.com, you will LOVE it like everyone who uses it. It is SO easy and satisfying to fill the holes with something GOOD for the garden, and save the plants! Just pour it into the hole and add water, it expands and fills even deep burrows. It would be great to get it on your site, let me know what you think and we can get you some to try.
Agan, thanks for the great information on these destructive beasts!
Dr. Heather Vallier