Traps AND poison.

I find the tunnel, take two traps(with gloves on), smear with a bit of carrot. But before I place the traps in the tunnel, I put some gopher pellets(poison) in the hole. Then I squeeze the traps back as far in the tunnel as possible, attaching some wire to the trap on one end and a rebar stake on the other. Then I carefully put a rock, brick, broken terra cotta piece, to plug the whole a bit so when I shovel the soil back, it doesn't trip the trap. Cover completely with soil and stick the rebar stakes in the ground.

The reason I use both traps AND poison is because they're pretty crafty and will shovel dirt back onto the trap and trip it. I'm hoping they can't resist the poison before they reach the trap.

Seems to work for me. Sometimes it takes a few times, but by mid spring, I rid at least that area of them. I have better success than my cats, but that's probably because i don't let them stay out all night because of the coyotes.

Kevin

1) turn your car on
2) stick tube to car funnel
3) stick send of tube into gopher hole
4) kill gophers with carbon monoxide

In our old home they actually had condos.
We both used a rife pellet gun or these little green spongy gopher poisons that the golf courses use.

@woohooman

Thank you!

Yeah, I kinda know about "wearing gloves" thing. Guess they know our scents now and getting smarter.

What kind of poison you use? Is it safe to use on vegetable beds?

@GARDEN_101

Thank you! We don't have an exhaust hose though or any pipe that could withstand the heat.

@campv

Indeed, we actually think they have this organized tunnel system under our vegetable garden. Getting really frustrating. Btw, that golf course poison seems interesting but wonder if this poisons are safe to use in the garden. Thank you!

Just the pellets in a canister at Home Depot... Amdro.

Yeah. they're safe. I, myself, wouldn't eat them or leave a pile for the dogs/cats. But they're in the tunnel and after a few days in a moist tunnel, they just dissolve into the soil a foot down. Not to mention that wherever you're digging, they probably already ruined THOSE plants above.

Kevin

So? What harm are they doing?

If they are under a vegetable garden then produce should be dragged down into them? If they are there and you do year round gardening in that bed then pull all the soil out and line the bottom with 1/2" hardware cloth. If you have a dormant period then wait until then.

The car idea won't work with any kind of vehicle made in the past 30 years as the exhaust contains virtually nothing but water and carbon dioxide. You can't commit suicide on it.

That said as has been said the only proven methods for home owners are traps and poison bait both need be placed within their tunnels. Some commercial elimination methods are far more entertaining.

Still, back to my first question, what harm do they do? They seem prolific diggers tilling up my soil from below so the sun doesn't hit it allowing good water infiltration. My trees seem to like them. The only problem I see is vegetable gardens which are easily handled with mechanical barriers. I kind of laugh when I see a disturbed part in my wood chip layer wondering what the poor gopher must think coming up and having wood chips pour into the opening.

This post was edited by Fascist_Nation on Fri, Jul 4, 14 at 12:03