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Texas Gardening

Need advice about Gophers

17 years ago

How can I rid myself of the Gophers? Had 2- 17 year old Pines, 12 Crepe Myrtles several Cape Honeysuckle. Not to mention a bunch of other things, like Crinum's, Lilac, Bottlebrush and so on.The worst was the Roses my late DH had planted for me.. Within the last year they have eaten all the roots of everything and killed it.

Is there any help to get rid of this ugly varmints. I have tried Pellets, Gum, Shotgun,Cat and whatever else I could think of.. Need Help. I live between San Antonio and Floresville in the wide open country.Good Dirt.

Thanks,

Trudy

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Comments (8)

jolanaweb
17 years ago
Trudy as horrible as this is going to seen to some people...they only way I have fund os trapping.
Ltcollins, she is a member here lives down south on the coast and has them. She uses some kind of motion thing that I believe makes a vibration or sound underground.
We tried it and didn't work.
Maybe a city lot it would not not acreage, at least here.
Good luck, I really despise gophers.
jolana
mskeetpod
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks Jolana, I have tried Windmills designed to vibrate in the ground. They gave out before the darn Gophers did. They are getting worse . Used to have a Peanut field next to me, but not in the last 3 years. I guess they eat anything just to survive now.
I just don't plant anything outside anymore just Cactus.. Got into Orchids I can keep them inside.
Trudy
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This came from Kaye in Arkansas, and has worked well for me for many years. I buy a roll of hardware cloth that is 1/2" squares. We cut a section that is 12" tall and 4 feet long. Set it into the hole so that an inch or two are out of the ground. My big mistake has been to be careless putting in the soil. If you do not water it down first, after a year or so, your rose will sink. Digging out a foot of soil is a chore, and packing it in can tend to be a careless procedure. Kaye mentioned not too long ago that you should plant the rose a little high in anticipation of it sinking a little. I don't like poison. We have a creek behind our house, and the critters have found my garden. We will always have them, and I don't mind trapping them or killing them outright, but poisons bother me. My first venture with the hardware cloth was to try to put it around the entire bed. What a mistake! Critters can easily step over it, and go right back underground. The four feet length in a circle seems to work well One warning is to watch your roses carefully to be sure they do not rub the top of the wires. If that happens, the wound can become a canker, and then you may have to cut a beautiful long branch. Sammy
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I have used the same traps for years, sometimes with a little fur stuck on them :) I think the rusty old ones are actually better than the new ones... probably have less odor from paint etc. I ordered 2 cinch traps years ago, they work very well and are very durable, but are fairly large so you need to have a big tunnel to use them, also the distance from the trigger to the business parts is fairly long so they can 'miss' a small gopher. The Macbee type trap may pierce the carcass, but it's not dripping blood or anything...sometimes it just barely catches the gopher and it's still very alive but caught...a shovel is the best cure for this problem. I put the gopher and trap into a plastic bag, then remove the gopher from 'outside' so I don't have gopher-human contact. In tough cases I use pliers to hold the trap open... then you can tie the bag shut and 'bin it'.
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Just spied a gopher perusing my garden! I plant everything in plastic and terracotta containers. I have a couple of fabric containers with potatoes in them, as well. Should I be worried about the gophers getting my plants? (Do I need to buy some wire mesh to protect them?)
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kentuck_8b
17 years ago
The Castor Plant is supposed to repell gophers, among other rodents. However, all of the plant is poisonous.

I have heard of people spraying castor oil over their lawn to keep them away, but I do not know the correct concentration.

I do know that no gophers have ever dug even close to where I grow castor bean plants, and armadillos don't dig near them either, but that may just be a coincidence.

Kt
justintx
17 years ago
I guess dynamite is out, huh?

I used some traps years ago to catch gophers for a mammology class in college. You dig down to their horizontal hole and place them in the tunnel. When they try to re-fill the opening (they can feel the pressure change), they get nailed. Not for the squeamish.
jolanaweb
17 years ago
Castor Plants, castor oil, used catlitter, gum, etc, etc
Just traps, if someone would invent a robotic snake that would be cool, lol
Sometimes even if the trap is fully in the tunnel they can throw dirt over it and not get caught.
Dig the area out to see the hole, place the set trap in the tunnel cover the area with black plactic and a small piece of plywood over that. You will catch them.
Since I started using the plastic and wood, I never miss
Good luck
Oh, for special plants you can buy wire mesh to go aroound the hole and on the bottom. The roots are still able to grow but they can't eat enough to kill it
There are plants that gophers here haven't touched. They don't seem to go for anything that smells, herbs, wormwood, salvia's, etc
jolana
blubelle
17 years ago
Well I have a dog that digs them up and kills them..I could loan her to you...LOL jokin' she drags them out of their hole...I was quite shocked the first time I saw her do it.
jolanaweb
17 years ago
Blubelle, what kind of dog do you have? Quite a few people have told us to get a rat terrier, jack russel, dachshund, lol
DH said NO!!!
No more dogs, lol
So I guess, I'll just keep the traps handy
jolana
mskeetpod
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks to all, My dog will not go and dig.Guess I feed Her to well.
I will try to find me a small Rat Terrier.Or maybe I can borrow bluebelle's dog.
Trudy

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