As Monarda suggested, maybe the gophers will go back to the vineyard, and develop a taste for grape vine roots, or get drunk from eating fermented winery waste. Drunk gophers--I can just envision them staggering around and totally forgetting how to tunnel. Easy pickens for coyotes. Diane

We do have coyotes howling, maybe there is hope.

Coyotes like gophers, rabbits, and quail around here--and sadly kitties and small dogs, too. Diane

Or maybe you could start a “gopfer farm? Raise them for pets? Build a green house for plants you want to keep and enjoy the gophers on the rest of your pro?

Or You could have a wild life preserve? Snakes,gophers, coyotes , badgers , hawks, owls, maybe a cougar, included? Charge a fee for people to see the animals. Have a little train to ride on around your property and look at the animals? Sell popcorn, lemonade and baked goods as treats! Fun!

Another idea, change the landscaping. Remove what you have as mentioned before. Gravel/ or cement areas you’d like to garden. And build above ground beds on top of gravel/cement?

This makes my day, Kitty! Let's hope I don't get there.

😊

I love Kitty's ideas, but would add one feature--giant gopher wheels gophers could go round and round on for peoples' viewing pleasure--The Gopher Wheel! Diane

Update: a baby gopher snake slithered through my yard on Saturday! I got video, but don't think I can load it here.

Congrats on your gopher hawk success!

I put Milorganite on some S fence roses today because NPR said it might help. Congrats on your snake, Deborah.

You are right Diane, a Gopher Wheel would be a nice touch. Maybe add a shooting range where shooters could shoot at the Gopher Wheel for additional interest in getting everyone involved.

I do hope not to be hauled off to jail or the funny farm though.

Oh, I love the idea of a shooting range. As the horrid gophers whizz by, everyone takes potshots. Of course, you would charge for this fun game. Give prizes, too, like a pound of milorganite. I think you are perfectly sane. It's the gophers that are wacko. Diane

Oh you guys!!! LOL And, Deborah, way to go on finding a baby gopher snake!

Great ideas, peeps. I was thinking, about attracting badgers: you could put out a big sign on your front lawn advertising "All-U-Can eat buffet here at Sheila's! Gophers are Our Specialty!"

Hi, Sheila,

I sent this yesterday but it didn’t send Trying again....

Try this product Kaput. It has had great results in getting rid Id 100 goofers say reviews. Exterminator services use it. It is excellent! This it it! Your remedy! No need for all new landscaping!

sprinkle couple spoons of granules in hole and damaged root areas and see gophers disappear in a week. Repeat for several weeks for permanent results. Woohoo! No need for badgers, cougars, hawks, snakes!!

That looks great, Kitty, except I have a small dog, Jackie. She might have to step it up if I can't poison because of her.

I think Kaput is the same as Go Die. It's pretty lethal, and I believe strychnine is the active ingredient. Serious stuff, but the reviews were the best of any bait/poison. I'm not sure it can be used in California. I think I'll do some digging on these products. Diane

Kaput-D contains diphacinone, which is a new generation anti-coagulent that, unlike warfarin, is highly toxic to even touch, let alone ingest. That would be for any mammal, including humans, cats, dogs, etc. These types of poisons are also highly susceptible to poisoning unintended targets, such as birds and animals who find and scavenge the dead rodent and thus ingest a dose of the poison themselves and die. From an ecological perspective, these are the worst way to deal with rodents, because of harm to wildlife; it is also heartbreaking for families whose kitty or pup gets poisoned this way. Far better to avoid poisons altogether and either rely on predators (my old calico cat Ollie was a gopher-catching champion) or safely-situated traps -- go for a clean, direct kill.

Or, there is what was my grandmother's method, which was to wait nearby in a captain's chair and blast the gopher with a shotgun when it poked its head out. This, of course, wouldn't be feasible in a suburban setting, but it worked fine at her homesteaded ranch out in the middle of nowhere.

Your grandmother's method still works today. My gardening friend and her hunting husband live in the country, and he has dispatched gophers as you describe, as well as a squirrel who wouldn't leave her bird feeder alone. He cracked the back door slightly open, took aim, and no more squirrel. I'd like to borrow him for a squirrel who is still trying to raid my squirrel proof feeder, and in the process, scares all the birds away. diane

Oh, my. I am sorry the Kaput seems not safe to use. I think having a natural animal reserve is a better idea-let them all live.😊

Hi, Sheila,

I have your most human solution. it’s sort of tge way I garden now.

You have lots of land to choose to have for gardening, wild life and your dog. I would choose my prime rose garden area on the property and fence it off. Then I would choose a separate dog fenced off area and leave the rest wild or whatever you choose to do with it

.

Then I would dig up the landscaping as I mentioned before in the rose gsrden , pot all roses-plants to keep and wait a period to see that all gofers leave. I would make sure that area had all plants, grass killed so there would be nothing to eat for gophers. I would plant new grass and replace roses/plants in about a few weeks when I was sure gophers were gone maybe in above ground beds. During this time your dog could enjoy your other “dog fenced in yard.”

Afterwards I would put up the “solar sonic stakes” that you can purchase that resonate a sound gophers don’t like to hear so that gophers will stay away from the rose garden And dog yard. You could use the granules (whatt ever poison you prefer or not needed as you have sonic stakes) in the rose garden but then for that period you would keep your dog away in the dog yard. Afterwards continue to use sonic stakes to keep gophers away.

If you can’t fence off the garden from the dog yard you can choose to keep the dog on leash during the process of digging up the rose garden. You can walk the dog on leash or put him on a long leash to play and do his business in a dog yard separate area from the rose gardens.

I have a 11,000 Sq ft property and I don’t have fencing that encloses my yards yet.. I have only 2 side fences. I have to walk my dog on leash whenever outside and I walk her to the dog Yard portion and that is where I let her play and a spot where I let her go potty. She know exactly where her dog areas are located. Dogs can ruin your landscaping anyway so I have always felt it is good to give her a separate yard area. I read about training the dog to do her business in one spot of the yard and it is very easy to do.

I pick 2 spots for her to do her business and rotate them... reseed grass once in a while. Just walk her on leash to where you want her to go and don’t let her play until after she does her business. Take her outside 3-4-5 times a day after meals when she needs to go and walk her to the spot you want her to do her business, point and say “go potty, ect.” Wait until she does and praise her afterwards. That is her dog yard area and she gets to play in the rest of that area on leash.

A word about the solar sonic stakes. I have read they are effective. Photo below. You may research to find the best brand. I have seen white sonic stakes, too. It says sonic sound travels through the ground and cannot be heard above the ground by people or your dog/cat.

Clean Air Gardenibg Solar Repellent for Gohers (sonic stakes)

Best Wishes!

THE TITLE ITSELF gave me the chuckles.

I laid down a perimeter treatment of termidor....insecticide.

My spring WOES are ants coming into the house right on the cuff where they wake up after a cold winter.

I never used to have this issue but something changed. I dunno if it's global warming. For the last few years, they have been coming in like clockwork this time of the year.

The only difference was last March. Maybe they were in Quarantine as well. I have zero idea why. It was a mild winter and I did do a perimeter spray probably Mid February since there was zero snow on the perimeter. I just did it now once the snow melted. Maybe the key is perimeter spray ASAP in February.

A1an,

Sorry about the ants. Next they tumble into the kitchen.... good to find the best way to keep them away from home. I have found just spraying soapy water reduces insects in gardens a little. I spray a little dish soap/water solution sometimes weekly next to home In beds.

Happy Spring Gardening!

I know exactly what you need...dachshunds. They love to hunt for voles, gophers, etc. they dig right into their tunnel.

Sheila, if you want vole hunters, you want to have cats. They don't dig, but watch at the holes' entrances, and pounce effectively when the prey is seen. I know because I see the bodies often, though our cats are out only for limited time periods. There is nothing like being down on hands and knees doing clean up and coming face to face with a dead vole, just inches away. Diane

Thank you to both of you, Teri and Diane! I love dachshunds and we do have feral and neighbor cats. I'm allergic to cats indoors, although I had them as a child and love them. We currently have 2 dogs although one is a super Senior. We'll have to prioritize gopher catching on any new pet's job description. In the meantime, my husband ordered these.

Gopher Hawks are great!

Those are nasty looking things--like a lethal truncheon of some kind. Diane

I have a friend in AZ who has Jack Russell Terriers. They hunt every kind of little critter. Mice, Birds, gophers, Palo Verde Beetles, giant roaches etc. They bring them into the house for their owners, even taking them up into her bed! (yikes)! I will not get one of those dogs because of it LoL!

No roaches in my bed and Palo Verde Beetles look like the epitome of evil! I will stick with my Key West hens. At least, they rip the giant roaches apart and eat them instead of bringing them inside.

The GHs are medieval torture, but it is quick, Diane.

Hi, Sheila,

Wow! So many ways to remove gophers. I looked up gopher hawks...they work-oh, my goodnes! I guess you need a little grave yard for them. I will start working on a eulogy for the funeral service. Bye bye gophers.

Congrats! You will have your land back soon.

Sheila, I honestly don't think those GHs are a torture-the animals die so fast that they don't even know what hit them. I did a lot of research during my badger invasion; one person on a forum told me that the so-called "humane" approach of trapping a wild animal live and the "re-locating" it is actually much, much crueler than killing them out-right. At first, I felt angry, but I did investigate the matter on-line and she/ he was right-a lot of research has been done on the subject and it reveals that trapping and re-locating is basically condemning the poor critter to a long, slow death . The experience of being trapped is so tremendously awful for a wild creature that it leaves them physically and emotionally completely debilitated, so in the new location they can't fend for themselves. If they don't die just from that,in any case, they don't know where to find water and food in the new location, plus the native population of animals does NOT accept them (competition for resources) and will gang up on the new-comer. It does ring true to me ; consider the horror stories of animals caught in traditional , non-"humane" traps, that out of desperation to escape will literally chew off their own paw. Well, they don't do that out of pain caused by the trap,obviously, since chewing off one's own foot would hurt WAY more,so it's clear that they do it to escape a trap. So these "humane" traps are just to make the people feel better and virtuous.The GHs are much, much kinder.

Thank you Bart for your kindness.

Sultry - love your hens!!! So cool that they will eat all kinds of bugs!

Diane - dead vole inches away from your face. Yeesh! :) I can hear the screaming from here!!

I don't even know what the Gopher Hawks do....but, I agree, I've read that too about relocating animals.

No screaming, Carol, just grumbling. Then I found a dead mouse a couple of feet down the bed after the vole. And last, I get to clean them up. I use a shovel and toss the bodies down the hill. This has been going on for years around here. Oh, and sometimes there's a body on the mat outside the back door, which is easy to step on if you're not watching. The worst was when I was down on my hands and knees checking vole tunnels in a bed. I got back up, stepping backwards, and came down hard on a dead vole. I was so happy I had shoes on. You can't imagine the feeling of squishing down like that. Ick. Diane

There is nothing like being down on hands and knees doing clean up and coming face to face with a dead vole, just inches away. Diane

My cat Ollie would eat everything but the head, which she would carry to, and deposit in, some potted plant -- don't ask me why. I would find them while watering the plants.

Diane,

I know the solution to your dilemma. I saw a movie where a pack of wolves ate mice all winter. You need a pack of wolves. They will clean up the mice and voles in your yard so no more freak discoveries. Yikes! Wolves are just big dogs. Lol!

Kitty, I have two cats that do the killing, but they are so fat and well fed that once their prey is dead, the fun factor is gone. At that point, the cats just walk by the bodies like the voles and mice were uninteresting rocks or something. I don't know what animals around here are interested in eating something already dead. Hawks, badgers, coyotes, cougars, bobcats, and foxes seem to want to catch something that's living, not feast on carrion. I suppose it would depend on how hungry the predator was. I'd rather do the cleanup than have a pack of wolves around--egad! They'd eat me. Diane

Diane,

Oh I guess my pack of wolves won’t work. 😭 oh, well.... Lol! Sounds like your kitties are having a good time. If you change your mind... maybe we can find some “really hungry wolves, afterall!” You know... really pretty ones with blue eyes... some are white and sooooo beautiful! I just love them in the movies! 😊 Wolves in the Artic really need food. Maybe we could transport the carrion to the Artic for them?

You could operate a conservation project of “Feed the wolves in the Artic!’ Open up for donations! Add A nice blog! A whole new career for you. I am so impressed with your possibilities!

Sheila, Diane,

Hey, we could transport voles, mice and Sheilas’s ghophers to the Artic for feeding the Artic wolves! No waste. Wolves will be happy! How wonderful! Woohoo! We are helping with the Circle of Life! Sha la, la, la, la, la, La te dah!

Diane - and just think...we could be stay inside people or party and shop people...but nope...we're gardeners (say it with pride LOL) and we step on dead critters. LOL

Catspa - oh my!!! That's pretty grisly. But she knew that you loved your plants...so this was a gift. :) :)

Kitty - you are so funny and quirky!! You fit right in!! :) :)

Sheila,

In this garden catolog I found a natural soray repels goothers w/ castor peppermint & cedar oils... Harmless to plants, animals. If you need more assistance w/removal of gophers, you nay wish to try this.

natural Gopher Repellent

From this Company...click on photo for name of company...free ship...Spray-N-Grow... Rockport, TX.

They have lots of natural sprays for all types of gardening. Sounds nice.

Thank you Kitty. I did put castor oil Gopher Scram, Milorganite, Gopher Hawks and now I have bought Gopher Root Wire Cages. We killed 32 gophers 2020 and we are now up to 17 this year so far. This Gopher Hawk you actually see them dead hence the count and the other malodorous agents are supposedly a deterrent. I am really hoping the gophers remaining get the hint. I am 68 so I'm hoping I don't have to dynamite the property and start over.

We are also trapping voles which are so destructive above ground.

I really enjoyed your suggestions.

Lovely! It is great to hear your progress. Yes, I hope dynamite isn’t needed. Lol! Maybe you need a green house to escape from the wilds. Sometimes I’d like one...perfect temps, perfect plants, no bugs no critters, dreamy!

Sheila - good luck this summer. I really hope the gophers go somewhere else.

Sheila, I found these tonight at Harbor Freight, I bought 6 For my gardens.

Sheila, I found these tonight at Harbor Freight, I bought 6 for my gardens.

Here is another thread to help with gopher trouble, Markay.

Thank you again. I hope my roses recover as well as yours. Earth Angel looked the worst, but I will give them a shot at recovering and pick up some repellant tomorrow.

Markay - please do let us know how your damaged roses fair with Sheila's first aid techniques.

There is some other type of dog that also gets gophers in their tunnels, but I forget the name of it. I was at a garden once where the owner had a male and a female, and he said the male dog would kill gophers and then offer them to the female as a treat (whatever works!).

Jackie

My sister's lab liked to hunt gophers. Would just put her ear to the ground and then go wait for the gopher to pop up!

@KittyNYz6 - I've used a product that's similar with a castor oil base -- it deters moles for a couple of months, but did nothing to deter the gophers. Everything I value is planted in a gopher wire cage. Except one rose that was planted before I knew about cages and is now a massive rose on a slope, so I just pray gophers don't find it. And I have on citrus tree left that's not in a cage. I also learned the hard way that gophers will chew holes in ceramic pots, wood barrels, resin pots, and the thinner stainless steel gopher wire cages. The only thing that works for me is the much more sturdy gopher wire cage for individual plants and the "hardware cloth" (which is like chicken wire but with tiny holes) at the bottom of my raised beds. Good luck!

Deborah - I am a little confused about the cages you use - can you post a picture of one, or tell us the name of it?

Jackie

Artist, this is one gopher struck rose revival thread.