I see this is an old thread, but in answer to the original question, yes the wire will girdle the roots and kill the trees; I have first hand experience in Central CA and about 16" annual rainfall. Galvanized wire does not readily rot out...not for years and after 15 years at my place it's still there. Plain steel wire in the necessary thin gauge is hard to find as poultry mesh. Note there may be some species that can create new tissue around the wire but I have never seen a list and don't have the time to experiment. I have seen trees grow around barbed wire fences but I have never cut one in-section to see if the tree's phloem actually healed over the wire or if it just looks that way and since the wire was straight it did not ring-bark the tree. For sure we lost our apricots and walnuts. I have one large sycamore (no basket) next to three stunted sycamores (with baskets). When we realized this was happening to the fruit trees, we carefully dug around 1/2 the tree to the wire basket and carefully cut the wire around the roots. Then we waited for a season for healing the disturbed 1/2 and then cut the other side. All in all it seems a day late and a dollar short because the orchard growth stalled. We now plant new trees in oversized holes lined with thin, 1" concrete pavers, extending a couple inches above the top of the soil while being careful to make sure no holes larger than 1/2-3/4" exist between the pavers. It seems to be working extremely well. We have not had any issues with gophers jumping over the top but if we do we will simply place something on top of the soil around the tree. Our theory is this: Once a paver is buried in the ground, it's very difficult or impossible to move without a large enough hole created by the gopher to allow it to shift. We surmise gophers can't think the mechanics through and are not generally that lucky to stumble upon the solution. I suppose if the gopher chose to make it's primary burrow right next to the pavers, one could fall out of place. The tree root, however, can get through the holes between the pavers and slowly push the paver out of the way as it grows without being ring-barked/girdled. I think of roots growing under and buckling a sidewalk to visualize the power of a root. To date, we have had great luck and no girdled trees. So, what about cost? Well, the argument that a hundred dollar hole might make a thousand dollar tree and a 10 dollar hole might kill it is a good one. I happen to have a ready-supply of paver off-cuts and rejects to keep my cost down. We have speculated about what to do to keep the costs down and have thought of many alternate ways while keeping the original concept intact: a lined hole where roots can grow through the liner but gophers cannot get at the young tree to do their damage When the day comes for me to make a hole and line it with something different than pavers to save money, I plan to try this one first as a cost-saver: Dig an oversize hole with sloped walls. Mix up some inexpensive fence-post mix, or stucco, or a home made mix (add some extra sand to make it go farther –it can be a weak mix). Make it a stiff-mix and line the hole with the mud, making an in-ground bowl, more or less. Then cut or score deep lines in the firm mud in a large grid (6"?) so as to allow the bowl to break to bits once dry. Now poke holes through the mix where the lines cross; it's these holes that will serve as drainage and for the roots to grow out of so be sure they go all the way through. We thought of pounding in wood stakes while the bowl set up for awhile and removing prior to back-filling the hole. We speculate, too, that if it were a really weak mix ( 1 part cement to 10 or 12 parts sand) that poking a bunch of holes in the mud is all that would be needed (no scoring lines) and the tree would win the day at time of breaking. None of what is done in making the lined hole needs to be pretty, it just needs to confound the gophers and allow the tree to bust-its-way out. It's labor intensive, like the pavers, but no too costly on materials. The hole can be filled with soil when wet, and the tree thus planted, too, so it should be fairly fast. Again, you can cap the buried bowl with wire if your gophers like to travel over-land. One component I would like to add would be sprinkling something on the fresh mortar to counter the change in PH while the bowl cures underground; perhaps acidic Redwood mulch? What other ideas are out there? How about up-cycling flattened tin cans from the recycling bin and lining the hole and letting them compost? If anyone has an idea on how to make a lined hole where roots can grow through the liner but gophers cannot get at the young tree to do their damage, I'd love to hear it!

Kaye - you mentioned filling the cage with mulch to hide the 1" of exposed cloth...something DH would like alot. I assume you are recommending that outside the cage, I should keep the ground 1" below the cage but that I can hide the cage somewhat by willing the cage inside with mulch to the top. Kaye and Sammy - how are you finding the 12" height of your cages. All my vole damage is from underneath. Even in the snow, there is never any damage above the dirt. I like the 12" height because you can get 3 runs out of the 36" wide hardware cloth and it would be easier to dig up a rose and move it. But I don't want the voles to go up underneath the cage. So I was considering going 18" in height but thinking that might be overkill. Thoughts? I also have a young tree, similar to a crab apple, that is getting chewed on by voles from underneath. It is still leafing and you wouldn't know what was going on underneath. But I can tell based on the vole holes near by and the fact that it is not solid in its hole like other trees. It is unrealistic to dig it up and DH is going to start trapping. But is there anything I can do or give the tree to help it recover? I hate to loose it.

While it looks like there is a variety of successful approaches, I think the reason some have success with one approach and others don't is the nature of the stains. Some stains are simple body oils stuck in the texture of the nonslip pads. Using something alkaline like shampoo should work for those to soften the stains and allow them to be scrubbed lightly. WD-40 should also dissolve those and lift them. Other stains are based on hard water build up of calcium. The calcium can't be seen because it is white but the calcium will catch and hold the body oils. If you cannot get the calcium off, the stains remain. This is where an acidic approach would work. Barkeeper's Friend is oxalic acid with a mild abrasive. If the stains are calcium based, this should wash them away very easily. I would like to suggest another approach to the plain body oils with no calcium build up. There is a cleaner used in the automotive detailing industry called Super Clean. It comes in a purple spray bottle at auto stores, hardware stores, Walmart, etc. It is basically 409 on steroids. If you have trouble breathing when using 409, then you will really have trouble breathing around Super Clean. I bought some for my car and, of course, it works great. Then I read the label and decided to try it in the kitchen. The first thing I tried it on was burned on grease on a stainless pan - the bottom of the pan. I sprayed it on and let it sit for a "dwell time" of 10 minutes. Then I ran hot water from the faucet into the pan and 99% of it just rinsed clean with no scrubbing. I thought maybe I had a pan with grease that looked burned on but was just sort of already softened, but no. I tried it again and again with the same results. So that is my experience with Super Clean. I thought someone might give it a try on their tub texture spots and report back here with results.

Kimmq, I am in the midwest in the United States. And NO it is not illegal in my state to move the chipmunks. I checked. They have died in the walls of my house. That bothers me a lot. The scratching as they attempted to get out was very upsetting. We eventually broke open the drywall (and took a big chance of them running around the house) but it was too late. I don't want a debate. I am trying to be humane. I appreciate your opinion about the chicken wire and window screen.