Gophers... Again

This subject has been broached before, however it bears repeating since almost overnight the gophers have become incredibly active. Since they are a problem of fairly vast proportion, a brief description of their physical appearance and habits might be helpful. They are rodents and require strong measures to eliminate and exterminate them.

Gophers live in long, complex tunnels below the ground, digging with their powerful front feet and their sharp teeth. Most of their lives are spent digging and patrolling their tunnels to protect their territory from other gophers. Their tails are hairless and tactile; it is an organ of touch which can “feel” as the gopher backs up in his hole; his home is recognized by the large mound of earth above it. It is said their nest is usually about a foot below ground and lined with leaves, although digging like a mad woman has never revealed anything of the like. Their food choices include favorites such as vegetables, buds, grass, nuts, roots and bulbs; they can totally decimate a lovely garden in very few days. In fact once I watched once as a stalk of Asparagus was slowly pulled cartoon-like below ground, one jerk at a time until it disappeared.

With an understanding of the gopher, methods for extermination must be examined. For the gardener, dropping bits of poison into gopher mounds is ineffective as it seems to be the equivalent of giving them a vitamin tonic… often they will push it to out of their home like an old couch left curb side. The old wives tale about dropping Juicy Fruit gum into a mound to destroy their digestive system is totally false. The ‘bomb’ one may purchase to send carbon monoxide from a lawn mower into holes (in spite of being extremely fun to use) is ineffective as well. Flooding gopher mounds with a hose makes an unsightly mess and often the water will completely destroy a flower bed by imploding the underground burrows, leaving deep crevices in its wake. Waiting for the emerging gopher with a rifle in hand is ultimately a waste of time for it seems they ‘sense’ danger and never appear.

Trapping easiest way to eliminate these pests, however there is a level of training required to properly set it. For the fainthearted, leaving a small battery operated radio near their home works. They find the noise objectionable and will often vacate the premises… set the station to Rap.

*Adding insult to injury… this mound is heart shaped like a macabre Valentine sent to me.