Non-violent gopher solutions?

[LCBMAX]

Human violence, that is. Animal kingdom violence is ok with me. We live in the high desert of NM.

I was just about to advocate for a gopher snake, til I read that they can grow to 96 inches. I can't handle the thought of such a big snake in our environment - I'm wincy about small snakes as it is.

Our cats are not hunters, and are too old to be asked to take on new household chores.

My mil suggests urine soaked cat litter sprinkled around the holes. I tend to second guess every suggestion she makes, so if you can give me a reality check on this one I'd appreciate it.

Our dogs might be an option - would require some new fencing, and they would be irritating to the rodents more than actual predators. One of them is a superior digger, so I guess in the short term that could be a help.

Other solutions?

Thanks!

[Erinz]

So a good, blood-free trap is out of the question?

I've tried a lot of stuff for gophers and only one thing has worked. (the black hole trap). I grow food for my family, I chose food over the gopher (I was willing to share but they eat it all!)

Or....How about a new cat? Craigslist for a good mouser or barn cat?

[LCBMAX]

Hmmm - intrigued by the trap options. I wasn't even thinking of that because I assumed that no-kill traps would be ineffective (have to trap too many to make it work this summer.) How many/ how long did you trap before you got relief?

Having just visited the animal shelter for fun this week, I sure wish we could take on the care of a 3rd cat, but no - vegetables are barely doable on top of child, 2 dogs, 2 cats and a marriage.

Thanks!

[Erinz]

This thing is worth it's weight in gold to me:
http://www.amazon.com/Woodstream-Bla...8038033&sr=8-1

(I have two!)

had to edit in: I think you may have thought by blood free I mean kill-free. Nope this is killin' em. Heck ya. Don't mess with my family's food

anyway:

I get on the gophers right away, so for our fairly large garden and native lawn I have to set traps daily in the early spring when the ground is soft. I catch 1 to 4 a day (4 is a realllly good day). After that I just have to deal with the ones who come in from the surrounding fields which are inundated with them. But really, the population in my garden is greatly diminished so that I only need to set the trap here and there, maybe once or twice a month.

It's worth it to get on the poplulation right away imo. They are very territorial, so once you erradicate a family or two it takes time for new ones to move in. At least in my experience!

eta: if you get the trap (which I have found more effective than the open bottomed ones) scoop a bit of dirt into the trap so it feels normal to them, and a little bit of green scenting the vent hole really does the trick pronto for me. This trap is blood free. I've never even seen a speck! It just crushes their middles.

[LCBMAX]

Originally Posted by Erinz

It just crushes their middles.

eeerp. ok yeah, I misunderstood. Well - I enjoy your commitment to your crops, but I'm not sure we're there yet. Will definitely save your recommendation though in case we get more serious.

Anyone else?

[swd12422]

We're having similar issues with ground squirrels. I've called the pack rat people (who do humane, live trapping), exterminators, the local universtiy extension, the local wildlife museum.... They all say killing them is the only way to get rid of them. I haven't had the stomach to do that, but honestly, this year it's so bad that I'm considering it. They have destroyed our front yard and that of our neighbors, who put bombs in the holes last spring and threatened to poison them (don't know if they did), and it seems their numbers have gone up, not down.

I don't know what to do. I don't WANT to kill them, but I also don't want my house eaten from the ground up and roof down. I can't deal with traps -- too sad. But poison is terrible for the ecosystem. (Poisoned rodent dies in hole, or goes off someplace, gets eaten by a predator, who then ingests the poison the rodent ate....etc.)

I feel ya. I have no idea what to do...

[vja4Him]

I bought this sound device at Home Depot last year. It seems to work at keeping the gophers away. Used it at the house we lived in before, and our new home.

It has survived many heavy rains, and still works great! I got the one that is solar-powered, so never need to replace batteries.

I also have used the poison pellets, but have only used them twice, near the street. Haven't had to use any kind of poison in the yard or garden areas. Haven't lost any plants at all to the gophers at our new place.

[Erinz]

oooh ground squirrels are worse! I've only seen cats fix that problem!

I'm SUPER anti putting down poison -- a beloved 12 year old cat of mine died from ingesting a poisoned varmin (from the neighbors) and we had beloved canine die from the same. Poison is out, it just tends to get moved around by them anyway and smells so good that other critters pick it up. So sad. At least my tunnel trap only gets the bad guys (and no snakes! We have GREAT snakes at night and I haven't hurt one yet! In 10 years! wooot!!)

[kriket]

Is a gopher the same as a ground hog? I feel like gophers are smaller or something.
Anyway, we eat ground hogs They are open season in Ohio, so DH shoots 'em with a .22 and we eat it.

I know that sounds really 'Appalachian' of me, but they tear up the no-kill traps and I can't stand to waste an animal.

Stuff squirrel sized is too small to mess with and we stick the little dog on.

[Erinz]

I'm fairly certain LCBMAX just vomitted a bit in her mouth

[swd12422]

I know I did!

[LCBMAX]

Originally Posted by Erinz

I'm fairly certain LCBMAX just vomitted a bit in her mouth

yeeeaaaaaah. just a bit. or maybe that was listening to my son rave about his experience watching maggots fall out of a dead rabbit. (oops. sorry! tmi!)

[MariesMama]

A coworker of mine uses these for moles, and she LOVES THEM. Hasn't seen a mole since she started using them.

[Erinz]

FWIW I tried those noise stakes -- with no success. I ended up giving them to a friend who thought I must not be using them correctly but she could

She had no success either

[Toolip]

Originally Posted by Erinz

This thing is worth it's weight in gold to me:
http://www.amazon.com/Woodstream-Bla...8038033&sr=8-1

(I have two!)

do they work every time? I do not want to end up with a mangled gopher! I just harvested my garlic and most of it was just stems with the bulb chewed off the bottom Out of the 500 cloves I planed I might have gotten 100 heads... I'm livid at that gopher! He is ready to move on!

[Erinz]

Originally Posted by Toolip

do they work every time? I do not want to end up with a mangled gopher! I just harvested my garlic and most of it was just stems with the bulb chewed off the bottom Out of the 500 cloves I planed I might have gotten 100 heads... I'm livid at that gopher! He is ready to move on!

It won't mangle them, I've caught many gophers have yet to see even a drop of blood. This trap justs catches them with a cord in the middle of their bodies. Every once in a while I get foiled, but that's only by them filling the trap with soil if I haven't set it just so. I've learned to put a bit of dirt on the floor of the trap and try to not touch anything with my hands so they can't smell me.

eta: and yes, I had had too many experiences like yours with your garlic. I was all done sharing with the greedy little *%$#@s!

[emnic77]

Hey thanks for the recommendation for that trap! If ours comes back, we're going that route. I'd prefer catch and release but that's illegal here in MA. Don't screw with my food.

Here's a link to the bog my dh did about our groundhog.

http://www.urbivores.net/urbivores.n...ay_(Alex).html

He also tried peeing in the gopher's entrance (yep...I married that guy) and spreading our pet ferret's litter around the area (they're like weasels, right? Maybe to a groundhog...

[momct]

We had moles in our yard and put used kitty litter down the holes, after reading about it in a natural pest control book.It worked!

[Toolip]

Originally Posted by Erinz

It won't mangle them, I've caught many gophers have yet to see even a drop of blood. This trap justs catches them with a cord in the middle of their bodies. Every once in a while I get foiled, but that's only by them filling the trap with soil if I haven't set it just so. I've learned to put a bit of dirt on the floor of the trap and try to not touch anything with my hands so they can't smell me.

eta: and yes, I had had too many experiences like yours with your garlic. I was all done sharing with the greedy little *%$#@s!

I guess my question is... does is kill them EVERY time? I don't want to find one partially dead or caught by the leg or something like that.

A friend of mine suggesting eating it because, he said "that should be one gooooood tasting gopher!" ... having eaten 400 head of garlic!

[Erinz]

Originally Posted by Toolip

I guess my question is... does is kill them EVERY time? I don't want to find one partially dead or caught by the leg or something like that.

A friend of mine suggesting eating it because, he said "that should be one gooooood tasting gopher!" ... having eaten 400 head of garlic!

A very healthy gopher, too!

Yes, kills them every time. I've never found a live one. You do have to be sure to check the traps often in the heat though ---- I've had one bloat after being in the trap, dead, for the entire day and that was difficult to shake out of the trap. Ewwww.