Yikes...pocket gophers!!

[dwn1]

I am being overrun by pocket gophers on my South Dakota ranch. I had a few mounds last year and I already have about 30+ already this spring! I hear that they will do great damage to my alfalfa field, etc. Any solutions out there? I doubt this will covered in the stimulus package

[fastbackpony]

There used to be phosphene tablets you could get - to fumigate the burrows. Check local regulations and local pest control operator to see of this is legal, and available. Not a popular option among the environmentalist group. It does work though.

[tjmomof4]

Do you have cats? If "pocket gophers" are the same critter that we call voles, our 3 cats have them licked (pun intended). The only downside is the occasional dead vole on the front welcome mat to greet our guests!

[fishhead]

I prefer clutch traps. They are fast to set and catch the gophers within a few hours many times.

I've got fresh gopher mounds at the farm now too.

[jill.costello]

[Minelson]

eeek! looks like a rat! yuckers

[dwn1]

Thanx folks! I didn't want to go "caddy shack" on the little varmints and start TNT'n the holes. I have 5 outdoor cats and I do find some remnants of the slower, less cunning varmints. Is there any gopher mound to population ratio?

[SunRiverMan]

Rodenator

[tjmomof4]

Eeeewwwwww! Not at all like what I was thinking! That thing's disgusting, and I would want it eradicated ASAP. Scratch the cat idea. Sorry.

[jill.costello]

My cattle dogs brought me that one; ALIVE! If I had a Jack Russell Terrier, I'm sure the population would've gone down rapidly.....

[fishhead]

That is a pocket gopher in the pictures. Notice the front toenails and small eyes.

They are rodents and probably have multiple litters each summer. They don't spend more than a few minutes above ground so most domestic predators are ineffective.

I don't think you can accurate estimate the population by the number of mounds but I could be wrong. I'd get some clutch traps and start setting them.

http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page738.html

[doohap]

Originally Posted by jill.costello

My cattle dogs brought me that one; ALIVE! If I had a Jack Russell Terrier, I'm sure the population would've gone down rapidly.....

LOL! I've got a JRT (her name is Shortie) and one of her FAVORITE activities is going after the gofers. Only thing is, fast as she digs, they seem to be faster. I told my husband, I don't know what's worse: the gofer mounds and holes or the bigger holes dug by the dog chasing the gofers.

Oh yes! Shortie did get close once ... got nipped on the nose, yelped and backed off!

I'm seriously considering the "Rodenator" as linked above!

[rambler]

Here in southern MN, spring & fall trapping (and a little in summer) is common. There are special traps for them, dig out the hole, leave it open, and they hate light, push it shut & trip the trap. Or you can use a common leg trap in the tunnels. They make their rounds about 4-6pm, can set the trap at 3:00, go check it at 6:00, and likely have one.

From one to 4 or so will live in a small grouping of mounds.

My township offers a bounty of $3 a tail for the pocket gopher tails. Others offer the bounty per pair of front feet. Many areas have a bounty on them, they are quite the horrid pest if left to multiply for a couple years.

I got my neighbor trapping mine the past 2 years - had let them be for 5 years or so, now can't hardly drive down my field roads they are so terribly bumpy, will need to re-work & replant them once the niegbor catches up on the trapping.

They typically have a deep home tunnel, and a big etwork of tunnels, and do not like coming to the surface much at all other than tossing dirt out the hole & replugging it, so cats nor dogs will catch very many. Even wild predators will not keep up with the population, they are quite a pest. You need to do something.

Poison works too, the applicators sell for $1000 in dairy areas - they make heck out of an alfalfa field in a short time, I've had to plow up alfalfa fields in a couple years, as the mounds make the ground too mumpy to mow/ bale.

--->Paul

[fishhead]

Our SWCD rents a gopher getter. You pull it behind a tractor and the ripper leaves a tunnel of sorts. Poison pellets are dropped into the tunnel.

I know from experience that when a gopher hits a tunnel it will follow it. That fact cost me $500 in buried electric line.

[mnn2501]

UGLY isn't bad enough for those critters. I don't even think a manicure and a trip to the dentist could help

[dbarjacres]

I think most little furry things are cute (ducks head as I admit DH and I think Prairie dogs are adorable, but we don't have to deal with them here) but that thing is U-G-L-Y! How big are they?

[fishhead]

Maybe 8". I once watched my springer swallow one whole after crunching the bones.