Gophers Everywere

[Anonymous-0]

I don't think the first one posted. Would some one please talk about useing bubble gum they keep covering mine up. What is your set up. They cover my traps as well. Thanks

 

[Anonymous-0]

If you set the traps so they are part way down the tunnel , and cover the hole back up, you should catch the gopher. Most gophers have tunnels's in two directons, you need to put a trap in each hole. If you have cats they should also catch the gophers. Stan

 

[Anonymous-0]

Cats catch gophers?! If they are like eastern woodchucks not likely unless they are babies. I've seen cornered woodchucks give a dog a good scrap.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Gopher = 1/2#
Woodchuck = 7#

 

[Bob85355]

I"ve read that bubble gum works and I"ve read that bubble gum doesn"t work.

Try rubbing the trap with a carrot before you set it and then place a piece of the carrot behind the trap. Close the hole. I"ve found that a plastic grocery bag with a bit of dirt in it is a fine hole closer and lets me open the hole later. Poison also works for me. I open the run as if I"m going to set a trap. Then use a long handled spoon in a small vice grip and deposit a couple tablespoons as far back as you can get it. Close the hole. Yeah, I know. Prevailing wisdom is to poke a hole in the run and drop the poison thru the hole. Just don"t get the same result that way.

Bob
Central Arizona

 

[suptscottyb]

Had real good luck trapping. Use a prob to find a tunnel between two openings. Use a post hole digger to open it up. Put a trap in each way. The gopher comes to fix the tunnel and bam! Put both traps on light chain and pin the chian down with the probe. Works 95% of the time overnight.

 

[RayP(MI)]

If I see a gopher going down the hole, I put a small jaw trap (like a scaled down bear trap) over the hole UPSIDE DOWN, and dump a bucket of water down. Often gopher will come up a sputtering, and SNAP!!! Often the gopher will dig some simple escape holes to hide in in the outskrts of his range. If you happen to chase 'em down one of those, the water trick works well, because they don't bother to dig a second entrance/exit. If he doesn't surface, leave trap there, and check in the morning.

"course, they're excellent target practice with a scoped .22. done a bunch of 'em thataway!

 

[Dairy Farmer]

what i found to work good is to use a sub-soiler in the fall before you plow your ground under. that digs through the hard pan alowing you field to drain better in the spring and it also rips through the gopher tunnels and somehow killing them or driving them away. really makes a difference. one year i only sub-soiled 1/2 of a field and i could tell where i didn't hit with the soiler.
just my 2 cents
DF in WI

 

[Anonymous-0]

There is a white bird that also watches the gopher hole, and grabs the gopher when he comes out. Stan