gophers

[Nancy Howell]

We have a bumper crop of gophers at our place in E.Tx. I really dislike the idea of killing them, but its becoming a real problem, especially in the hayfield. I would prefer to "convince" them to move elsewhere. Suggestions?

 

[P and R Pete]

This never worked real good for me, but have you tried asking them nicely?
*wink*

 

[Michael Soldan]

You either live with them or you kill them, there is no in between with gophers, they just duck down their hole when you try to convince them with a dog..may as well scope in your rifle and get'er done. I have used gas capsules down the hole to eliminate them(groundhogs where I live)..holes for cattle or horses to break a leg or even a tractor spindle don't belong in agricultural land. Sometimes we have to ,I don't enjoy killing an animal but I have to keep coons and other rodents out of the barn and away from the cattle..these varmits can carry rabies and other diseases from farm to farm and barn to barn..pulling the trigger is a necessity to protect your own animals

 

[Paul from MN]

Call Tim Brewster. He'll give them scholarships and we can all sit back and watch the rest of the Big 10 (and the mid-america conference for that matter) embarrass them on the football field next fall.

 

[Dave from MN]

you wont convinc them to leave. Nee to trap them, shoot them, or poisen them before they get out of hand. Enlist some young boys from the ara and pay them a bounty( for trapping)

 

[bob farrell]

I also have gophers or groundhogs galore. When are they active for shooting? I never see them. What kind of traps do you recommend and where does one get the traps? I've had enough - just don't know what to do. Can you help? Thanks ! bob farrell

 

[Anonymous-0]

We have hamsters, badger, and fox that burrow here. Hamsters and Badger are protected. Fields aren't much of a problem because they are small enough that woods and right of ways are close enough to relocate. I have hamsters in/under my barn that are killing me and drive the dogs crazy. They eat through whatever feed is stored in. And not a bit scared. I catch now and then and take them out somewhere and turn them loose. But killing them will get you in big trouble.


Dave

 

[cj in wisconsin]

You have two choices, live with them and all the damage they cause, or kill them. Where I am it is all gravel and their mounds play hell with haybines etc. We pay a bounty for each tail the trappers bring in. Local kid cost me 200 dollars last year. Worth every penny.

 

[Janicholson]

A different idea. (not tried, but who knows. Put tin covers over most g holes and use a leaf blower to blow black pepper,or groung red pepper down the holes. when they come out, capture them in wire cages with one way wire in doors. I,ve lived where they are rampant, and nothing has worked. THey were not on my property though. JimN

 

[dieselpup]

Are there any dairy or hog farms around? My brother-in-law takes the liquid manure tank out into the field and fills their holes up. Its all natural...
Those holes are hard on equipment, claimed a hay tedder last year and I'm always scared one of our horses will step in one when we're riding. If they're in the woods I don't mess with 'em but if in the fields they better beware.

 

[El Toro]

I have wire trap called Hav-a Heart. I trap the ground hogs and haul them away. When I shot and buried them the dogs would dig them up and eat them. I use to take them in where I worked and let them loose. They had brought in Coyotes and turn them loose and they were hard on the groudhog population. Hal
PS: I still have some around.

 

[GeneMO]

Probably cant get it anymore, but we used to use Zink phosphide treated corn.

You would go crazy waiting to shoot them.

Isn't there some kind of ferrett that goes into holes and catches them?

I had moles so bad in my yard last summer that I am going to have to tear it all up and start over. After I treat the heck out of it for grubs!!


Gene


Gene

 

[Anonymous-0]

(quoted from post at 07:05:33 03/07/08) When I shot and buried them .

????????????????????? Why would you do that??? Gooooooooood Eatin'...

 

[buickanddeere]

Seen a couple videos with solutions.
#1 was a oxy-propane torch with a large tip, a coned torch head that sealed around the burrow, a BBQ lighter, safety glasses and ear plugs. The burrows were filled with oxy-propane then lit up...........BOOM. Dirt would fly and the earth would sag were the burrows/vermin had been.
#2 was a municipal vacuum sucker truck used to empty catch basins , drains etc. The suction pipe was jammed into the burrows and vermin were hurricaned into the storage tank.They even mounted a light, video camera and a piece of foam to see the little b*ggers land.
In either case the "bunney huggers" likely threw a fit.

 

[BIG RED 1]

Fortunatly now they are hibernating in eastern Iowa(Planning for the spring offensive).
We ahve a terrible problem with them normally all the non lethal remedies out there dont seem to work(do an internet search and you find several studies by universities supporting trapping or killing them)
I would agree-Last year 2007 we trapped 14 gophers and 27 moles in a 5 acre pasture.(One gopher can make a lot of mounds)
For gophers we use a death klutch trap-check ebay for gopher traps-you will see what I mean.
For moles the Nash Trap-Both very will yield good results.It takes a little technique to set the gopher trap but you will soon see less mounds.
Randy in Iowa

 

[BIG RED 1]

Bob gophers operate 24/7-Shooting is extremely difficult-They dig fast and if your lucky you may see their paws for a second.
You might want to check my earlier post about trapping
Good Luck
Randy

 

[Nancy Howell]

The weird thing is, there aren"t any holes, just mounds of dirt. Looks like someone dumped a shovel full of dirt on the ground. I finally asked the ag agent and he said it was gophers. If you step on the mound, it compresses a little, but not like there was a big hole there. And yes, the mounds play havoc when we"re raking & baling hay. Hate all that dirt in the hay.

 

[Anonymous-0]

(quoted from post at 07:45:07 03/07/08) The weird thing is, there aren"t any holes, just mounds of dirt. Looks like someone dumped a shovel full of dirt on the ground. I finally asked the ag agent and he said it was gophers. If you step on the mound, it compresses a little, but not like there was a big hole there. And yes, the mounds play havoc when we"re raking & baling hay. Hate all that dirt in the hay.

Sounds more like moles Ma'am.

Another thing here that helps is roosts of some kind everywhere that you can stick one so that the several species of hawks and owls can roost and wait on prey. They're protected too so can't get in trouble for killing hamsters. :roll:

Dave

 

[Anonymous-0]

A cat would keep population under control. And maybe add pleasure to your life too. (Resist feeding it too much or the cat will not hunt.)

 

[Coloken]

Nancy, Yep, gopher or pocket gopher. What we do here is like a sub-soiler that makes a tunnel and drops poison bait in it. If you don't, they destroy the field. About now go out with a harrow or drag and smooth out the dirt piles. Only non poison way is owls, hawks cyotes and yes, cats.
Kenny

 

[Steve in MN]

They sure can do a lot of damage to a hay field. I usually trap mine. I never had very good luck with the death clutch traps. A couple years ago a neighbor showed me a trap I'd never seen before. It's called a Lanesboro trap. They sure work better than the death clutch traps(for me anyway). Just google Lanesboro traps.

 

[DitchWI]

Nancy, You have to trap them - there is no other way to get rid of them. Check out some university web sites or DNR sites for more information. The one thing I have learned is do not put trap down the hole in the mound, find the main tunnel the mound is coming off and set 2 traps in the main tunnel. One more thing, if you have ever seen the movie Caddyshack you may want to get some C4 because you will be outsmarted by them on more than one occasion.
Good Luck!

 

[NBAllen]

As many of the others said, the only effective way to get rid of gophers is to kill them.

If you have a [u:654c4848f0]VERY[/u:654c4848f0] flat field and can flood the field with water you can run the gophers out - but your neighbors won't be very happy!

Traps work - but require a good bit of daily diligence to be effective. Let me know if you want my instructions for trapping.

As GeneMO said, zinc phosphide is effective, but a) must be used CAREFULLY! and
b) is a controlled chemical, requiring the proper pesticide applicator's license.
Zinc Phosphide is a deadly gas! That is why it works.

This (local to me) product (buickanddeere mentioned) is supposed to be effective, but is a little spendy!
<a href="http://www.rodenator.com/">Boom!</a>

Nathaniel

 

[dieselpaul]

my neighbors keep a better yard/pasture than l do. all kind of yard-art stuff,-than i noticed all these cute windmills buzzin' in the breeze. l got plenty of golpher mounds now, & windmills are gone. i guess they work--paul

 

[anonymous23]

I trap the heck out of them. I use these metal box traps that have a wire that snaps up and kills them.
You think of the gopher borrow like a freeway system and the little mounds of dirt you see are at the end of an off ramp, what you want is to find the main tunnel and dig out enough so that you can have two traps, one going either way. Set your traps at midday as the gophers like to snooze then and if you set early the grass may be wet and that will transfer your human scent to the trap. Cover the trap very lightly with just enough fine dirt so there is no light getting through into the tunnel. I take some wire and attach two traps together running the wire through a small size cinder block so it can't be dragged of by a scavenger. I also use a 1/4 inch diameter metal rod as a probe to find the main runs. And if I see a coyote or bobcat I leave them alone as they are better at this than I am although if you are running stock you may feel different.That fellow upthread that advised paying a bounty has the right idea though.Some years I kill as many as fifty on about a half acre.

 

[buickanddeere]

I'm getting about ready to fill my entire drive shed with a Rodentantor to get rid of the rats.
I've trapped out dozens, usually 2-3 every day since November. Also Finding nests then feeding dozens of young rats to the ducks. Plus the dead rats ones found all over from poisoning.
Maybe hope yet. Recently catching more old full grown rats and fewer juveniles.
There must have been an entire colony move in last fall.
Somebody just told me to catch a live full grown rat. And tie it up live hanging by it's tail in the middle of the shed. Apparently the rat begins to squeal a warning "get out of here" and all rats leave for 2-4 months.

 

[buickanddeere]

I'm getting about ready to fill my entire drive shed with a Rodentantor to get rid of the rats.
I've trapped out dozens, usually 2-3 every day since November. Also Finding nests then feeding dozens of young rats to the ducks. Plus the dead rats ones found all over from poisoning.
Maybe hope yet. Recently catching more old full grown rats and fewer juveniles.
There must have been an entire colony move in last fall.
Somebody just told me to catch a live full grown rat. And tie it up live hanging by it's tail in the middle of the shed. Apparently the rat begins to squeal a warning "get out of here" and all rats leave for 2-4 months.

 

[730 virgil]

this sounds mean as all heck. i have been told if you catch a live rat pour gas over it and light it on fire. between the squealing and smell of rat on fire rest will leave.
friend of mine filled in rat holes but one then shoved hose from anhydrous tank and gave tunnels a ggod blast no more rats.

 

[Jim B. in OH]

I like to use my 22-250 best, but that takes some time and patience. So I have a couple of the Hav-a-heart traps metioned earlier that I just check everyday. Before I let the little fellas out though, I make sure I give them a nice long bath in the creek:wink:

 

[JMS MN]

Nobody mentioned the "Gopher Getter" machine? It"s like a small subsoiler, single shank, with a tube that distributes poison. You pull it with a tractor through the infested area, hoping to intersect their tunnels, they go down your poisoned one, and eat the bait. In central MN, I think it"s the extension people or farm coops that rent them out.

 

[JMS MN]

google gopher getter....read about Elston mfg.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Works good until it runs in the barn and burns the barn down. So make sure your a good ways away from the barn or any other buildings.

 

[Eric SEI]

Farm Show magazine has had a couple of stories about guys that will suck them out of their holes for you. I think they were using a modified vacuum truck, the type cities use for leaves in the fall.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You guys are cruel and stupid if you think hanging a rat from its tail is a good idea.
Rats can shed there tails so it wouldn't work maybe you should take more care of your property so its no so appealing to rodents!