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Sat, Nov 19, 11 at 15:31
| We have lived in Florida for 3 years and have never had this problem before. We live in the sandhills with pine forests in North Central Florida. In just one day something has made at least 15 sand piles about 1 foot high and 2-3 feet wide all around the property. There are no holes in the piles, it's as if they have been pushed up from below. We have gopher tortoises, so I know what their burrows look like but that's not what did these.
Could it be armadillos? As I said, no holes, even when I push the piles down. I'll also post on the nature forum. Thanks for any help or suggestions. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by bamboo_rabbit 9A Inverness (My Page) on Sat, Nov 19, 11 at 15:43
| gophers |
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- Posted by dirtygardener73 8b (My Page) on Sat, Nov 19, 11 at 16:41
| Fire ants dig deeper into the ground in the winter and can make some pretty big mounds. I always loved killing them with Amdro in the fall, because it was so easy to see where they were, and they were gathering food for winter. |
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- Posted by bamboo_rabbit 9A Inverness (My Page) on Sat, Nov 19, 11 at 21:39
| They are pocket gophers...there is no hole in the mound as the gophers close it up behind them. Pretty sure if they were fire ant mounds the millions of ants in the mound would be a giveaway:) |
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| Thanks for the info. I just researched the pocket gopher and that's it. I have only native plantings, nothing formal, and according to UF websites, they are beneficial to the sandhills ecosystem. So, I'll keep an eye on the activity and hopefully won't have to trap them. |
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| Mine left after a few months. We don't have a formal yard either. I hate to kill anything. |
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- Posted by happy_fl_gardener 9a near DeLand (My Page) on Sun, Nov 20, 11 at 20:51
| I also have these big mounds of sand in my yard and vegetable garden. At first I thought that it was from a turtle but one day I saw the critter. Gopher. What do they eat? Hopefully not plant roots. |
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- Posted by bamboo_rabbit 9A Inverness (My Page) on Mon, Nov 21, 11 at 7:22
| They eat plant roots, tubers.... |
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- Posted by gatormomx2 9a (My Page) on Mon, Nov 21, 11 at 7:34
| Thank you for posting your question. I learned a lot by researching for the link below. The link has photos and information you might enjoy. From UF: Unfortunately, there are no chemical repellents known to be effective against gophers. Vibrating devices have not been proven to repel gophers. Reports that Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum kills gophers by blocking their digestive tracts have been proven to be false. Finally, tunnel flooding has been used successfully in other parts of the country. However, this method usually does not work here since the southeastern pocket gopher is restricted to deep, well-drained sandy soils in Florida. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Southeastern Pocket Gopher
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- Posted by judyk_2008 9 DeLeon Sprs (My Page) on Mon, Nov 21, 11 at 10:30
| I have to say that the Wrigley's gum method worked for me. Well, in a way. It attracted a dog we had to the tunnels, she then started catching them for us. Six days in a row I had a dead one on my patio. Of course my yard was dug up pretty bad. Unfortunetly, it hasn't worked with any other dog I've had. |
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| Thanks for the responses :) It appears that it must have moved on down the road as we haven't had any new mounds for a week. |
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- Posted by loufloralcityz9 Z 9 (My Page) on Sat, Dec 3, 11 at 13:26
| Those look like earth zits to me.... Dab on a little bit of Clearasil and they will clear right up. MOO |
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| In N. Florida we call the tortoise "gopher". We call the gopher "sandy mounder" or "Salamander". We call a salamander "scorpion". Take that, northerners! |
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| Well, the gopher seems to have moved on but left me a welcome gift: tunnels for my first burrowing owl :). I saw him/her the other evening and it hopped around on the ground before flying up to a low branch. I watched it for 15 minutes before I headed in and it was still there when I went in. |
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- Posted by starryrider (My Page) on Sun, Dec 11, 11 at 19:50
Gopher pics...my husband got one! 
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- Posted by barbwire43 9a (bhstuart43@msn.com) on Mon, Dec 12, 11 at 15:49
| We had gophers when we lived in the Mojave...same sandy conditions. We tried all the common methods and none were successful...BUT an old-timer told us a trick that worked. Human hair, of all things. Along the food chain, man is a predator. Find their airhole or take a bamboo plant stake and poke around near the mound for the tunnel. Save the hair from your comb/brush and when the mounds appear, stick a big wad of your hair in the tunnel. Funny thing is, when I asked my hairdresser for the hair she'd swept from the floor she said...oh, you've got gophers, huh? |
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- Posted by writersblock (My Page) on Tue, Dec 13, 11 at 10:52
| Interesting, barbwire. I've heard of that for snakes. A few years ago a neighbor strewed the clippings from her hair salon everywhere, but I can say for sure that it just intrigued them rather than repelling them. Maybe it works better for mammals. |
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