Gophers

16 years ago

I'm a retired fella living on a few acres in a rural environment; got a couple horses, dogs, cats, chickens and GOPHERS.

I like a challenge and gophers will do that. Can't afford and don't want to use that propane gophernator. Too much risk of fire in our dry climate. I'm working on a rube goldberg system of compressing auto exhaust for injection into gopher runs. I've read that it works.

Several months back a teenager doing chores told me to open a gopher run, put the trap in as far as I could and then put a 12 inch by 1.5 inch pvc pipe into the end of the run. He said the gopher will go through the trap trying to get close to the opening in order to close it. Worked for me a couple of time and didn't work a couple of times.

I've always liked opening the runs and inserting trap in each direction. Problem was closing the hole. Evolved to where I just closed each run. I usually put a piece of carrot behind the trap to entice the gopher into the trap.

Had a brain storm the other day concurrent with a gopher incursion into the garden. Took a couple of soup cans, punched a small hole in the bottom end, put a one inch screw through the hole and threaded onto that screw inside the can a short piece of carrot. The I put the trap into the run and used the can with the carrot bait to seal the hole. It works and the gopher doesn't get the bait.

Bob

Central Arizona

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Comments (6)

jean001
15 years ago
Hope it continues to work for you.
Kimmsr
15 years ago
If you believe that the car exhaust will work you may well see that it does, but research shows that it does not. The only really effective method of keeping gophers, and other burrowers, out of your garden was to install a good, tight fence fabric 1 foot deep and extending outward from the garden _: about 1 foot.
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rrcrossing
Original Author
15 years ago
Kimmsr,

It is a challenge isn't it. I know I'm not going to keep them out. I'll just try to drive them back.

Ten years ago I did bury 1 inch chicken wire around the wife's garden. Gophers went under it. But, they also go under a 4 foot deep concrete lined irrigation canal.

All my methods will work at one time or another but non will work all the time. Sounds like a political statement.

Anyway, thanks for your response.

Bob
Central Arizona
Kimmsr
15 years ago
What I have seen is that the 1 inch mesh fabric is not restrictive enough and chicken wire fencing simply does not last very long when buried in soil, it corrodes quickly and falls apart. 1/2 inch mesh hardware cloth (really expensive) has been the most successful in my experience.
happyguy92103
15 years ago
I buried plastic roofing panels, 24" wide, on edge,around my property because the neighbors had no interest in getting rid of them. Has worked so far, but other neighbors' property can't be dug... I found traps work the best with more than 50 kills in 12 years. Also, if I can I dig up all tunnels to make them work harder to live in the area. Good luck on your hunting.
petzold6596
15 years ago
Go to the 'garden clinic' there is a resent post there that might be helpful.