Trapping Pocket Gophers

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My husband has spent years working on our lawn. It started as a brown, dry patch of dirt dotted with knapweed and thistle. He’s hauled in tons of compost and he fusses over it like a baby. So you can imagine his horror when he found pocket gopher mounds.

They’re coming in from our neighbor’s back yard (the same place where two of the guys’ dogs were bitten by a rattlesnake two summers ago), which looks like a movie set for a wild kingdom. The bad news is now they’re our problem, too.

How to Trap Pocket Gophers

Pocket gophers are tough little things. They are uniquely built to live under the ground. Extremely sharp front claws tear through the hardest ground, including the packed clay that surrounds our place. They spend most of their lives underground feeding on the roots of plants or pulling the entire thing below ground. Once in a while you might catch a glimpse of a pocket gopher barely out of his tunnel, feeding on vegetation, but it’s about as often as a Bigfoot sighting.

A friend of mine in Kalispell is the absolute king of pocket gopher elimination.

Hans uses pincher type traps pushed into the tunnels and flags the traps by an empty bleach jug. If the jug is moved, he most likely has a pocket gopher. Left unchecked, the pocket gophers would wreak havoc on his hay fields; let alone what they could do to the horses. If one of his horses stepped in a hole, it could mean a hefty vet bill.

Hans typically catches over 200 each season, which is a frightening prospect of their breeding potential.

There are several types of traps available, including the Macabee or box-type traps. The key to any of them is proper placement. You need to find the main burrow entrance with a stick before enlarging it in order to carefully set the traps in the tunnel. Some people place traps about a foot apart in the main tunnel facing each direction. Others place a single trap roughly a foot down the burrow. It’s secured to a stake and the entrance is covered. You should catch a pocket gopher within a couple of days. If not, reset the trap somewhere else.

Fumigants and Poisonous Baits

Trapping is by far the most effective means of control, but not everyone has the stomach to do it. It’s not pleasant. Fumigants are not a good choice for pocket gopher control because their burrow systems are far more complex, than say, ground squirrels. It’s not worth the time and expense.

Poisonous baits can knock down the numbers, but poison has its drawbacks.

Strychnine bait is the most effective poison. Read the label on a strychnine bait product and you’ll understand how it works its nasty stuff. If you go this route, follow the directions. It is for use on pocket gophers only, and must be distributed beneath the soil. Wear the gloves and be extra careful. Obviously, we won’t use strychnine bait, since I don’t want something this potent near the boys. There are other poisons out there, such as anticoagulants, but they don’t seem to have the same success rate.

Pocket gophers are not easy, but by taking care of the situation as soon as possible, theres hope to keep them from keeping the lawn from looking like a mine field.

Meet Amy Grisak

Amy is a freelance author and photographer in Great Falls, MT who specializes in gardening, foods, and sustainable agriculture. She provides information on every kind…

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