# gophers are winning the battle



## texasair (May 22, 2004)

Tunneling in my yard, tunnels everywhere just under the grass.

So far have tried 2 different kinds of bait from the feed store.
(lots of it)

The small spring gopher traps in the tunnels, they go around them

Gassed the tunnels with propane .

Gopher gassers smoke bombs, Made specifically for gassing gophers, lots of em. no effect

Juicy Fruit gum in the tunnels, Lots of it, over 100 sticks
(supposed to gum up their disgestion system)

Been fighting this fight for 2 years.

Next I am going to try peanut butter mixed with boric acid and a couple of different types of rat and mouse bait.

If I am killing some of them, they are reproducing faster than I am killing em 

ANY IDEAS????


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## Matteo (Feb 22, 2006)

I had a similar problem. I used a poisoned grain bait that you bury. I was at the end of my rope with them. It seemed to work after using it but it took diligence and time. I lost several pepper plants in my garden that year. I think they will eventually come back just from being displaced from surrounding areas. My next step was going to be finding a hole and rigging a hose to the exhaust on my truck. Then Cracking open a six pack, starting my truck, listening to the radio and carbon monoxiding them little bastages to sleep.

If you use the exhaust technique, please let us know how you rig it and what resuults you get.

Good luck:texasflag


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## fletchoman (Nov 30, 2008)

texasair said:


> If I am killing some of them, they are reproducing faster than I am killing em
> 
> ANY IDEAS????


I recommend JRT...


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## wickll (Oct 6, 2009)

Talking with a buddy of mine who is in the pest control business, we concluded that trapping is probably the most effective way of controlling gophers. I purchased several "gophinator " traps and found them to be the most effective traps I have ever used. Originally, I found them on e-bay and the seller had a web site as well. Don't know if they are still being made, but try this link:
<http://www.traplineproducts.com/onlinestore.html>


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## JohnnyWalkerRed (May 3, 2007)

I was wondering what was leaving the tunnels in my yard in NW houston and I bet it is gophers as well. They must be pretty small though cuase the tunnels in my yard seem small. The tunnels dont seem to kill my grass and they have not gotten in my garden yet so I have not really been bothered by them, just noticed the raised grass tunnels. Sounds like I should start thinking about removing them asap!


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

A natural approach....a good terrier/terrier-cross dog in the backyard and those tunnels will disappear.


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## w_r_ranch (Jan 14, 2005)

But a strychnine laced grain & the tool (gopher probe???) that puts it in their tunnels. We have excellent results here, rarely do I have to go after the same tunnel.


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## Matteo (Feb 22, 2006)

JohnnyWalkerRed said:


> I was wondering what was leaving the tunnels in my yard in NW houston and I bet it is gophers as well. They must be pretty small though cuase the tunnels in my yard seem small. The tunnels dont seem to kill my grass and they have not gotten in my garden yet so I have not really been bothered by them, just noticed the raised grass tunnels. Sounds like I should start thinking about removing them asap!


Hmm.. How small are the holes in your yard??? I also have a bunch of small holes in my garden that are half an inch wide or less and I am baffled as to what might be making them. Man I hope I don't have a bunch of dwarf gophers. Whatever it is hasn't seemed to be hurting my garden yet but if anyone knows what the heck is doing it, please share. thanks


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## wet dreams (May 21, 2004)

A good friend of mine (spurgersalty's dad) grows strawberries and tomatoes comercially. Last week I was up there pickn berries and commented on the gopher tunnels, he laughed and told me they had tried everything and has gone to the shotgun, and a bucket. He told me he would find some fresh tunnels, dig them out some, wait 30 minutes and if they rebuilt it he would again dig it out, place his 5 gall bucket about 5 yrds away then sit with gun pointed at hole, when he noticed movement he would fire, then go repeat on next hole. He told me he gets some funny looks as cars pass his place with him sitting on a bucket holding the shotgun out in the middle of a 10 acre field>>>>this IS a true story....and yes it is in E Texas...WW


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## wet dreams (May 21, 2004)

Matteo said:


> Hmm.. How small are the holes in your yard??? I also have a bunch of small holes in my garden that are half an inch wide or less and I am baffled as to what might be making them. Man I hope I don't have a bunch of dwarf gophers. Whatever it is hasn't seemed to be hurting my garden yet but if anyone knows what the heck is doing it, please share. thanks


Nightcrawlers....WW


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## JohnnyWalkerRed (May 3, 2007)

Matteo said:


> Hmm.. How small are the holes in your yard??? I also have a bunch of small holes in my garden that are half an inch wide or less and I am baffled as to what might be making them. Man I hope I don't have a bunch of dwarf gophers. Whatever it is hasn't seemed to be hurting my garden yet but if anyone knows what the heck is doing it, please share. thanks


I see very few holes , I just feel the tunnels under the grass when I walk and I used to see tunnels/ hills of dirt in places hwere there was no grass. The holes I have seen are about 1 - 1 1/2" in diameter.


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## Pocboy (Aug 12, 2004)

Pocket Gophers are taking my tomato plants underground. I'll be trying this method I found online:
Carbon monoxide from automobile exhaust is more effective than other fumigants because of its greater volume and pressure. Connect a piece of hose or pipe to the engine exhaust, and place it in a tunnel near a fresh soil mound. Pack soil around the hose or pipe and allow the engine to run for about 3 minutes. The method is usually 90% effective. The engines of newer vehicles with antipollution devices require a longer running time since they do not produce as much carbon monoxide. This procedure requires no registration.


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## spurgersalty (Jun 29, 2010)

Pocboy said:


> Pocket Gophers are taking my tomato plants underground. I'll be trying this method I found online:
> Carbon monoxide from automobile exhaust is more effective than other fumigants because of its greater volume and pressure. Connect a piece of hose or pipe to the engine exhaust, and place it in a tunnel near a fresh soil mound. Pack soil around the hose or pipe and allow the engine to run for about 3 minutes. The method is usually 90% effective. The engines of newer vehicles with antipollution devices require a longer running time since they do not produce as much carbon monoxide. This procedure requires no registration.


are you in city limits? If not, daddy method (as given away by wet dreams) is 100% effective. Just depends on how you want your neighbors to perceive you:fish:.
And since his first season of pocket gopher hunting, he has since decided to park the gator between him and the road (he lives on a major highway) to keep the phones from ringing off the hook and visits from local law enforcement.

BTW, he actually sits where his gun barrel (20 gauge) is around 2' from the hole, there's no doubt on a clean kill that way.


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## Pocboy (Aug 12, 2004)

Sp, I am not in the city limits but the covenants in my neighborhood prohibit firearms being used. I"m sure I could use a high powered pellet gun but the exhaust idea sounds kind of fun. BTW, I'm on six acres so my neighbors probably wouldn't mind either way.


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## texasair (May 22, 2004)

Went to the gophanator website.
Check out thier How to ID.
Mine are moles not gophers, they do not eat bait.

The ID is that moles never leave open holes at the surface.
gophers leave asmall mound that has a open hole for a while, then they fill it in.

Bought a dozen of the mole traps, Installed last night, will check tomorrow.

Traps are pricey but all stainless steel and look like they will work much better that the gopher traps that I bought at the feed store that did not work.


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## Sugars Pop (Jul 10, 2008)

I use the spring traps at the lake house and they work great. Key is to dig out the run some so you can insert the trap in the run. Tie a piece of line to the trap and the other end to a bolt or something you can stick in the ground for an anchor.
Get a teaspoon of peanut butter and put it between the traps.


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## Don Smith (Nov 24, 2007)

I use Black Hole rodent traps. You can Google them and order them on-line. I tried just about everything, include car exhaust, and they just kept coming. Set the Black Hole according to instructions, and caught 4 the first afternoon. Now anytime I see a fresh mound, I set the trap.


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## Gfish (Aug 31, 2009)

www.rodentblaster.com

Might as well have some fun.


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## Quepos1 (Jan 21, 2011)

*The terriers will do the trick.*

I had moles and gophers before I got a pair of Jack Russell brothers as pups. Once they got about six months old the went crazy on the moles and gophers. They had a system worked out where one dug like crazy until the prey was exposed then the other would jump in for the kill. They even seemed to take turns in the digging and killing. However, one seemed to prefer the digging. It was a hoot to sit in the back yeard drinking a beer and watch them. They never ate their kill, in fact, as soo as it was dead they lost all interest and went to another. They must have been able to smell them because they always seemed to dig in the right space. Haven't had a gopher or moles problem in the almost ten years since I got "the boys".


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## Chasin Bait (Dec 28, 2010)

*Mole crickets*



Matteo said:


> Hmm.. How small are the holes in your yard??? I also have a bunch of small holes in my garden that are half an inch wide or less and I am baffled as to what might be making them. Man I hope I don't have a bunch of dwarf gophers. Whatever it is hasn't seemed to be hurting my garden yet but if anyone knows what the heck is doing it, please share. thanks


A critter making a 1/2 inch tunnel is more than likely to me a mole cricket. They are a major problem on golf courses.....good news, they are easier to get rid of than those pesky golfers....I mean gophers


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## Red3Fish (Jun 4, 2004)

*Kinda funny...*

Decades ago, my grandmother would find a "fresh" working tunnel, dig a little hole to expose both sides of tunnel, and squat there with an ice pick!! Usually within a few minutes ole mole would come to repair hole and "Touche!" A skewered mole. LOL She actually got quite a few this way, and would pay me a dime a mole to do the dirty work. Best day was about $.50 LOL

Later
R3F


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