Gopher Broke!

Trent McNair

Sorry about the pun, just couldn’t help it.  Today I thought I would talk a bit about my all-time favorite garden pest:  The Pocket Gopher.

Here we seem to have an astonishing amount of them, active – for what it seems – all year (they don’t hibernate).  They breed anywhere from 2-4 times per year and have on average 3-4 offspring.  Sometimes as many as 10.  This can lead to an infestation that is hard to fathom.  Even if I were to eliminate every existing gopher, eventually more would find their way into my area.  If you would like some great factoids on gophers, visit this site.

Gophers are a really amazing creature.  Adapted to one purpose, their efficiency is something that often has me in awe.  I also believe that they are a very intelligent creature.  Unfortunately I will never be a Buddhist, since killing them gives me a pleasure rivaled only by my love to garden.  A single pocket gopher can dig a burrow system consisting of up to 200 yards of tunnel in a year displacing as much as 2 ¼ tons of soil.
The pocket gopher’s burrow system will typically consist of a main burrow with a number of laterals branching off from it.  So until I can find a market for certified organic gopher jerky, they are relegated to becoming fertilizer for my landscape and garden.

Gopher Control or Deterrent

There are numerous ways I do battle with Thomomys bottae (this is the gopher found in my Northern California region, but these methods will work for any of the common varieties).  My preferred method are traps and cages.

• Gopher Cages
  If you want to protect trees, shrubs or other favorite perennials, this is the easiest deterrent, and once you install them you just walk away.  There are some gopher cages out there at garden centers, but they are made of chicken wire and are extremely weak.  They also begin to rust and decay almost immediately.  I get a heavier gauge galvanized wire and build my own.  Size is really dependent on what you are planting.  Also, remember to leave the cage sticking up out of the ground at least 4 inches.  Gophers like to come out at night above ground if it’s something that they really want to sink their teeth into.
  

  "I am Legion!"

• Gas and Bait
  This is something I DO NOT USE.  First, I am an organic grower.  Second, I just never believed in pesticides or poisons.  Not only can it contaminate my families and neighbors food/water supply but other domesticated animals could easily ingest it and pay a dear price.  Not recommended.
• Drowning
  This doesn’t really seem to work for me, and is a horrible waste of water.
• Trapping
  I use Macabee traps exclusively (see my explanation below).  I plan on doing some tests with box traps and other methods this season, but I have had great success with them in the veggie garden where cages are just not economically feasible.
• Old Tires (?)
  My father is old-school and always had a pile of old tires laying around.  He always saved everything because he felt there there would be a use for it someday, somehow.
  He would lay a piece of heavy galvanized wire mesh on the ground that was the diameter of the tire, then stack several tires on top of it. He would then fill the tires with nearby soil and that is how he grew some of the most amazing tomatoes I have ever eaten.  The tires… would absorb heat during the day and keep the roots warm at night, and watering was easy and focused on the root system.  My only issue looking back on this method is what might have been leaching from the tires as they photodegraded in the sun, right into the plants roots and surrounding earth.  I’ve never used his method but it was novel none the less.

The Macabee Gopher Trap

Macabee traps have been around for a long time.  If you have never used one read the directions carefully.  If one closes on you they can really smart.  I’ve been using them for 20 years and have never had an accident.  NEVER set one and leave it exposed above ground.  Dogs, cats and kids can get badly hurt!  If your dog is a digger he may smell you on the trap and dig it up, so keep that in mind as well.  Here’s a video from the UC Davis website that shows you how to properly set a Macabee gopher trap (Just scroll down the page until you spot the video).  There’s also more great info at this page so feel free to browse around! Every day I head out into my garden, looking for fresh mounds.  Using a firm stick (or probe – can be a long screwdriver…), probe around the area for the tunnel.  Try to triangulate between the mounds.  Once you locate the tunnel, dig a hole exposing the tunnel.  You can then set a spike in ground nearby and tie twine to two gopher traps at the opposite end of the pinchers.  Set the traps and insert them into the tunnel pointing the pinchers in either direction (see diagram).

2-Trap Setup in a Gopher Tunnel

I like to grab a handful of weeds or something that you see them eat a lot in your neck of the woods and place that between the traps.  The scent will raise their curiosity and bring them to the tunnel.  Now, this is where there are conflicting ways to finish up your ‘trap’.  When setting this type of gopher trap system I like to place a piece of plywood over the hole I dug, and seal off the edges with earth so there is no light getting into the tunnel.  If they see light they are often smart enough to know that that tunnel was compromised and will merely back-fill earth into the area, burying your traps (this is why its a good idea to tie twine to them).  Others might not cover it so completely – maybe just throwing some grass lightly over the hole.  This leads me to my other way of trapping them… Sometimes when I come to the garden there is a fresh, open hole where they are either feeding on one of my veggies or just starting to push out earth from their tunnel systems.  I’ll dig down with my hands and pull out enough earth to be able to reach in and place my set trap.  I’ll then place my bait (more weeds and such, as above) right behind it.  Usually with this quick set-up I don’t tie it off.  Then I place just enough weeds or hay to lightly cover the setting.  In my mind the gopher smells the bait, and is also very curious thinking to him/herself, “Wait a minute.  That’s not how I left that!” and I do tend to get one this way.  Whenever I get a gopher I also bury them right in the tunnel that I caught them.  It keeps the other gophers from using the same tunnel, for obvious reasons.

The Gopher Dance

No, I don’t do the ikky shuffle when I catch a gopher, though I do feel pretty triumphant when I do.  It never gets old!  What I’m talking about is setting traps and…well, dancing.  Jumping up and down in the area!  This can send gophers into a paniced frenzy and make them run right *smack* into a trap.  Don’t laugh!  It does work!

Other Gopher Fishing Tips

It is like fishing, and like fish, gophers can get wise.  If your gopher gets ‘clipped’ but not caught, it’s not unlikely that he won’t go near another macabee trap again.  So keep them clean by washing them with mild soapy water after you catch one.  At the very least, rinse them off with water.  Keep them well oiled when they get rusty.  Don’t set a trap and then start diggin’ for them – you WILL forget where you set it down and either trap your own hand or sit on it.  Never set a trap until you are ready to place it right then and there. So, that’s my gopher gettin’ strategy!  I’d love to hear yours!

Tags: garden, gopher, gopher cage, gopher problem, gopher trap, IPM, organic, pest control, Thomomys, vegetables, veggies