Here we come and take your home away......in a way a sad story but what
can you do?

I had the same thing here in Beaumont, one leaved under our front step and it wasn't a pleasant situation!
We put allot of that smelly mothballs under and after many weeks he finally had enough!
Konrad

Praise that kitty and encourage her to keep hunting.

I live in the aptly named gopher state. After a "honeymoon" period of about 5 years, they invaded every garden I have. They ate everything--perennials, lilies, rose bushes, shrubs, trees, from the roots up. The damage was expensive and disheartening. I easily lost 50% of my plants in one season, including heirloom lilies and dahilia tubers that were handed down by my grandmother.

Since then I plant almost everything in wire cages buried underground, and the gophers seem to be discouraged from having to navigate their way between cages. I use Mole-Go (a castor oil based product) to the extent it is practical (I have huge gardens), and I have given up growing root vegetables.

I found trapping to be slow and pretty much futile.

Good luck,

Kate

Oh, Kate, how terrible. I don't think we have it that severe yet. I think I will call the Dept. of Ag. on Monday and see what they can tell me about the frequency of these rotten beasties around here.

I have a castor bean plant midway through my long flower bed. This was just about where I found the remains. Although, that is probably where the cat dragged it to. I've been doing a bit of googling and have found that castor bean is a supposed natural deterrent.

What if I pour castor oil around all of my beds, bury moth balls and sprinkle the soil with cayenne pepper? I'm serious. Think it will work? What damage will those ingredients do to the plants? I'll probably be glad now that I planted as many fragrant flowers as I have. Hurry up, evening scented stocks.

If I can't find any tunnels, then I can't find their home to get rid of them. I hate the thought of strychnine, mainly because of everyone's pets around here. I think one of the best controls is probably "my girls". My old girl, Patches, is 14, but she was a good mouser in her younger days. She's funny. About 9 years ago, we lost her littermate, Smokey, to an eagle and Patches wouldn't go outside after that. But, this year, when we got the fence totally finished, I brought her out to the back yard. She walked all around the perimeter of the 8 foot fence and has now decided that it is safe. Now we can hardly keep her in the house. Maybe these rodents will give her a new lease on life.

Shauna

Mostly what we have around here are 13-Lined Ground Squirrels. I grew up calling them gophers. They are just so freeking cute when I see them darting around at the sides of country roads, but then I have never had one in my garden. My condolences to anyone who has rodent problems of any kind.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stripey Little Cutie Pie

We are having rodent problems as well. Biggest problem right now are the regular squirrels and the ground squirrels (we also called them gophers). We finally resorted to trapping the squirrel that kept chewing off the rubber on the bottom of the garage door so that problem ended. However, there is still a herd of them out there beating us to the strawberry patch, not sure what to do about them. I really don't want to kill them but they are starting to dig large holes in the garden as well. My manure pile is full of rodents, so I am really responsible for them being here by providing such a nice home.

I don't know what kind of gophers we have, all I know is there are LOTS!

This is what I do to get rid of them....

After re-reading this post, I guess I should point out, thats not me, its hubby, I don't want you guys to get the impression that I'm a mud wrester or something. LOL

Sharon, that's hilarious! LOL

We too have lots of gophers at the farm and that's what we do....get our next door neighbor in town to come out and use them for target practice....he's a hunter and just loves taking care of the little rascals. I also see our farm cats hauling them into the barn every once in awhile for the kittens. This year there seem to be a lot of gophers and not too many hawks or falcons around either.

Such fun it is to garden with all the elements and creatures we have to endure! LOL

Betty

I am ROTFL and can't stop. Glad you clarified that, Sharon.

I could maybe get my 15 yr old to go out with his paintball gun and I'm sure he would jump at the chance. Just not sure what the newly stained fence, new concrete, new deck, etc. would all look like after he finished. I guess I could tell everyone that we have decided to start a new type of "architectural control" in our neighbourhood. That would really make some eyes roll.

Shauna

LOL! I was thinking, oh, that's Sharon... Sharon has nice blonde hair... ummm Sharon's kinda burly and wearing plaid... then I read the next post. Hahaha!

You know, I thought that was you Sharon and I figured, there you go, a good sturdy prairie gal ready to take down a few gophers, LOL!

Sturdy, burly, prairie girl wearing plaid, I gotta tell hubby this one! LOL!!!!

Sharon, that's too funny- made my morning.

My genuine gopher hunter is Guenther, still young and still in training, he's a bit on the short side but strong and smart due to his parentage. He loves to wear brown and black, in fact, won't wear anything else. Best of all, he's a real
"keener". Yup, he's my almost grown pooch, German Shepherd/rotti cross.
He's been bringing home many gifts, and especially loves it when they become properly aged- fox, moles, regular old gophers and mice too. He's quite the hunter and we're glad of it. My cats are not so good, Hobbit is quite the lady although I think when she does get out she is still a good little hunter. Sadie, my big muscular girl, who is only three, has developed agriphobia? since we got Guenther. She was the greatest hunter but Guenther scared her once last
fall and ever since I can hardly get her to go outside.
Patrick, my 11 year old and myself, are taking her out every day to get her used to the great outdoors. I keep telling her that Guenther only wants to play: he's actually very gentle with cats, but being technically still a pup, loves to lick and play with the cats.
Anyhoo, enough already with essay, Faith, back to the gopher problems.
We've offered our boys a bounty on moles, but so far, no money has been paid out. Sneaky things they are, the moles, that is. Aren't the good mole traps about $20 each? I wish we had about 30 of them. The moles really make a mess out
in the alfalfa fields. I've been lucky so far, they haven't managed to make my gardens their turf - yet.
One thing I can say, wherever they've been digging, the soil is fine and lovely. Once in awhile I go out on the hill and get a pail or two of "mole dirt".
The regular little gophers, whatchamacallits, are everywhere but especially on the roads. I keep wondering, why the heck are they crossing the roads all the time. Must be a good joke in there somewhere.
I will say, the moles are a regular pain in the butt, and worse. Such destruction.
If anyone has any more good ideas on getting rid of them,
please post! PS Sharon, would love to borrow your DH, is he for hire? ( I don't know what happened to my paragraph set up, I see it's all goofy, will have to fix before my next post )
Faith

Ah..... the pocket gopher. Hooray for your cats, Shauna! Job well done!! I know this is a year old post, but I thought I'd add to it.

I've been battling these nasty, little, voracious critters in my yard and garden for many years now. At first, I would dig them up and "relocate" them out in the woods or the outskirts of town. Then, I began trying to repel them - without much luck. Well, after watching plant after plant being slowly pulled underground and consumed (even stinky stemmed tomato plants and fibrous sunflowers) my attitude towards them changed.

We constructed tall raised beds with lathing (tightly woven metal mesh used for applying stucco to houses in the southwest) attached underneath. They haven't been able to get through this barrier. I consider these the "safe zones" of our garden. :O)

Anytime we come across their tunnels, we pack the dirt down on top to close it off. BTW, their holes and tunnels are sometimes fairly close to the surface of the ground, which can result in a nasty sprained ankle - or worse - when the ground caves in as you're walking.

In the near future, I plan to add some of the small wind wheels that send vibrations down into the ground. This is supposed to repel ground burrowing rodents.

I have to agree with Sharon. The best way to get rid of pg's is via permanent elimination. It's always a good idea to check with your local Dept.Of Agriculture or County Extension Agency prior to working on this problem. Perhaps even call your local law enforcement agency to see what the rules are regarding the use of a firearm, or air propelled weapon (such as a pellet gun or BB gun), where you live. Better safe - than sorry.

I don't like using gases or poisons because they can be lethal to other animals.

Snakes can be helpful predators. We have seen some non-venomous snakes in our yard, and happily leave them alone to help with the problem. I've even opened up some of the pg holes to give the snakes an easy entrance. Bon appetite!

I've heard that bubble gum works. Just drop a newly chewed piece of bubble gum into a fresh hole and cover with a rock or board. Apparently they can't digest it. I did try this method, once, but they never took the bait. So, I can't say if it really works, but it sounds good in theory.

Flooding the tunnels doesn't really work all that well, as they can go on, and on, and on, and on.....

However you choose to eliminate them, leave their body in the tunnel and cover it up. I've heard the smell will help to repel others. And - YES....there are others! :O/

Happy Gardening!