Hi, I live in the Kern River Valley and have 2 1/2 acres. My experience with the damn critters is using a trap to end their time on Earth. I find the hole under the mound and widen it enough to accomodate the trap , attach a string to it and place a plastic lid over the hole: ( I use a lid from a 4 or 5 quart bucket of Ice cream that is translucent). I then cover dirt around the perimeter of the plastic lid leaving a small area in the center for some light to enter. My theory is that when the dirty little bastards see the light, they want to investigate and perhaps want to cover the hole better and that is usually when they trip the trap and go to gopher heaven. Use a small stake to anchor the trap via the string.

Shove the damn ,dead, fool back in the hole to send others a message only they can understand.

BTW... if the dirty little devil isn't quite dead...smack him a good one with whatever.