We have tried numerous ways to get rid of moles and gophers; so, how do you get rid of these pests?

Question

We have a large yard and garden. Deers, rabbits, and other pests can be managed. But, we now watch our step for fear of twisting ankles or sometimes total loss in the garden!

Answer 1

Depending on if you want to kill or repel them there are several ways. To kill them try poison, or traps. To repel them try granulated Castor oil products such as Mole No More. Gophers eat plants and Moles eat insects so try killing off all the insects in your soil so repel moles.

Answer 2

Spray for termites....haha ....only kidding! My parent had deer and gophers that ate from their garden but they planted something to veer them away. I only wish I would have listened to what they said they used. Maybe a local nursery would know.

Answer 3

To get rid of moles..buy a can of really cheap coffee and pour down the mole tunnels.It works for me.

Answer 4

Been there - done that - sorry, but if you get rid of them in one place, they'll just pop up somewhere else. Their tunnels go on forever, so they always have an entrance and an exit. You'll just have to coexist.

Answer 5

Trapping them and removing them might help. I also heard of people putting bay leaves in their holes. Seems they don't like the smell of bay leaves.

Answer 6

Someone also suggesting putting moth balls at several locations along their pathways; eventually causing them to leave your property for next door

Answer 7

I asked the same question one month ago and what I am forwarding to you, saved me. I did as is suggested below by a gentleman from California and yesterday I caught my 5th mole with only two traps. I wish I could take credit for this but give credit to Dr. Death. Here goes,

YOUR ARE IN LUCK. As a MASTER GARDENER for the univ of Calif coop extension for over 15 years, I am know as Dr Death. I've have sent more buck tooth fuzz balls to gopher heaven the any man in San Diego County. My first time kill rate is 98.5% on my first trap'n attempt.
1st, poison bait... 25 % kill rate. They only work in the colder season when there isn't much for the fuzz balls to eat. Face it, given the choice of a big, fat juicy root or some dried out poison grain, what would you eat? Also, for the poison to work, they have to eat it at least 5 days in a row for it to do it's job. If Mr Gopher eats it only a few time, all you get is a sick, and smarter gopher.
Trap'n is the only way to make sure you nail the bas****. But the real secrete has nothing to go with traps. The secrete is to cave in and or backfill as much of his tunnel as possible. Just because you nailed uncle jim doesn't end your problem. Because as soon as uncle jim gets nailed, cousin leroy next door move right into jim's old condo. You can have plant problems for years and never know you have gophers. If they have nice little empty tunnels waiting for 'um, they don't have to dig new ones. No digging, no mounds & you think you have no gophers. Also by caving in their tunnel, you can see when you do have activity and can nip it right away. Also the fewer tunnels, the harder it is for them to make babies. Except for mating, they like to live alone in their own tunnels. If the females and males are kept farther apart... you get the idea.
Best traps are the "Black Hole" traps you can find at most Home Depots, etc. This fellow in San Diego came up with the idea back in the mid 1980's. Got tired of pulling theguts out of the spear traps. He built it out of some 4inch PVC pipe. Simple idea that worked. He brought several over to the county farm advisor's office & several of us Master Gardeners took home to try them out. They worked great. His son made a million dollars off the design. Always buy 'um in pairs, one for each direction of the tunnel. No bait needed, but some old timerswear rubbing a bit of garlic on the trap is a sure way to get um. I've nailed thousands without the garlic, so i really don't think it matters?
Get yourself a long piece of steel rebar & bend up one end like a walking cane. Rap some cloth around the handle part so you don't get any blisters on your palm. You now have a great gopher "prod". You use that to poke around the ground feeling for tunnels. Believe me you'll know when you find one. Best place to start is inbetween two mounds, They seldom push soil out their main tunnel, but push it out on either side of the main tunnel. Set the traps via the easy instructions on the box & go have a beer. Between 1 to 12 hours later you'll have reason to have another. No more bloody spears to deal with. The trap is designed so yo never touch the fuzz ball. You just release the trap over the trash can & the late uncle jim just falls into the trash. Then the hard part begins. Use your probe and follow that tunnel. Back fill with soil or cave in as much as you can find. the more the better.
Each spring i used to give a full day, hands on class to homeowners on gopher control for the univ of calif. The class was limited to 50 people but swelled to over 100. So I started giving for each year. Many former students drop by to brag about their sucess. One 74 year old lady went home after my class and caught 14 gophers in that summer. If she can do it so can you. It's not as hard as it seems. It's actually more brain work the brawn. Gopher damage to crops & landscape in the state of calif each year top 3 Billion dollars. That was Billion, with a B.

I type with only one finger, so i tend to make mistakes with speed. But the spel checker is down again as usual & i'm tired of waiting for it everyday, so forgive my typos.

Source(s):
Garden Dok BS, MG, Univ of Calif coop extension MASTER GARDENER.

Answer 8

try putting an owl statue on the rooftop...it sometimes fakes rodents out

Answer 9

http://liquidfence.com/

This stuff is pricey but soooo worth it.

Answer 10

trap them