Whats The Best Way To Get Rid Of Gophers In My Backyard?

Question

I Am At War!!!! I just bought my first house a few months ago and have since found out that the backyard is home to a bunch of gophers or ground squirrel type animals. These little boogers are tunneling under my lawn and building big mounds of dirt all over the yard. Not to mention them eating the plants etc. They must go! I have tried the smoke bomb type devices that you put into the tunnels . . I have found one dead from that. I bought a dog . hopefully he will start to get'em. So far he hasn't though. Anybody got any ideas? I feel like I am Bill Murray in the Caddyshack movies. he he. Any help would be great! Thanks, Randy in Temecula, CA

Answer 1

Bamma king of gopher killers. Bamma know this Temecula gopher well. Bamma kill 6 in one day. Bamma set 6 traps. Bamma get 6 kills. Bamma say it's easy when there 200 of them. Bamma no make this up. Bamma say watch for freshest mound. Bamma say move dirt and find hole. Bamma say put trap in hole with fresh celery. Bamma say cover trap with cardboard so dirt not cave in. Bamma say cover with dirt. Bamma say wait 24 hour. Bamma say you have one dead gopher. Bamma repeat. Bamma king of gopher killers. Bamma otta know.

Answer 2

Those are truely nasty critters - have been there, and being a farm boy, ground hogs were my mortal enemy. It sounds like you had more success with the smoke bomb than I ever had. Here are a few methods we used:

1. If you want to risk some minor EPA infractions, you can do the farmer trick: pour motor oil, hydraulic oil, or any other thick toxic substance that won't instantly be absorbed by the ground down the hole covering a wide area inside. When the critter runs in and out, it gets on his coat. When he cleans himself, he ingests the substance and is poisoned.

There may be other powdered poisons you can use that won't upset the EPA - check home depot, etc.

2. There are stronger poisons you can use. These require a license - don't worry, the license is cheap and easy to get. Look up the local county extension office phone number in the phone book and contact it. We used a poison gas to remove insects from grain bins - I often thought this might be effective on ground hogs - a stronger version of the smoke bombs.

3. You can also check the local laws and restrictions - traps are effective against ground hogs as well. The nice thing is that you can place them down in the hole, so you don't have to worry about pets wondering into them.

4. For all, you can use live traps. I used these for racoons and ferrel cats at my home. I found the best bait was a combination of corn on the cobb (can get at grocery or ask a local farmer when the ears form but are still soft) and Friskies or similar dry cat food (I think every critter in the world likes cat food). Because it is a live trap, you don't have to worry about pets.

Some areas will pick up and dispose of the pest, or you can drop the pest off and they will kill it. For ferrel cats, I dropped them off at the local pound in a box labeled ferrel cat with a $10-$20 donation attached to an envelope after hours (pounds hate dealing with cats).

When you catch a pest, you can move and release minor pests that some people enjoy like squirrels if local laws permit.

Otherwise, I found the most humane way of eliminating the varmit (shy of a bullet which would be frowned upon in a city) was to soak the varmit with a cup of radiator coolant. Make sure the coolant is not the non-poisonous animal friendly type. Like the oil, the varmit ingests the coolant when it cleans it from its coat. The critter then becomes drunk, falls asleep,and dies in its sleep.

Side note: I wouldn't announce this to your neighbors - some might find some law against killing the varmits in any convenient way.

Side note: If you get a skunk, use the same method above. Before trying to poison it, wearing glasses to protect your eyes, get an old blanket and nail it to a board or broomstick. Hold this up to protect yourself as you approach the cage. When you reach the cage, lay the blanket over the cage and beat it with a stick every few minutes - this will cause the skunk to nearly empty its spray sack into the blanket. Then remove the blanket, keeping it between yourself and the caged skunk. From a fair distance (as far as you think you can accurately throw the radiator fluid), wearing the glasses, carefully peek and when the moment allows throw the radiator fluid over the skunk.

Note: Any time you move the cage with an animal inside, wear thick insulated safety gloves. Tie a rope around the handle, and use a claw hammer to pick up the rope. You don't want there to be any risk the animal will bite or even scratch you. If you are bitten or scratched, take the animal to be tested for any potentially transmittable dieases.

Good luck and happy hunting.

Answer 3

I used to live in Corona and had the same problem. They were eating everything in site, it was literally insane.
Dog wise, only a rat terrier or jack russell that has been taught to hate them will succeed. They naturally hate them, but a little encouragement helps.
Smoke wise, I used road flares. However, when 1 is dead, the others just bury it, and mate and have more babies.
I found that they hate loose soil and heavy wood mulch. So, in my garden area, i kept it tilled deep. around my perenials (sp?) I put 4 or more inches of mulch.
They also hate castor beans. I would shove whole heads of castor bean seeds down the wholes. Of course then you end up with castor beans growing everywhere, but they mow down easily when they are small. After about 6 months of this war, I finally won. The castor beans are what won it for me. I always kept a bucket of seeds in the garage for whenever I saw a new whole.

Answer 4

I had this problem a few years ago. I went to everybody and spent a load of money on traps (no good, they're too smart) and so called experts (telling me to sit out there all day and when I hear something, blast them with a gun). Then I heard about castor bean spray. It seemed to work, but after raining, the effect seems to lessen. By accident, I finally discovered out what really works. Seems my Collie named Molly picked up on a new hobby! I'm not kidding, she used to spend all day laying down where they were most active, and then would POUNCE (sorry for shouting) on the little jerks, digging them out - literally...so far I've found 6-8 of them spread around on the yard...and Molly with a big smile on her face! Castor bean spray seems to work, but you have to keep at it - the truly lethal and permanent solution for me was my own dog! I'm in Imperial Beach myself, so the climate and backyard are probably similar. Take it from me, man's best friend is definitely the best (and easiest) answer!

Answer 5

I've found that the best way to get rid of them is not necessarily the most humane. It's always worked for me to kill one of them (pellet gun or a 22) and shove it down one of the holes. The other animals will pack up and leave, believing a new predator is around.

Answer 6

There is this interesting fellow who comes on TV with natural ways of solving problems. He mentioned, to kill gophers put Wrigleys Juicy Fruit gum down the holes.. They love the stuff, but it clogs up their insides and they die. Cheap, safe and effective.

Answer 7

I had a problem with gophers and told my cat to go get 'em. He did. And from then on I never had a problem, except to watch my step when exiting the house. My cat would line 'em up at the door. His presents for me.

Answer 8

Hire Glen Mason.

Answer 9

Hey Randy...I live in Canada and we have Moles that dig underground and destroy your yard. I am an ex hairdresser and someone told me if you put human hair in the holes they will go away...so go to your local hair salon and ask them to save the hair from the cuts and try it...also broken light bulbs in the holes..but that is kinda cruel as they will cut themselves but depends how desperate you are...good luck

Answer 10

Ammonia. Pour ammonia down the holes. We had this same problem and Horses. If one of our horses stepped into a gopher hole it could cause serious damage to their legs... and did too. Trust me, ammonia works. It ran them all away! You can purchase ammonia anywhere.