Help, I’m in Trouble!

My wife has notified me that we have gophers in her prescious lawn. Apparently, these large mounds of dirt gave it away. Today, she actually saw the gopher. Opened the window of the house and started yelling at it.
This was actually funny until she started yelling at me to get rid of them.

Ok, so how do I get rid of gophers and please note that this is in an established lawn and we have a combined invisible fencing system with our neighbors so we have 7 dogs to contend with.

Thanks for your help!!

garden hose down the hole, .22, and a case of beer. good times.

I tried the small gopher traps first but didn’t work. I ended up sticking the hose down one of the holes and ran the water for an hour. No more issues and I had some big mounds.
DT

Karma is a bich.

Just a note to all. This is what happens to people from WI that are pro taxpayer funded stadium in MN.

Just let me know when to quit transplanting my gophers to Hudson.

Get a small diameter steel rod. Start poking around the mound for the tunnel. You will feel the rod go into the tunnel. Then just pour poisen pellets into the tunnel. Cover the tunnel with dirt again. The dogs won’t dig the pellets out and eat them.

FWIW, some people claim if you have some of those twirling style lawn ornaments that the vibration will drive the gophers out of the yard. I can’t say for sure if that works or not.

this is a tuffy. i’ve got 40 dogs and i gave up on gophers. i consider them entertainment for the dogs. But, the dig troughs become a mowing hazard…
Wish I were kidding. Spike traps are too dangerous, poison is out of the question. I’ve never talked with any dog owners who have solved the problem…

made a lot of money (due to the bounty the county gave out) in my younger years……pretty simple…if you have got mounds look for the “horseshoe” the tunnels will be going out from each end…grab a metal stake and poke around until you feel a tunnel…then dig it out. you can use the “gopher traps” but i like a regular size 1 long hold. Bury it in flush with the ground at the bottom of the runway then use some ply wood, old shingles etc to cover your hole…make sure there is no light showing through…..next morning check trap and gopher should be caught…..also make sure to stake trap down…lol

Fleet Farm has got poison back in the Farm Dept….works like a charm. Just put down the holes/tunnels and no more gophers!

Used to trap them as a kid. Find the fresh mounds. Removed the mound and find the hole underneath. Sometimes they fill the holes back in or you need to dig for them. A probing rod can help with finding the holes. Once found place the trap in the hole and stake off the chain to the trap. Cover the hole with newspaper and then dirt so every thing looks normal to the gopher. Check the trap the next day.

Might need to set a few traps.

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FWIW, some people claim if you have some of those twirling style lawn ornaments that the vibration will drive the gophers out of the yard. I can’t say for sure if that works or not.

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This is perfect!! My wife hates those things, but I think she hates gophers more. How many should I tell her we need?

Thinking about a dozen around the yard should work!!

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Get a small diameter steel rod. Start poking around the mound for the tunnel. You will feel the rod go into the tunnel. Then just pour poisen pellets into the tunnel. Cover the tunnel with dirt again. The dogs won’t dig the pellets out and eat them.

FWIW, some people claim if you have some of those twirling style lawn ornaments that the vibration will drive the gophers out of the yard. I can’t say for sure if that works or not.

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This was a weekend event in my childhood with my dad. Steel rod looking for the “tunnel” put 2 or 3 pellets and no more gophers.

Id give this guy a call he knows his stuff.

Your ex neighbor used to shoot them but I dont know if thats an option. Get some gopher traps. Always worked for me. There’s an art to it though…

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Fleet Farm has got poison back in the Farm Dept….works like a charm. Just put down the holes/tunnels and no more gophers!

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Dang it, though, please be freaking careful if you go the poison route. Even if you don’t have pets of your own, having a neighbor’s dog or cat find a stray pellet that was accidentally dropped is just too ugly to even think about.

For pocket gophers, I’m with Mike. They are not especially hard to trap with the right technique. 5 traps and one week of solid effort will usually clear them from a yard. As a kid, my best friend and I were so effective trapping them on his parents farm that toward the end of the summer it was a struggle to get any of them in the traps.

Grouse

Rodentator. Never gets old. If you do it, let us know so we can come watch.

http://www.rodenator.com/pests-controls-videos-rodenators

Ok, other than Stu (and BK’s homeboy slang), I’m hearing trap them or poison them.

Even with dogs??? Traps, sounds like they need to be flush to the ground then buried or have wood or shingles on top, I assume to keep the dogs from getting trapped.

Poison, dogs WILL NOT dig these up??? Before I poison my dogs are we 100% sure????

Thanks,

ET

Have you tried Bill Murray? He did a great job on those gophers at that country club.

Tubby Smith perhaps has ruined a few Gopher seasons…

Any Big 10 team would be able to beat the Gophers. Thanks for the softball pitch…

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Have you tried Bill Murray? He did a great job on those gophers at that country club.

Tubby Smith perhaps has ruined a few Gopher seasons…

Any Big 10 team would be able to beat the Gophers. Thanks for the softball pitch…

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used to trap them as a kid on the farm the same way Mike and Walleyefisher said. Used to get a lot of them.

Fresh lettuce by the hole, early morning .17 pellet gun task force. Has worked well on my parish grounds. I say early morning because if one of our little old church ladies saw me in extermination mode they’d probably whack me with their canes!

I still like my method for fun and effectiveness. Could have had them taken care of in the amount of time you spent at the twins game yesterday.

Also, the lawn ornament vibration thing does not work on moles.

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Ok, other than Stu (and BK’s homeboy slang), I’m hearing trap them or poison them.

Even with dogs??? Traps, sounds like they need to be flush to the ground then buried or have wood or shingles on top, I assume to keep the dogs from getting trapped.

Poison, dogs WILL NOT dig these up??? Before I poison my dogs are we 100% sure????

Thanks,

ET

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I wouldn’t even consider poison for any warm blooded animal ever again. Insects yes. Why risk it? Gopher traps fit into tunnel. Very unique. http://www.traplineproducts.com/

Baitcaster, 20# line, lawn chair, cooler full of your favorite beverage. Tie a hangman’s noose in the end of the line and set it around the hole. When he pops his furry little head up for a look around, Fish On! Great fun on a slow afternoon.

Rootski

Stu, keep my dog out of this conversation.

Spring traps are much better than poison. Safer and more humane.

Not to change the subject, but I finally spring trapped a mouse in the house. I think I might buy a bigger one and put the cat food on it since both those morons couldn’t do the job.

I also have a stupid mole that hits my yard every spring. He makes beautiful trails for me to burn my lawn while mowing. The thing is he seems to just make a bunch of trails and then leaves the yard? Unless they just build a bunch of tunnels right away in the spring and then just use those all year, not making any new paths?

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Spring traps are much better than poison. Safer and more humane.

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Agreed.

Get rid of the grubs in your yard and your moles will stay at your neighbors.

I used to get 20 cents a pair of front feet of the pocket gophers. The traps with them in it are super easy. The mound should have a perfect circle where it pushed up the last piece of dirt. Dig straight down from circle.you should find a tunnel. That tunnel will come to a Y. One is a false tunnel. Pace the trap into real tunnel. I used a trap that worked the same way. However you leave the opening you dug open. The gopher will sense the opening and push a plug of dirt ahead of it to repair which sets off the trap. With these traps I would check them twice a day. With the leg hold trap you only get one gopher per day. Hope this helps.

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Get a small diameter steel rod. Start poking around the mound for the tunnel. You will feel the rod go into the tunnel. Then just pour poisen pellets into the tunnel. Cover the tunnel with dirt again. The dogs won’t dig the pellets out and eat them.

What he said!

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Agreed.

Get rid of the grubs in your yard and your moles will stay at your neighbors.

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NEVER! Grubs are bull sunfish and bullhead candy!

Anyway, have you seen me dress myself? Who am I to judge. 5318008

I worked on a golf course grounds crew years ago. We took a 5 gallon pail of water and a golf club. When they came up we always yelled “FORE!”.

PS..Please do not forward this msg to your PETA friends.