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HOW TO GET RID OF POCKET GOPHERS

Contact us for professional Gopher trapping, removal, and control. We also offer coaching services and products for a fee. If you're a do-it-yourselfer, check out the suggested techniques below.

    How to Get Rid of Gophers # 1 -Video

    How to Get Rid of Gophers # 2 -Video

    INFORMATION

  1. Why do we want to keep Gophers Around?

    When gophers till through the earth, they help aerate, fertilize, and mix the soil up. A small habitat of gophers on a property does more good than harm, though their population does need to be controlled at times to prevent damage to grass, plants, and trees.

  2. Why do we get rid of Gophers?
    While gophers CAN be helpful to a yard, they can also be very hurtful. Gophers are herbivores meaning they eat fruits and plants, and they have quite a taste for garden plants. This damaging behavior can kill flowers, shrubs, and trees; gophers will chew through roots and pull the plant into the ground to eat it. Another reason for getting rid of gophers is the danger that their tunnels can pose. Tunnels running underneath lawns can cause weak spots where people, pets, or livestock could fall into a shallow hole and twist or break ankles; they can also cause concrete pads to crack and collapse by digging underneath them. Like all rodents, one of the big reasons to want to get rid of them is the risk that they may carry diseases; in 2003, gophers were identified as an animal that can carry Monkeypox. They can also be carriers for LCMV and Leptospirosis. The Hantavirus can also be carried in gophers and spread to humans. While these instances are rare, it's better to be safe than sorry.

  3. Dead Gophers

    If gophers are flooded, poisoned, or you even find them dead, the body(s) should be wrapped in a plastic bag and taken to the burn plant or buried 2-3 feet under the ground.
  4. Dead Gopher removal on City or County Property

  5. When gophers are infesting a city property, responsible city officials can call us for removal from that area. If a gopher is dead on city property like a road or other, you can clean it up if you'd like or it would be better to call your local humane society or Best Friends of Animals Society. We do not remove dead Gophers off of city and/or county properties unless hired by city/county to do so.
  6. PROBLEMS

    1. Gophers bother lawns and gardens
    2. As they infest an area near a water storage or pond liners, they can cause flooding by chewing through liners and water pipes
    3. It can be difficult to locate and trap gophers
    4. Gopher tunnels can cause ground to erode when stepped on and concrete pads and driveways to crack and even collapse. Rock walls can also be affected by the change in foundation.
  7. KILL OR KEEP ALIVE?
    Gophers are good for the environment in that they churn the earth and help aerate soil, but it's good to remember that live trapping will usually stress a gopher out to the point that it will die before relocation. Killing is the best solution and trapping is the best method, traps and poisons are the best options here. If you refuse to kill the gophers, you can try flooding them out, capturing them, and relocating them 5-10 miles away.

    Steps to getting rid of Gophers:

    1. Why We Want to Keep Gophers Out
    2. Gophers make large, heavy piles of dirt that are not aesthetically pleasing and can damage lawn care equipment such as lawn mowers, cutting blades, and weed eaters when they hit rocks that have been dug up and these mounds. Gophers damage plants and root systems by chewing through roots and pulling plants into the ground to eat them. They can cause major damage to rose bushes, grass, trees and other plants. They can also be carriers of several dangerous and deadly diseases like Monkeypox, Leptospirosis, the Hantavirus, and LCMV.

    3. When to Get Rid of Gophers
    4. As soon as you discover a gopher on your property, you should start looking for ways to get rid of them. They are territorial animals and you will often find a ratio of about one for ΒΌ of an acre, occasionally, two can be found in this space of land but it is rare. Not every mound on a property indicates one gopher; a single gopher can make 20-40 mounds BY THEMSELVES in a month causing about a 2-3 inch void in every tunnel underneath the earth.

    5. Getting Rid of Gophers
    6. Poisoning, trapping and bombing (explosions) are common methods for getting rid of gophers. Poisons are not particularly effective and there are only a few that are legal for gophers but can be dangerous to humans and pets. Bombing means that gases are inserted into the ground and ignited, causing a concussion and killing the gophers. This is usually used in fields and large infestations. Water can also be used by flooding the gopher out of their tunnels. Our preferred method is trapping with metal brackets which is the most effective method.

    7. Places to Check for Gophers Entrances
    8. It's very unusual to see a gopher entrance, usually the areas you see with dirt piled up are exits. Gophers live underground and only come up to travel to a new location, to feed, or to push dirt out of their burrow.

    9. Blocking Gopher's Entrances
    10. It is very difficult to fill gopher holes and even more difficult to fill their tunnels. Once a tunnel is created it will stay in that area for years, that's why it's important to get rid of gophers as soon as possible so that you can prevent the dirt from settling that way and tunnels can return to normal.

    How to Get Rid of Gophers # 3 -Video

    How to Get Rid of Gophers # 4 -Video

    HOW TO

    1. How to Get Rid of Gophers on the Lawn

      Gophers can be poisoned, there are certain poisons allowed close to the home while there are some that can't be. Poisons usually have to be administered by a licensed applicator and those that don't need a license for use are, in most cases, weak and can barely do the job. You should be wary of strong poisons if you have pets or small children in your house. Underground traps should be used for gophers in lawns. You can also use a water hose to flood a gopher out and then do with it as you will; be careful that this can also cause flooding inside of basements and crawlspaces. Professionals are able to fill a gopher tunnel with flammable gases and then ignite them. The ignition and explosion of the gas causes a concussion that will kill the gopher. This method is mostly used in rural areas like orchards or fields, away from structures, because it is a very aggressive form of extermination that needs to be checked with local authorities for permission to use. Check local laws before using any forms of extermination.

    2. How to Get Rid of Gophers in a Vegetable Garden

      When dealing with gophers in a garden, harsh methods like flooding and exploding can be harmful to the plants, meaning that underground traps are the best option. These can be placed just inside of a mound, in the center of a tunnel, or near a delicious looking plant's roots. Our technicians use special, natural baits and scents to help draw gophers in and increase the odds of an easy capture.

    3. How to Get Rid of Gophers in Flower Beds

      Likewise to Vegetable Gardens, exploding and flooding a gopher tunnel can be more harmful to the plants than the gopher itself. Underground traps are the safest and most efficient option. Gophers are attracted to flower beds because of the lush supply of food and water (which they gather from plant roots), making these gardens a prime location. When trapping gophers in a flower bed, be sensitive to the plants but also be aware that they might make a good bait for a trap.

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    NEED HELP GETTING RID OF GOPHERS?

    If you are having problems, or don't want to deal with the gophers yourself after reading this article, please give us a call at 1-888-488-7720, you can also contact us through email. You can also call one of the technicians from your area and they can help you figure out a solution. REMEMBER: Gophers can be dangerous and working with them can be very complicated; it's best to hire a professional. Check out our YouTube channel and our website, AllstateAnimalControl.com, or use other Google resources to help you solve your problem. We do offer coaching solutions. Please send digital photos of your problem and we can coach you over the phone and ship you products for a fee.