Gopher control--will this work?

[Depmandog]

These guys have the right idea.

http://www.rodenator.com/

They use a propane mix - flood the hole with gas and ignite. Looks like you could clear some acreage pretty fast.

They have numerous YouTube vids - fun to watch.

I think it would be pretty easy to make a rig that would do the same thing.

 

[Egon]

You could also spend a day in the field with a vacuum truck!:thumbsup:

 

[Ken]

I use rail road or high way flares and use post hole digger to make deep hole light the flare and put tin over hole. cover with dirt to seal off the burning flare. As the smoke spreads cover each hole where smoke escapes. The burning sulfer and lack of oxygen seem to get rid of the gophers.

20 years ago a man asked how to get rid of gophers in his yard and was told to pour gas into hole and cover. He did and had lunch and when leaving to return to work removed cover and tossed a match into hole. Blew the car port off house and broke up concrete pad .
Returned to work angreer than a goosed hornet.
No one told him to toss the match.
ken

 

[Treesanddust]

We've been battling the little devils for years now.
Poison is the best way to remove the most the fastest. However it is not an option for us due to dogs that may get ahold of a gopher that's been poisoned.
What we've found that works the best are the Victor Gopher traps.
We've got a couple of five gallon buckets filled with these traps, small garden shovels, tent stakes and survey flags.
You dig up a fresh mound to find the run or runs and place the traps in the run(s) and go about your business. Check on them every few hours. Sometimes the gopher will push the trap or bury it without getting caught.
If you use these traps be sure to tie a string on it then to a stake, we use the plastic tent stakes. We also use surveying flags pushed in right behind the traps to help keep them from being pushed out of the tunnel and so we can find the traps out in the field.

 

[Egon]

Them traps catch dogs and small kids also!

 

[Folio]

Egon--yeah, was wondering about the dog getting her snout caught in one of those. Would have to monitor her and the traps pretty close. Will just have to experiment on a small scale, I suppose, and work out solutions as I go. This morning I discovered several mounds INSIDE my machine shed (graveled floor). Gotta do something soon...

 

[flusher]

We have 25 acres of dry land pasture being overrun with gophers--hundreds of mounds in every direction, which gives the dog (a poodle) no end of digging entertainment. And that's the problem: the deep holes she creates are becoming a hazard to both us and our seven livestock (llamas, sheep, horses). One of these days, one of us is going to sprain or break a body part tripping into one. We'd like to do something about it, but since this is a hobby farm and our living doesn't depend on it, we don't want to spend a lot of money.

Ingested poisons are out of the question for a variety of reasons, and the apparent number of critters makes trapping rather impractical, seems to me. Research says sonic/electronic solutions are ineffective. The propane explosive method works, but is cost prohibitive. So here's my idea:

1. Identify areas of current gopher activity per established standard operating procedures.

2. Dig out active mounds, find the tunnel openings, and set off a smoke bomb in each to reveal the extent of the tunneling.

2. Flood the tunnel with carbon dioxide from my tractor's (diesel) exhaust using either a commercial or handmade connection.

3. Say a few reverent, polite words for the gopher.

Seems simple, straightforward, and inexpensive. Would probably take several seasons to see concrete results, no? So what am I missing? Appreciate any and all feedback.

Get yourself 3 or 4 Jack Russell terriers and let them do the hard work. You just follow along with your FEL and fill in the holes they make while doing their thing. They'll work for food:thumbsup:.

 

[Egon]

Importing Badgers would also work well but there would be holes!

 

[charlz]

Gas bombs don't work that I can tell, never had any luck with them. Water does not work either, I have tried garden hoses, 1.5" hoses and we even flood irrigate here and inches of standing water on the field doesn't kill them.

Here part of our property taxes pay for animal control and they will come out and put poison in the tunnels using a tool similar to this:

Gopher Mole Bait Applicator | Yard Butler Store

can also be purchased at local farm supply places. This keeps the poison below ground and away from other animals but if a poisoned gopher comes up to the surface and dies....

There is also a 3pt model that creates new gopher runs and puts poison in them. When the gophers intersect these tunnels they explore them and find the poison. You local farmers co-op, county extension office etc might have one of these available. I also see them for sale on Craigslist occasionally.

I have had the best luck with propane blasting and also using this trap:

The box traps do not work very well in my experience.



25 acres is a big area, whatever your chosen tool is I would start by knocking all the existing mounds down with a drag harrow. This will help fill in some holes but also show you where new activity is. The next morning there will be new mounds and target those with whatever you choose. Flatten those mounds and so on.

 

[charlz]

There is also a guy I see on occasion selling 2-stroke leaf blowers retrofitted so the exhaust goes into the blower intake. The blower end has a 2" or so piece of metal tubing on it which you place into the hole and let it run for a while. Not sure of the effectiveness. Running the pre-mix on the thick side probably helps.