gophers and moles

[SARG]

This site advertises on this page (below) and they have numerous videos on trapping moles including some with the propane explosion technique......... Excellent "how to" instructions. (I also ordered six traps for spring)
Mole Traps and Gopher Traps | Get Rid of Moles and Gophers

 

[Barton]

ANHC, "She came home ..."

And then! And then! Come on, you can tell us. What's the rest of the story?

 

[Kenster]

Sarg, I've had four of these Gophinators for a little over a year. I had got about 65 gophers that year with a shotgun. Since getting these traps my 'kill count' is about 230. I have 100% success rate. I've learned you have to dig down from the surface tunnel to the main tunnel, usually about 18 inces to two feet below the surface. You'll usually find the main tunnel at that intersection and it will run both ways, so you have to put a trap in both tunnels. The only time I have EVER had a gopher backfill over a trap is when I failed to find a THIRD tunnel at the intersection. When that happens, I just dig the traps out and put another trap in the third tunnel. I always get the varmits. I don't get the instant satisfaction a shotgun brings but with the traps, I just set it and forget about it for a few hours, then come back and pull out a gopher, which I leave on the edge of the woods for the coyotes or vultures.

 

[laurencen]

Well I ordered six of the Gophinator traps for spring, looking forward to trying them, if it is not sucessfull then I will try the propane oxygen trick, there is lots of video on youtube, gives quite a blast

 

[exiled cheesehead]

Over the years my father and I have trapped almost 1,100 pocket gophers (yes, we keep track of the number each year as our township pays a bounty on them as do the farmers we trap for; the mounds plug up their haybines). We do it by digging up the mound, locating the hole and following it until we hit a "Y". We then excavate a few inches of dirt out from underneath the 2 holes and set an old Victor 0 single spring trap underneath the 2 holes. The older the trap with a weak spring, the better as it doesn't take much to hold a pocket gopher. We then cover the hole that we dug that contains the trap set with a piece of plywood about 3 feet square and cover with several inches of dirt so no light or outside air will penetrate. I will add that we backfill the trench we dig to follow the single hole until we hit the "Y". You want to keep the 2 holes of the "Y" as close together as possible, so when you hit the "Y" stop digging with the big shovel and go to a small gardeners spade to do the fine dirt removeal.

What happens is the gopher comes traveling along the tunnel and will fall into the trap and gets caught by the leg or gets killed instantly if the trap breaks its back. This type of set will catch 99% of the pocket gophers you encounter. For the other 1% that are smart enough to always push dirt in front of them when they move through the tunnels, and snap the trap, we will leave the two holes open and lay in the field with a 410 shotgun (with bird shot) and shoot them when they start pushing dirt to plug the holes to the outside. Over the years, we have only encountered a few pocket gophers (probably less than I can count on one hand) that were either untrappable or too "smart" to be shot.

 

[zzvyb6]

Starting fluid. 10 seconds in the tunnel. Lay a fuse trail about 2 feet from the point of insertion. Tounch and go. Tango Union. Woodchucks, too.

 

[AHNC]

ANHC, "She came home ..."

And then! And then! Come on, you can tell us. What's the rest of the story?

Haven't checked this thread in a while. That was very close to 30 years ago. We sit here having coffee this morning. She wasn't to worried about the yard. Growing grass up in the CA hills was not a great venture, water being better used in the orchard/garden. She has had much to wonder about and shake her head over!

This mornings discussion is why I thought I had to buy another rifle, which I did yesterday. That one she will never understand, but I continue to give her a chance to do so.