jhoffman33
New member
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- May 9, 2011
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- Tractor
- New Holland 2210
A .220 is best, however conibear traps sets in active entrance burrows are effective.
!!Gophers!!
- Thread starter Leonard
- Start date
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Rhon
Bronze Member
We use road flares and a leaf blower. Light the flare, stuff it in the hole and then put the leaf blower over it. The blower really gets the smoke into the system.
Whitey
Gold Member
Ruger 17 HMR
kebo
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- May 16, 2006
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- Lexington, SC
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- 2001 John Deere 790 4x4, bar tires
Not long ago there was another thread here about moles and someone posted a pic of a modified 2 stroke weedeater. They simply removed the shaft (for the trimmer part) and welded a small pipe to the muffler that turned straight down. There was a plate attached to the bottom to give it stability too.
The idea was to sit the motor next to a mole tunnel with the exhaust tube over a hole in the mole tunnel and let the two stroke exhaust pump ifumes nto the tunnel. It seems to me it would also work on a gopher hole? You might have to make a skirt to cover the larger hole, and might even need to add some flexible metal tubing to make sure the exhaust will reach deeper into the burrow.
If you try that, let it run for awhile? and then remove it and seal the hole up quickly to keep the fumes inside. Let us know if it works if you do it!
The idea was to sit the motor next to a mole tunnel with the exhaust tube over a hole in the mole tunnel and let the two stroke exhaust pump ifumes nto the tunnel. It seems to me it would also work on a gopher hole? You might have to make a skirt to cover the larger hole, and might even need to add some flexible metal tubing to make sure the exhaust will reach deeper into the burrow.
If you try that, let it run for awhile? and then remove it and seal the hole up quickly to keep the fumes inside. Let us know if it works if you do it!
LeadPoison
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2005
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- 501
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- Kubota M4900
Trafficman said:Ruger 10-.22
T-Man.
I have used my 450 Marlin with a 350 grain flat point on a problem armadillo. It was the only time in my life when I thought "Hmmm... Maybe, just maybe, I used a tad bit too much gun."
go to utube and search verminator or rodenator, They are a little pricey but nothing like pumping propane into an enclosed space and touching it off. Almost as much fun as empty PAM cans tossed into a burn pile.
Bird
Rest in Peace
Many years ago, and perhaps still for all I know, north Padre Island (Port Aransas, TX, area) had lots of gophers, but also had lots of stray cats. And when we checked in at the Island RV Resort they gave us a brochure that included the park rules, one of which was "DO NOT FEED THE CATS" with an explanation that well fed cats won't hunt gophers.:laughing:
There are already plenty of stray cats around the neighborhood, as well as hawks, fox, owl, coyote, and buzzards. They don't seem to keep the gopher population down (Enough for me anyway). I guess it would be alot worse without them. Been baiting them with one of them stick in the ground gadgets with a twist lever thingy on the handle to release the bait. May take awhile but I'll stay with it. Haven't tried the BB to knock the mounds down yet. Not sure if it will work but worth a try. Like the .22 idea but a nearby school prohibits any firearms.
Rhinorider
Bronze Member
You could use the Bill Murry method he used C4 in Caddy shack without much luck, but sure did look like fun.:laughing: Around here for ground hogs, alot of farmers would throw a chunk of carbide into the hole. (The kind that is used in the old fashioned miners lights. ) Then poor in a little water and cover the hole. This makes Acyetelene gas which is heavier than air and gravity forces it through the tunnels.
I had the same problem. Had an older gentleman (80+) would come with his ATV and trap the gophers. I gave him $2 a gopher and the county gave him $2. He trapped 194 gophers in one season on about 20 acres. I also used a gopher machine to put down poison.
The problem with the poison is that you can only use the gopher machine when there is enough moisture in the soil that the tunnels it makes won't collapse. Then you have to avoid driving on the field for about a month so that you don't collapse the tunnels. This gives the poison time to work. Also, if there are a lot of grubs and live food they may not eat the poison grain this time of year.
I have found the best solution is to get yourself a bunch of traps and start trapping. If you can stay on top of them, you'll get the upper hand.
The first thing you'll want to do is get the existing mounds leveled off so that you can identify where there is new activity. They will mound after it rains. If its really dry, they don't typically mound. Like the gopher getter, I suspect they need moist soil for their new tunnels not to collapse.
I have a friend who has a machine shop. They buy 6 x 8 foot sheets (or thereabouts) of 3/4 to 1 inch thick plate and they flame cut parts out of it. What's left is a big heavy sheet of steel with a lot of openings where the parts were removed. They gave me 2 of these. I use them as drags. You can drag it all over your field and it doesn't damage the grass to the point where it doesn't come back. Mainly, you just need to knock the tops off the mounds. You could probably use an old bed spring with some concrete blocks for weight.
This is the style of trap that I use. I bought about a dozen of them from Menards and carry them in a bucket on my ATV.
Get yourself a rod to use as a probe. Probe the area around the mound until you find their tunnel. Dig down, insert 2 traps so that you have a trap for both directions of their tunnel. I put a small chain on each trap and stake the opposite end of the chain so that they can't make off with the trap.
Take a shovel and dig a small patch of sod and place that sod at ground-level as a cover over the top of the hole you dug. Pile loose dirt over the sod patch to block any light or air from entering around the sod cover.
I buy a bunch of these red flags on the ends of wires that you see used for marking utilities. I stick one of the these flags in the ground to mark the location of my traps.
Wait a couple of days and then check your traps. One gopher can make dozens of mounds. You don't have to kill a lot of them to notice a huge reduction in mounding.
Makes mowing a lot more pleasant, too!
The problem with the poison is that you can only use the gopher machine when there is enough moisture in the soil that the tunnels it makes won't collapse. Then you have to avoid driving on the field for about a month so that you don't collapse the tunnels. This gives the poison time to work. Also, if there are a lot of grubs and live food they may not eat the poison grain this time of year.
I have found the best solution is to get yourself a bunch of traps and start trapping. If you can stay on top of them, you'll get the upper hand.
The first thing you'll want to do is get the existing mounds leveled off so that you can identify where there is new activity. They will mound after it rains. If its really dry, they don't typically mound. Like the gopher getter, I suspect they need moist soil for their new tunnels not to collapse.
I have a friend who has a machine shop. They buy 6 x 8 foot sheets (or thereabouts) of 3/4 to 1 inch thick plate and they flame cut parts out of it. What's left is a big heavy sheet of steel with a lot of openings where the parts were removed. They gave me 2 of these. I use them as drags. You can drag it all over your field and it doesn't damage the grass to the point where it doesn't come back. Mainly, you just need to knock the tops off the mounds. You could probably use an old bed spring with some concrete blocks for weight.
This is the style of trap that I use. I bought about a dozen of them from Menards and carry them in a bucket on my ATV.
Get yourself a rod to use as a probe. Probe the area around the mound until you find their tunnel. Dig down, insert 2 traps so that you have a trap for both directions of their tunnel. I put a small chain on each trap and stake the opposite end of the chain so that they can't make off with the trap.
Take a shovel and dig a small patch of sod and place that sod at ground-level as a cover over the top of the hole you dug. Pile loose dirt over the sod patch to block any light or air from entering around the sod cover.
I buy a bunch of these red flags on the ends of wires that you see used for marking utilities. I stick one of the these flags in the ground to mark the location of my traps.
Wait a couple of days and then check your traps. One gopher can make dozens of mounds. You don't have to kill a lot of them to notice a huge reduction in mounding.
Makes mowing a lot more pleasant, too!
charleyfarmall
Platinum Member
Since poison is bad for the soil, bad for the ground water, bad for you and bad for just about everything, it's also a bad idea. Sorry. Wrecking the planet through chemistry...
.22
Traps
Chisel plow the field
Cats
Gophers Pest Control | Moles Burrowing Rodents @ Rodenator
because blowing stuff up is way more fun anyway:thumbsup:
.22
Traps
Chisel plow the field
Cats
Gophers Pest Control | Moles Burrowing Rodents @ Rodenator
because blowing stuff up is way more fun anyway:thumbsup:
LoveTheSmellofDiesel
Silver Member
The rodenator, that looks a lot like what we did with a propane torch and garbage bags.... Big fun! Boom!!! :thumbsup:
They do look like fun. I've heard of people lighting things on fire they never intended though. That flame front can travel hundreds of yards through the tunnel system. If there is peat in the area...could burn for years.
I don't use the stuff made with strychnine. The stuff I use has very low toxicity and doesn't carry over to animals that might eat the dead gopher.
Be sure and dig up all the lead 22 shells that have been shot around the property, too.
my solution was to have a boy child wait 8 years and let him buy a bb gun with his b-day money. I taught him about safety(shoot one of moms chickens there is no safe place to hide) so far in 3 weeks he has 6 squirrels and a gopher. i have been amazed how well he is doing with the new gun i put a trigger lock on it he found the key but always asks first if he can unlock it. at least i can still out target shoot him for now.
The first thing you'll want to do is get the existing mounds leveled off so that you can identify where there is new activity. They will mound after it rains. If its really dry, they don't typically mound. Like the gopher getter, I suspect they need moist soil for their new tunnels not to collapse.
Get yourself a rod to use as a probe. Probe the area around the mound until you find their tunnel. Dig down, insert 2 traps so that you have a trap for both directions of their tunnel. I put a small chain on each trap and stake the opposite end of the chain so that they can't make off with the trap.
Take a shovel and dig a small patch of sod and place that sod at ground-level as a cover over the top of the hole you dug. Pile loose dirt over the sod patch to block any light or air from entering around the sod cover.
I buy a bunch of these red flags on the ends of wires that you see used for marking utilities. I stick one of the these flags in the ground to mark the location of my traps.
Wait a couple of days and then check your traps. One gopher can make dozens of mounds. You don't have to kill a lot of them to notice a huge reduction in mounding.
Makes mowing a lot more pleasant, too![/QUOTE]
Some good advice there, Trapped gophers in my youth for fun and profit, county paid .25 for a pair of front feet.
Rather then using sod to cover the tunnel we used to use a wood shingle, lay it over the hole and then cover with dirt.
As far as finding the tunnel we always used a steel rod as a probe also. Key to quickly finding the tunnels though was to look for the horseshoe shaped area on a fresh mound which indicated where the hole had been plugged by the gopher. Once we found that spot we would move the dirt back and some and probe around it to find the tunnel.
As to those advising shooting them. Pocket gopher are impossible to shoot as they never come out of their holes. You can live around them for years and never actually see one.
Now stripped gophers, you bet shooting and drowning them out are both effective. Once a good dog or cat keys in on the stripped ones they can put a dent in the population also.
My old rat terrier used to chase one to the ground then go stand by the outside faucet and bark at me. Miss that dog, hated rats also.
Get yourself a rod to use as a probe. Probe the area around the mound until you find their tunnel. Dig down, insert 2 traps so that you have a trap for both directions of their tunnel. I put a small chain on each trap and stake the opposite end of the chain so that they can't make off with the trap.
Take a shovel and dig a small patch of sod and place that sod at ground-level as a cover over the top of the hole you dug. Pile loose dirt over the sod patch to block any light or air from entering around the sod cover.
I buy a bunch of these red flags on the ends of wires that you see used for marking utilities. I stick one of the these flags in the ground to mark the location of my traps.
Wait a couple of days and then check your traps. One gopher can make dozens of mounds. You don't have to kill a lot of them to notice a huge reduction in mounding.
Makes mowing a lot more pleasant, too![/QUOTE]
Some good advice there, Trapped gophers in my youth for fun and profit, county paid .25 for a pair of front feet.
Rather then using sod to cover the tunnel we used to use a wood shingle, lay it over the hole and then cover with dirt.
As far as finding the tunnel we always used a steel rod as a probe also. Key to quickly finding the tunnels though was to look for the horseshoe shaped area on a fresh mound which indicated where the hole had been plugged by the gopher. Once we found that spot we would move the dirt back and some and probe around it to find the tunnel.
As to those advising shooting them. Pocket gopher are impossible to shoot as they never come out of their holes. You can live around them for years and never actually see one.
Now stripped gophers, you bet shooting and drowning them out are both effective. Once a good dog or cat keys in on the stripped ones they can put a dent in the population also.
My old rat terrier used to chase one to the ground then go stand by the outside faucet and bark at me. Miss that dog, hated rats also.
This thread has convinced me to go at these, we have pocket gophers and I've just let them go. We foster dogs and have our own terriers, over seven years I've seen only three gophers caught by the dogs. The terriers dig and dig but it's the patient dogs that wait that catch them- they just never come above ground. The farmers bait them with a device that looks like a hollow spike with a hopper for bait, but for a smaller area the answer seems to be traps.
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