Gophers

[M. Sullivan]

Once again, multitude of solutions to life's mosting pressing problems, fast, from the good folks at TBN!!

jyoutz: Can one buy the grain already treated?? Either way, can I just go to the local nursery and ask for stryknine treated grain or the components to mix it (without getting turned in to poison control!)??

Off to try the bleach an ammonia!

 

[jyoutz]

Yes, just look for Elston gopher bait. You can buy it in packages as small as 1 pound for less than $10. The grain is milo, so the bait is small and round and easy to pour. One pound will keep you busy treating gophers for quite a while. I've never had any toxicity issues with my pets or other animals using this stuff. Just be careful, use gloves, don't spill any, and cover the hole.

 

[jyoutz]

Forgot to mention that this stuff is not restricted use in small quantities, so you can buy it without a license. I always get it in the garden section at Ace Hardware. If you can't find it, let me know and I will dig up the company info. Or ask your State University Cooperative Extension Service.

 

[ERNIEB]

jyoutz, <font color=blue>I've never had any toxicity issues with my pets or other animals using this stuff. </font color=blue>
We had a cat that died from what I think was eating or playing with mice poisoned by decon. I can't be sure of it, because we didn't have it examined. I had put out decon in the feed shed, as the mice were becoming a real problem. In the morning the cat was fine, that evening we found the cat dead in the yard. Also, a couple of chickens got into the decon and dropped dead almost within minutes.
I would think that if the poisoned gopher makes it up to the surface, and a cat or dog can get at it. It could be curtains for the pet. I'm just guessing, but maybe someone else knows more about this.

Ernie
"I shall never surrender or retreat" William Barret Travis

 

[jyoutz]

Ernie, no doubt that any animal that eats a poisoned gopher would also be poisoned. But I sure don't think that they make it out of the ground after being poisoned. We have a cat that is the bane of all rodents everywhere. He will grab any rodent he sees within 5 acres. We've never had a problem after using this stuff for about 15 years. The gopher dies below ground and that's it.

 

[RJohnson]

I had rats real bad this year in my chicken run and didn't want to poision them. So I did some checking and found a great "rat feeder" to make and keep the other animals out of the poision bait. You take a piece of 2" PVC pipe, a 2" Tee, a couple if pipe threaded couplings and two screwed plugs. Cut about a 2 and a half foot length and put the Tee on one end. Cut two one foot pieces and attach to either side of the tee and then add the screwed coupling and plugs. I didn't even glue mine up so that I can disassemble it if needed. Unscrew one or both of the screwed plugs and add packets of rat poision, Screw them back on and lay it on the ground in the area where the rats have been running. I put it right in the chicken coop and the chicken just ignored it and in a week the rats were gone. You will have to keep rebaiting it if they are eating alot of the poision. Hope this helps

Randy