Marmot Infestation

[RockWrangler]

Yeah. I bet you enjoy those grapes and a;mounds

Yeah. Don’t you enjoy those CA grapes and almonds

Orezok, I see you are located somewhere in the Mojave desert. I was stationed at George AFB near Victorville many long years ago. Besides the sun being nearly unbearable, the blowing sand sand-blasted my left back fender from parking at an angle in the barracks parking lot. I considered staying in CA, but decided at the last minute to return to Illinois, then eventually to WA State.

 

[plowhog]

it looks like the only remedy will be long-term trapping and/or poisoning. Even then the results will be abatement and not solution.

That is an astonishing number of varmits and pests to deal with. Seems like you are on it as well as you can, but as you said, it will take time to see results.

 

[MossRoad]

WOW!

 

[check]

Gheez, guys. I hope it doesn’t get that bad here. On my rental property I’ve only seen one marmot, and it was quite bold. Drove the dog nuts because we wouldn’t let him get at it. But with 25 acres, who knows what the future holds? I guess it is a bit too big for a 495 ft./s pellet gun.

 

[RockWrangler]

Gheez, guys. I hope it doesn’t get that bad here. On my rental property I’ve only seen one marmot, and it was quite bold. Drove the dog nuts because we wouldn’t let him get at it. But with 25 acres, who knows what the future holds? I guess it is a bit too big for a 495 ft./s pellet gun.

The neighbor across the road tried a pellet r**** on the marmots after a couple of his dogs were ripped up requiring vet care. I don’t have the particulars on the gun he used, but he gave up the hunt when the r**** he used wasn’t effective.

There are pellet rifles that are big game effective with larger calibers and higher velocities, but I doubt most of us would spend the big bucks to buy one. I want one, of course, but a .22 r**** can do the job, and a whole lot cheaper.

In my situation it is more effective to trap and relocate.

 

[AchingBack]

Gophers chewed through the insulation on the 6 gauge aluminum wiring going to my well control panel. All new wiring is now in conduit. This costs over 1k to repair.

 

[oosik]

When I ran the power from the meter pole to the house - I put it all underground. A friend suggested conduit. I questioned his recommendation but went ahead and put it in conduit.. BOY - am I ever glad I did. I have SEVERAL tribes of pocket gophers here.

There is one good think coming from this PNW heat wave. The pocket gophers are staying underground. If I were extremely fortunate - they would all be moving back into the woods.

 

[check]

The neighbor across the road tried a pellet r**** on the marmots after a couple of his dogs were ripped up requiring vet care. I don’t have the particulars on the gun he used, but he gave up the hunt when the r**** he used wasn’t effective.

There are pellet rifles that are big game effective with larger calibers and higher velocities, but I doubt most of us would spend the big bucks to buy one. I want one, of course, but a .22 r**** can do the job, and a whole lot cheaper.

In my situation it is more effective to trap and relocate.

I would love to try out one of those pellet guns myself, but unfortunately once you get over 500 ft./s here it is classified as a firearm, which creates a whole new set of issues.

 

[RockWrangler]

It has been a year since my last post about our marmot infestation. I was optimistic things were going to be better after trapping 155 of the critters last year; 37 out of a single barn door. It was a cold wet spring and I didn’t see many of the critters until a week or so ago. Then they were everywhere.

I got out my traps and went to work 5 days ago: in that time I have trapped an additional 12 marmots, 10 of them out of the same barn door. That makes 167 total in a little under two years, with 47 from a single barn door. It really is a bit mind-boggling.

I don’t know if this post is an update for those of you who are interested, or a statement of hopelessness. It looks like the only option is to keep doing what I am doing. Reminds me of the saying I heard somewhere: Only a fool keeps doing the same thing and expects a different outcome.

 

[oosik]

I have pocket gophers. It's a 1/5 the size of a ground hog. Years ago I gave up trapping - too damn much work. Now I poison them. A couple teaspoons of the granulated material. Spoon it down their run - cover everything up. In the four years I been poisoning - never had a single gopher surface and die. They die in their runs. No odors - no danger to the carnivores around here. No danger to my little dog - Brownie.

Another reason I quit trapping. For every PG I trapped - the were two more out in the wings. Waiting to "come on down". There is an unlimited supply. I am a mere 80 acres in the middle of miles & miles of open range land - in all directions.