Pocket Gopher Control

[LindenBruce]

Hello All,

Ok, I am hell bent on getting this gopher. I have tried flooding it out three times. I tried a 15min. road flare. Nothing. It is still there tearing up a section of my hill. I can't use baits or poison because of my pets. I can't seem to find the gopher gassers locally. Stores are telling me they have not been able to get those in months. I'm going to try a trap next. But I am pulling my hair out over this one. It is being very sly. Any ideas? Would the exhaust from my gas riding mower work? How about from my newer diesel tractor? Thanks, B.

 

[Hughman]

Rodenator

 

[ericm979]

The best thing I have found is cinch traps. Set them in fresh burrows and check twice a day. You need more than one. I've set 5 or 6 at times to get one gopher but usually it's 2 or 3. It depends on how many burrows are active. Watch your fingers when setting the traps, the spring is strong. I've set them hundreds of times and only got 'bit' once so far. I use a sturdy trowel to dig out the mounds (or runs if I can find them) to get the trap in. I use a steel rod to probe for runs and to find where in the mound the run starts when it's plugged.

The best price I found is here: Cinch Mole Trap

 

[Torvy]

 

[Roadworthy]

When I go "gopher hunting" I'll select a mound. I'll start probing the mound with a rod. It will stop after passing through the loose dirt until I find the passage entrance. It penetrates easily there. Leaving the rod as a place marker I'll dig around it but very close to it. In this way I'll find the access hole. Digging or feeling around a bit and looking carefully I will find two or more side tunnels connected to the hole. I place a set trap into each tunnel after attaching a piece of stout cord to ensure I can find the trap later. After placing the traps I cover the hole so it stays dark. Plywood or even a bucket will do. If the gopher sees light as he (or she) approaches that part of the tunnel he (or she) will plug that part of the tunnel with dirt and not fall for the trap.
I use the Macabee gopher traps: Macabee "The Original" Gopher Trap, Set of 2 - Walmart.com

 

[ruffdog]

 

[ultrarunner]

Bait works best for me but hard to find….

Traps work but more work

Also have the concussion trap that used a blank… so here a little pop when activated…

I caught a few with water one day but the kids set the two free…

Of course the dogs would take care but the mounds are worse.

An old time mechanic told me exhaust is to clean to be effective now so my Model A Ford might work?

 

[oosik]

I live way out in the country - I have LOTS of pocket gophers. Some years I have trapped as many as 40. It helps for a year or two. Then they are all back. When it gets really bad - I trap. I use the spring loaded double wire jaw traps.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Bait works best for me but hard to find….

Traps work but more work

Also have the concussion trap that used a blank… so here a little pop when activated…

I caught a few with water one day but the kids set the two free…

Of course the dogs would take care but the mounds are worse.

An old time mechanic told me exhaust is to clean to be effective now so my Model A Ford might work?

years ago i read about a guy who tried to commit suicide by going to sleep in his car in the garage while the car was running.

they found him sleeping, car out of gas, air in garage cleaner than outside SoCal air.

 

[Egon]

Exhaust from a gasoline engine should work. It cured a rat problem I had.

Diesel exhaust may not work As it probably does not have the carbon monoxide. .?? Can’t verify this last comment.

 

[metalbender]

No shooting allowed in the area? Here in Saskatchewan gopher shooting has been a summer pastime for many years. Used to go shoot at farms, 3-400 in a day was a good day.

 

[ericm979]

Our gophers are very shy about going out of their burrows. You can watch for hours and see nothing but the mound getting higher, if that. Shooting them would not be effective.

Poison is a bad idea because it will also poison the predators that eat gophers.

When I set cinch traps I leave the mound or run open. That seems to annoy the gopher who comes to close it up, if it's an active run. It certainly does not discourage them from checking it out.

 

[Torvy]

Opa's farm we had 3 type of gophers. Striped, flicker tail, and pocket. Pocket gophers, iirc, are more nocturnal, so it is hard to shoot them unless you have night vision.

We had fun popping the others with his old pump .22. Pocket gophers he got by trapping. Sometimes he would flood them out. Opa had a way of finding the entrance to the burrows. Seemed like magic when we were kids.

 

[zzvyb6]

Not EXACTLY sure what your 'pocket gopher' is. But: Woodchucks are susceptable to .223 Hornady. We have moles and voles that occasionally dig tunnels in the lawn. I take out my FLIR thermal camera at night and look for the hot spots. Then a 'frog spear' tends to discourage any further tunneling activity. When put on display on a fence post, a RedTailed hawk, buzzard, or Golden Eagle seems to appreciate the offering.

 

[Torvy]

Technically, Stripers and Flicker tails are ground squirrels.

https://www.ealt.ca/blog/fun-facts-gopher-or-squirrel

 

[deserteagle71]

No shooting allowed in the area? Here in Saskatchewan gopher shooting has been a summer pastime for many years. Used to go shoot at farms, 3-400 in a day was a good day.

Nevada gophers must be different - they are completely nocturnal. Never see one out and about during the day.

Are you talking ground squirrels maybe? This is what one of our gophers looks like. This one was almost black but most are a grey/tan color.

 

[the old grind]

Gas cartridges & vehicle exhaust don't do well in dry porous soils because of rapid dissipation. If soil is more dense, putting dry ice in entrances works for most all burrowing rodents. For nocturnally active pests place it during mornings and get 'em while they're sleeping. If pets won't nose into them (raccoons will, "gotcha!") Conibear 110s are great for ground squirrels, 160s for ground hogs. Place near entrances with bait on the trigger wires or across holes w/o.

Anchor bushel baskets, wash tubs, or five gal buckets over your surface-set traps to keep fido and fluffy from getting nipped. I've caught skunks, 'possum, feral cats, muskrats (one last week), red squirrels, chippies, and raccoon in the two traps-sizes I mentioned with appropriate sets. run you line daily and stake traps that predator might purloin when hauling you catch off to be eaten somewhere under cover

btw, when setting tunnel traps for moles I wire 'em loosely together in pairs to set facing opposite directions between mounds not knowing which way traffic goes. My best day was a double with an adult and a juvenile. When what you're doing doesn't seem to work right away, keep at it. Trapping requires patience and learning as you go.

 

[LindenBruce]

Ok thanks guys. I have several Macabee traps I will try out. I usually have good success at flooding them out and my dog munches them down from there. I can't use baits or poisons due to my pets. I will try running a propane weed torch into a hole to see if that will flush them out.

The gopher are the common pocket gopher. Not squirrels. B.

Gopher - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Torvy]

Ok thanks guys. I have several Macabee traps I will try out. I usually have good success at flooding them out and my dog munches them down from there. I can't use baits or poisons due to my pets. I will try running a propane weed torch into a hole to see if that will flush them out.

The gopher are the common pocket gopher. Not squirrels. B.

Gopher - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

True gophers like that are apparently nocturnal.

Fun fact: the University of Minnesota gopher mascot is actually a Striped ground squirrel.

@zzvyb6 That type of hardware is a bit much for a gopher. .22 lr is plenty. Heck, .177 air rifle will get them. .223 or .22-250 is more for Prairie Dogs put where I grew up.

 

[Egon]

Try a vacuum truck. Works well!