News from Singing Tree Gardens
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January Gardening News
 Greetings! Got
gophers? Well, you aren't alone. In this issue I will discuss the
problem, with some of the many ways to be rid of these nasty pests. If
you are persistent, you can be successful and have a "gopher free" yard.
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Got Gophers?
Having a yard free of Pocket Gophers
There
are more remedies out there for Pocket Gopher eradication than there
are chocolate cake recipes. I have tried many of them over the
years with results ranging from none to near success. I will share the
ones that I have tried, and the one that seems to work. |
 WHAT DOESN'T WORK
1.
Juicy Fruit gum. As the story goes, If you put Juicy Fruit gum in
the gopher tunnel, he will eat it, it will clog his system, and he will
die. Safe, easy, and IT DOESN'T WORK!
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 MOLE AND GOPHER CHASER WINDMILL2.
When I first installed some of these around my yard, the gophers all
went away! Yea! Finally an easy solution, and it is festive
to see the windmills work. But, alas, a few weeks later the pesky
gophers came back, and just to annoy me, made piles of dirt right next
to the windmill. Arghhhh! I do believe that vibrating the ground
will chase gophers away, but this piece of equipment, along with the
battery powered ground vibrating units just aren't strong enough to keep
them away. I think if someone were to figure out how to make this
windmill really "thump" the ground, it would be a winner. But as
it is out of the box, it is non effective.
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 Smoke Bombs In
the same category as the "automobile tail pipe" gasser, and the dry ice
method. All of these may work if the tunnels are all open to the
gopher's nest, but most of the time, the tunnels are blocked and the
fumes don't go that far. I consider these techniques 25%
effective, and since you have to continue to buy the smoke bombs,
dry ice, or be close enough to your car, these methods are not worth the
effort. |
 POISON BAITS Many
people inject poison bait into the gopher's tunnels using a probe
injector. This method will work well if the bait is put into the
main tunnels, which is difficult to do unless you are a veteran gopher
control person. My main objection to this technique is that it may
be dangerous to your pets...definitely not worth it. |
THESE WORK! TRAPPING WORKS! If
you go online and search for the most effective type of Pocket Gopher
control, you will find that trapping is what really works. I have
found this to be true over time as well. When you see numerous
piles in your yard, it is usually the work of one pocket gopher.
Their underground burrow can be 20 ft. x 20 ft., and consists of
many tunnels connecting a nesting room, pooping room, food stash room,
and even a low sump room where excess water will drain. When they
are beginning to dig a new burrow, there will be an open hole where you
will see soil being pushed out. This is the easiest time to catch a
gopher using a Cinch trap. This trap can be set and stuck down
into this open hole. The gopher will come along every 15 minutes
or so to push out the soil from his excavating activities and get caught
in the trap. When using a Cinch trap, you do not want to exclude
light because the gopher is accustomed to seeing the tunnel open. The
other types of traps will require the light to be excluded to
work. Once the gopher has made his burrow, it becomes more
difficult to trap If your tunnels are small, the stainless steel
Gophinator traps work great! Buy them from Trapline.com.
Some people like the "Black Hole", a black plastic trap that goes into
the tunnel. This trap works, but requires a larger excavation to
be set, so will make a bigger mess in your yard. |
 Make sure you have a Pocket Gopher Problem If
the mound has a small indention like the one pointed at, then you have
Pocket Gophers. Otherwise, you may have a mole problem, and they are
harder to trap. The large mound in this photo is an excavation
mound, while the smaller one to the right is a feeding mound.
Pocket gophers break the surface for two reasons: to feed or to push
soil out of their burrows. They block the tunnel once they are
done feeding or pushing out soil to keep out intruders or cold wet air. |
 SETTING THE TRAPS Most
of the time we use the Macabee traps. These are the green pinch
traps. Practice setting the traps several times to get used to how
they work so you are not tentative when placing the traps. Using a
small narrow hand trowel, like a hori-hori knife, start into a fresh
mound and follow the tunnel, pulling out soil as you go. When you
find the main tunnel, which will be larger in diameter, you will be
ready to place your traps. Ideally, you will want to set 2 traps, one
each direction, insuring that a gopher coming from either direction will
be trapped. If you cannot find the main tunnel, a single trap,
many times, works. It is also important that your traps be securely
staked so that the gopher, once he is trapped, doesn't drag your trap
down into his burrow out of reach. Or, here in our area, foxes will smell the trapped and dying gopher and dig out the trap and take
the gopher off the trap. Your trap will be taken away as well if
not tied securely to a large spike with picture hanging wire. You will
need to cover the open hole to completely block out light, otherwise the
critter will push soil all over your traps. We use a piece of
plywood. |
 BAITING THE TRAP I
have found that smearing the trip plate on the Macabee trap (before you
set the trap) with peanut butter will increase your chances of trapping
a gopher. Some people use a piece of carrot or lettuce, and
dandelion root is one of their favorites. I find peanut butter easiest
and very effective. |
 FINAL COMMENTS Pocket
gophers can really make a mess of your yard, but if one is watchful,
the destructive critter can be trapped, with no more damage occurring
until the next one moves in. And, as time goes by, the time
between infestations becomes greater and greater. I don't know why
this is, but it does happen this way, so be attentive to the first
signs of a gopher setting up a burrow, because it is much easier to trap
the pest before he settles in and begins to make babies.
One
last tip. If you are lucky enough to have a cat that likes to sit
by a gopher mound and snag gophers as they peek out of their hole, you
are most fortunate. Many years ago we had a huge gopher
infestation and one cat named Calyx wiped out the whole population
within a month or two. Cats need to know how to do this, and not
all of them do, and it is reported that mother gopher cats will teach
their kittens how. Dogs can sniff out a gopher and many times dig
them up and kill them, but what a mess they make...more of a mess than
the gopher makes. This is why dogs, in my opinion, aren't the best
solution to getting rid of gophers. |
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Azaleas on Special for Mid March Shipment!
Get ready for spring with budded
evergreen and deciduous azaleas from Singing Tree Gardens.
These full, healthy plants will explode with color in your garden this
spring. Most all varieties are in stock now. Coming in Early February ONLINE ONLY!
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