I've had an ongoing problem with gophers for a good while now. What is the secret to trapping or disposing of these little pests? I've tried a couple of baits and such and have had zero luck. Anyone have any advice? It would be greatly appreciated. TIA.

My Mom has had good luck with probing for the hole in there mounds and then digging it up and poisoning it with pellets directly. If the hole is exposed, they will most of the time come back to cover it up and then see the poison.

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An AK-47 assault rifle with a barrel shroud and shoulder thingy that goes up might be a little overkill, man...

You should be happy I haven't put a forearm on it! Otherwise,.....!

Seriously though, there is a guy out in Gazelle California that has a nasty gopher problem. So every summer he invites about 15-20 guys out to his ranch for a weekend. Drink beer, bar-b-q (california style not Texas) and shoot a crap ton of gophers. No hope of killing all of them but it has worked pretty well to keep the population in check.

Also, have you thought about releasing a couple gopher snakes?

we used to use little metal traps that go down the hole.

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Gophers, ya great git! The gophers! The little brown furry rodents!

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My Mom has had good luck with probing for the hole in there mounds and then digging it up and poisoning it with pellets directly. If the hole is exposed, they will most of the time come back to cover it up and then see the poison.

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Same here. We use a small metal rod in between the mounds to find their travel spot. Open up the ground with the rod just a bit and pour some poison down in there. That usually takes care of them

I use Victor Mole Traps and they work great!

Amazon

Moles destroyed my lawn. But after killing a few I haven't seen any for months.

Digging around I found your solution...

"Gas explosive devices also are available and are somewhat effective at controlling gopher populations. These devices ignite a mixture of propane and oxygen in the burrow system. This concussive force kills the gopher and destroys the burrow system. Be sure to exercise caution when using these devices because of the potential for unintended damage to property, injury to users and bystanders, potential for starting fires in dry environments, and destruction of turf. Additionally, these devices can by quite loud, making them unsuitable in residential areas."

Juicy fruit gum.

-Cat
-Smoke bombs (pick up at most feed stores that carry rodent bait) It suffocates them and also doesnt leave a potential poison in the yard for your dog to pick up.
-Juicy fruit didnt work on my yard.

The only thing that has ever worked for me are the metal victor traps. Try to catch them when they are pushing dirt out of their tunnels, usually early morning. Set your trap down in the hole and anchor it on something. I use a bunny cord and a screw driver.

Tannerite?

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They actually make a hollow metal rod that does all that. You pour the poison down in the rod, then poke around with it until you find their holes and tunnels, and then release a dose of poison out of the end of the rod into the hole or tunnel. It works pretty well for me.

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Same here. I have a gopher problem every year. I have tried everything on those bastages. I found this about 5 years ago and it works great. Fill it with Omega strychnine coated wheat and no more gophers...until the next batch invades a few months later.



https://www.atgstores.com/specialty-garden-tools/yard-butler-tlybgba1-gopher-and-mole-bait-applicator_10637803.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwwtOsBRDdjZTbvYvTlzcSJADOY0DRCPxjpBurFiYFdPGlhI4uAo6eYn_2_I9u0zZgo4UoQBoCQfPw_wcB&af=2615&ppc=2615&ef_id=Um6zWgAABC2I5R3O:20150702204329:s

I worked in a vineyard a few years ago and we had a gopher problem. We used gophercide and an ice cream scoop to kill 'em. Just found their holes, scooped out the little dirt plug and put a little poison in the hole. Came back a year or so later and no gopher problem.

I also killed one in my yard by blocking one of their holes with sticks, putting a water hose down another hole, with my dog waiting at the last hole. 5 minutes of watering and no more gopher.

I killed almost 700 of them over a couple year period at my old house (sandy soil). I may need to do a name change to the Gopher Whisperer.

First, gophers put up big mounds and the tunnels are typically 12-14" underground (especially if soil is very easy to dig in).

Moles have a tunnel just below the surface and it pushes the grass / earth up along the tunnel.

Assuming you have gophers... find a mound and start digging around the mound (not directly on top of it). You will find their tunnel (usually on the side of a mound leading toward another mound). Within 15 minutes, the gopher will show up and try to close the tumnel. Important - they will NOT leave a tunnel open more than 30 minutes or so.

Once I found the tunnel, I would dig a long sloped hole, sit in a lawn chair about10' away with the 12 gauge and blast at an angle where the bb's traveled nearly parallel into the tunnel. I would dig and find them mutilated 3-4' back into the tunnel. If I didn't find them, I usually gave up on that area and opened up another mound because they wouldn't come back to that one for days (if at all)... they would seal it off.

Alternately you can do the same but place the victor trap in the tunnel after digging it out... but be sure it has a chain that is anchored, because if it doesn't cath them in the ribs, they will drag the trap 10' or more in the hole.You need to put the victor trap in the hole where the flap (trip) is right at the opening. You also want to sprinkle a little dirt to hide it a touch.

I will admit, it was a lot of fun... but they are smart... if they sense you are there and you don't shoot them at first sight or they know the trap is there... they go back 2-3 feet into the tunnel and seal it off.

So, after 15 minutes, if you don't see it again, start digging and you will find they packed the tunnel with about 12" of dirt extremely well to close it off. Keep digging, reopen it and try again.

If you dig a 5' diameter hol, 3' deep, they will try to fill the entire thing back in. Once you see dirt flying out of the tunnel, take aim, hold real still and when you see fur, blast away.

We use one of these on the ranch. http://www.rodenator.com/. Works really well. It also goes bang! Especially when you ignore the gassing time parameters and get dirt up your shorts. I now have a plate to stand on since that particular tunnel happened to be right between my legs.

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I killed almost 700 of them over a couple year period at my old house (sandy soil). I may need to do a name change to the Gopher Whisperer.

First, gophers put up big mounds and the tunnels are typically 12-14" underground (especially if soil is very easy to dig in).

Moles have a tunnel just below the surface and it pushes the grass / earth up along the tunnel.

Assuming you have gophers... find a mound and start digging around the mound (not directly on top of it). You will find their tunnel (usually on the side of a mound leading toward another mound). Within 15 minutes, the gopher will show up and try to close the tumnel. Important - they will NOT leave a tunnel open more than 30 minutes or so.

Once I found the tunnel, I would dig a long sloped hole, sit in a lawn chair about10' away with the 12 gauge and blast at an angle where the bb's traveled nearly parallel into the tunnel. I would dig and find them mutilated 3-4' back into the tunnel. If I didn't find them, I usually gave up on that area and opened up another mound because they wouldn't come back to that one for days (if at all)... they would seal it off.

Alternately you can do the same but place the victor trap in the tunnel after digging it out... but be sure it has a chain that is anchored, because if it doesn't cath them in the ribs, they will drag the trap 10' or more in the hole.You need to put the victor trap in the hole where the flap (trip) is right at the opening. You also want to sprinkle a little dirt to hide it a touch.

I will admit, it was a lot of fun... but they are smart... if they sense you are there and you don't shoot them at first sight or they know the trap is there... they go back 2-3 feet into the tunnel and seal it off.

So, after 15 minutes, if you don't see it again, start digging and you will find they packed the tunnel with about 12" of dirt extremely well to close it off. Keep digging, reopen it and try again.

If you dig a 5' diameter hol, 3' deep, they will try to fill the entire thing back in. Once you see dirt flying out of the tunnel, take aim, hold real still and when you see fur, blast away.

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now I want a gopher problem.

+1 for gopher in a jug

Thanks to you all for the great techniques and advice. I have to admit the gopher-in-a-jug trick really has me wondering if that actually/truly works. If so, is it due to the gopher trying to run away from the water and doing so in the wrong direction (back into the jug)?

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Digging around I found your solution...

"Gas explosive devices also are available and are somewhat effective at controlling gopher populations. These devices ignite a mixture of propane and oxygen in the burrow system. This concussive force kills the gopher and destroys the burrow system. Be sure to exercise caution when using these devices because of the potential for unintended damage to property, injury to users and bystanders, potential for starting fires in dry environments, and destruction of turf. Additionally, these devices can by quite loud, making them unsuitable in residential areas."

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Well, now I want gophers so I can try this.

Use a vacuum excavator.

Gopher in a jug... that is a novelty video... not a method of removal.

The network of tunnels can be 100's of feet long... so putting a jug of water down the hole does nothing.

In that case, the person likely got lucky and put a shovel in behind the gopher when he stuck his nose out of the tunnel (they rarely come out completely). I only accomplished that once out of the 700+. Having the gopher trapped in a 12" section of the tunnel could force him out with water.

Most of the gophers I killed were about 3" in diameter. That would take a pretty large hole in the jug.