Gophers Control in Temecula

Identification of Gophers

Gophers are found in California; they are 6 to 10 inches long including short tail. Gophers typically remain underground in their burrow system, although you'll sometimes see them feeding at the edge of an open burrow, pushing dirt out of a burrow, or moving to a new area.

Mounds of fresh soil are the best sign of a gopher's presence. Gophers form mounds as they dig tunnels and push the loose dirt to the surface. Typically, mounds are crescent- or horse-shoe-shaped when viewed from above. The hole, which is off to one side of the mound, is usually plugged.

One gopher can create several mounds in a day. In non-irrigated areas, mound building is most pronounced during winter or spring when the soil is moist and easy to dig. In irrigated areas such as lawns, flower beds, and gardens, digging conditions are usually optimal year-round, and mounds can appear at any time. 

Gophers live in a burrow system that can cover an area that is 200 to 2,000 square feet. The burrows are about 2½ to 3½ inches in diameter. Feeding burrows are usually 6 to 12 inches below ground( in the root zone of plants), and the nest and food storage chamber can be as deep as 6 feet, depending on soil type. Gophers seal the openings to the burrow system with earthen plugs. Short, sloping lateral tunnels connect the main burrow system to the surface; gophers create these while pushing dirt to the surface to construct the main tunnel.

Gophers don't hibernate and are active year-round, even though you might not see any fresh mounding. They can also be active at all hours of the day and night.

Gophers usually live alone within their burrow system, except when females are caring for their young or during breeding season. Gopher densities can be as high as 60 or more per acre. Gophers reach sexual maturity at about 1 year of age and can live up to 3 years. In non-irrigated areas, breeding usually occurs in late winter and early spring, resulting in 2 litter per year; in irrigated sites, gophers can produce up to 3 liters per year. Litters usually average 6 young.

Gophers are herbivorous and feed on a wide variety of vegetation, but generally prefer herbaceous plants, shrubs, grass and trees. Gophers use their sense of smell to locate food. Most commonly they feed on roots and fleshy portions of plants they encounter while digging. However, they sometimes feed aboveground, venturing only a body length or so from their tunnel opening. Burrow openings used in this manner are called pop up holes. You can identify them by the absence of a dirt mound and by a circular band of clipped vegetation around the hole.

Damage Gopher Cause

Gophers often invade yards and gardens, feeding on many garden crops, ornamental plants, vines, shrubs, grass and trees. A single gopher moving down a garden row can inflict considerable damage in a very short time by pulling entire plants into their tunnel from below. Gophers also gnaw and damage flexible plastic water lines and irrigation systems, particularly those types used for drip irrigation. Their tunnels will divert and carry off irrigation water, which leads to soil erosion. Mounds on lawns interfere with mowing equipment and ruin the aesthetics of well-kept turfgrass.

Trapping for Gopher Removal

Trapping is a safe and effective method for controlling pocket gophers. There are two types gopher traps we use. Most common are 2-pronged pincer traps called a Macabee and our most used trap called the Goherhawk. 

You will need to set traps in the gopher main. Gophers will travel the main tunnel once a day. Therefore, if you don’t get any action in 24 hours on a trap it should be moved.

After setting the traps, you can must exclude light from the burrow by covering the opening with dirt clods, sod, canvas or landscape cloth, cardboard, or plywood. You can sift fine soil around the edges of these covers to ensure a light-tight seal. If you leave trap uncovered with light getting in , the gopher will push dirt to that area to close off that opening. That may set off the trap before the gopher gets to it

Check traps often and reset when necessary. If you haven't captured a gopher within 1 to 2 days, reset the traps in a different location.

Natural Controls for Gopher Control

Because no population will increase indefinitely, one alternative to a gopher problem is to do nothing, letting the population limit itself. Experience has shown, however, that by the time gopher populations level off naturally, they've already caused much damage around homes, gardens, parks, or athletic fields.

Predators—including owls, snakes, cats, dogs, and coyotes—eat pocket gophers. Predators rarely remove every prey animal but instead move on to hunt at more profitable locations. In addition, gophers have defenses against predators. For example, they can escape snakes in their burrows by rapidly pushing up an earthen plug to block the snake's advance. Relying solely on natural predators will not control gophers to the desired level.

Some people have tried attracting barn owls to an area by installing nest boxes. Although barn owls’ prey on gophers, their habit of hunting over large areas, often far from their nest boxes, and their tendency to hunt areas with the most abundant prey, make them unreliable for gopher control, particularly over small areas such as a yard. When a single gopher, which is capable of causing damage rapidly, invades a yard or garden, a gardener can't afford to wait for an owl to arrive. It is better to immediately take effective action, usually through trapping or perhaps baiting.

Baiting for Gopher Removal

The key to an effective baiting program is bait placement. Always place pocket gopher bait in the main underground tunnel, not the lateral tunnels. Locating the main gopher tunnel is the most difficult task when baiting for gopher control.

Often, a back-filled (plugged) tunnel—one a gopher has filled with loose dirt—will feel similar to an active tunnel. Experience is required to tell the difference. New probe users might benefit from digging down to confirm that the tunnel is active or plugged. If it is an active tunnel, you can apply bait to both of the tunnel's sides before closing it up. If it is plugged, don't treat. Once you are comfortable with your ability to accurately determine active tunnels, you can follow the standard baiting protocols described below.

Strychnine-treated grain( a restricted use product needing a state license)) is the most effective type of bait used for pocket gopher control. This bait generally contains 0.5% strychnine and is lethal with a single feeding. If placed in the main tunnel you’ll get a 90% kill rate. 

Multiple-feed anticoagulants (diphacinone) are available as well. The kill rate is only about 50% though. When using anticoagulant baits, you'll need to apply a large amount of bait—about 10 times the amount needed when using strychnine baits, requiring multiple applications—so enough will be available for multiple feedings. This type of bait is much less effective than strychnine baits

It is important to remember that bait application for gophers is only allowed directly within burrow systems; above ground application is illegal and ineffective and may expose pets and nontarget wildlife to poison bait. 

If new mounds appear more than 2 days after strychnine baiting, you'll need to rebait or try trapping.

If gophers have infested a large area, you will need to speed treatment. Bait applicators are a combination probe and bait reservoir. Once you have located a tunnel using the probe, a trigger releases a measured amount of bait into the tunnel. Applicators are often used only with strychnine, given that the applicators only dispense a small quantity of bait at a time.

Fumigation for Gopher Control

Fumigation with smoke or gas cartridges usually isn't effective, because gophers quickly seal off their burrow when they detect smoke or gas. However, fumigation with aluminum phosphide, (a restricted-use product requiring a state license), is effective at controlling gopher populations. Licensed pest control operators have access to aluminum phosphide, so if trapping and baiting aren't effective, you may consider hiring a professional.

Be aware that new regulations greatly restrict the use of aluminum phosphide in residential areas. Applications can only be made within burrow systems located more than 100 feet from any building where humans, domestic animals, or both are or may potentially be found. Within residential areas, aluminum phosphide can only be applied in parks and athletic fields. As such, it likely won't be available for use on most residential properties.

In 2012, pressurized exhaust machines were approved for use against burrowing rodents in California. As their name implies, these devices generate exhaust rich in carbon monoxide. This exhaust is injected into the burrow system, asphyxiating the gopher. These machines are relatively effective, with gopher removal rates in around 70%. 

Other Gopher Control Methods

Pocket gophers can easily withstand normal garden or home landscape irrigation, but you can sometimes use flooding to force them from their burrows, enabling you to use a shovel or a dog to kill the rodent.

Gas explosive devices are also available, but they are only 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. Be aware that these devices are quite loud, making them unsuitable in residential areas. Other approaches tend to be significantly more effective.

No repellents have proven effective at protecting gardens or other plantings from pocket gophers. Plants such as gopher purge, Euphorbia lathyrus, castor bean, Ricinus communis, and garlic have been suggested as repellents, but research has not substantiated these claims.

Although many devices designed to frighten pocket gophers are commercially available—including vibrating stakes, ultrasonic devices, and wind-powered pinwheels—these rodents don't frighten easily, probably because of their repeated exposure to noise and vibrations from sprinklers, lawnmowers, vehicles, and people moving about. Another ineffective control method is placing chewing gum or laxatives in burrows in hopes of killing gophers.

Follow-up Service for Gopher Control

Once you have controlled pocket gophers, monitor the area on a regular basis for reinfestation. Level all existing mounds after the control program, and clean away weeds and garden debris, so you can easily see fresh mounds.

It is important to check regularly for reinfestation, because pocket gophers can move in from other areas, and damage can reoccur in a short time. If your property borders wildlands, vacant lots, or other areas that serve as a source of gophers, you can expect gophers to reinvade regularly.

Be prepared to take immediate control action when they do. It is easier, cheaper, and less time consuming to control one or two gophers than to wait until the population builds up to the point where they cause excessive damage.