Friday, November 24, 2017

Gopher Trap And Control For Your Garden And Yard

By Carl Hughes


Do you remember watching cartoons of gophers in the garden, seeing the tops of plants quiver, vibrate and disappear? Well, if you love playing in the dirt and building your own garden, you know that those cartoons weren't far off the truth. Because basically, that is exactly what really happens. And if you've poured a lot of time, energy, money and nurturing into your garden... Only to wake up one morning and find your garden destroyed... You come to grips with the fact that gophers are no damn good, maybe it is time to set a Gopher Trap.

Trapping and Baiting: The best method, prescribed by Salmon and Baldwin (2009) is trapping of the gophers followed by poisoning them. To trap the gophers affecting your garden, it is important to locate their main burrow by using a probe. The gopher usually has the main burrow, which is located 6-12 inches below the ground surface and has many lateral tunnels that arise from the main tunnel.

Problem is not all they "solutions" are going to help. The biggest "solution" scam are the ultrasonic mole eradicators (also sold for moles). I cannot tell you how many times I have gone to a house with a mole hole with in a foot of one of these devices. Bottom line - don't waste your money.

Using Galvanized Chicken Wire for Garden Mole Control- This will require some effort in setting it up, but you'll be rewarded with years of mole free gardening. Since moles do not go deep, dig a two foot perimeter around your garden and line it with 1-1/2 inch galvanized chicken wire. When laying the wire in, run it from the bottom of the trench to about a foot above ground level.

Professional Help: If trapping and poisoning gophers is not effective, consider fumigation by aluminum phosphide. This chemical is unauthorized for regular use by the house owner, and you need to employ a professional for this purpose.

Home improvement stores sell bait (poison) to kill moles. The poisons available to home owners and property owners with out a pest control license are a low dose and require multiple feedings to be effective. There can be a success with these low dose formulas but not nearly that of a professional strength mole poison used by a pest control company. Caution: your pets can dig up this poison or dig up a poisoned mole and secondary poison which can be fatal. Call your local vet right away if you think your pet may have ingested any poison.

Mole Control for Your Yard- This is a whole different scenario than your garden, but is just as easy to do. You don't need an exterminator, fumigators, poisons or chemicals. You can do this yourself. I call it dirt fishin'. You will need two Macabee mole traps (available at your local diy store) and a small hand gardening shovel. The Mactrap is the one I've used for years, and it works flawlessly every time.

Habitat: Another way to avoid the infestation of the gopher is to make your garden unappealing to the pest. You can do this by reducing the weedy areas around your garden and replacing it with hard gravel or other unappealing habitat that can deter the gophers. Drowning: Many people suggest the method of flushing and drowning of gophers. However, this method is effective only when you have detected a fresh gopher tunnel or have a large field with flood irrigation.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment