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Sedona

(3,769 posts)
Thu Jun 28, 2012, 09:12 AM Jun 2012

Wow this group is quiet! I have a gopher problem. Help!

I have my 4th year vegi garden planted and growing somewhat well given my climate, soil conditions, etc.

I've lost 4 plants (squash and cucumbers) in the last week to a gopher intrusion.

I NOW know that wire mesh under my raised beds will discourage the critters but its too late for that.

I really hate to poison them, which will introduce the poison to the gophers' predators which I would like to stay around for my own selfish purposes. PLus I enjoy the raptors, coyotes, the snakes not so much, but I tolerate them unless their rattling!

So, now that I have an obvious gopher problem, and maturing plants in the ground, how do I save what's left of my garden?

I have a small dog and a few cats, but they are as vulnerable to the predators as the gophers are, especially the mountain lion that left tracks in my front yard (and across the hood of my car ) a week ago

Any advice will be appriciated.

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Wow this group is quiet! I have a gopher problem. Help! (Original Post) Sedona Jun 2012 OP
EXPLOSIVES bluedave Jun 2012 #1
The fire department Sedona Jun 2012 #2
flood him out Viva_La_Revolution Jun 2012 #3
Live trap and remove or live trap and destroy? Denninmi Jun 2012 #4
they're fairly large burrowing animals that BlueToTheBone Jul 2012 #11
Maybe a concentrated garlic product like Mosquito Barrier or Garlic Barrier beac Jun 2012 #5
I have never dealt with gophers, Curmudgeoness Jun 2012 #6
One of the books (square foot gardening?) I was looking at last week suggested jtuck004 Jun 2012 #7
I'm surprised your predators haven't driven them away Retrograde Jul 2012 #8
I have a groundhog problem. Lugnut Jul 2012 #9
I use thumpers. BlueToTheBone Jul 2012 #10

Sedona

(3,769 posts)
2. The fire department
Thu Jun 28, 2012, 09:54 AM
Jun 2012

might have a thing or two to say about that.

God knows the ATF won't have a problem with it in Arizona!

Viva_La_Revolution

(28,791 posts)
3. flood him out
Thu Jun 28, 2012, 10:03 AM
Jun 2012

we had trouble a couple of years ago. I just stuck the garden hose down the hole and turned it on. It took a few days of flooding the new tunnels he would dig each night, but he got the message and moved on.

Denninmi

(6,581 posts)
4. Live trap and remove or live trap and destroy?
Thu Jun 28, 2012, 10:08 AM
Jun 2012

Will they go into a live trap for bait such as bird seed or peanut butter?

What exactly is a gopher, anyway??? We have chipmunks and other species of related ground squirrels here, is that the same thing???

BlueToTheBone

(3,747 posts)
11. they're fairly large burrowing animals that
Sun Jul 15, 2012, 08:06 AM
Jul 2012

eat the roots of your plants. Where voles destroy by burrowing by, gophers are there for the food.

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
6. I have never dealt with gophers,
Thu Jun 28, 2012, 07:42 PM
Jun 2012

but found this on The Skunk Whisperer website:

If you want to rapidly feel inferior to wildlife, The Skunk Whisperer recommends attempting to eliminate these destructive critters on your own.

There are many misconceptions and wives tales about how to deal with mole problems including the belief that there exists effective, cost efficient, humane options for controlling them. However, this is not the case.


http://totalwildlifecontrol.com/critter-facts-control/voles-moles-gophers/

It doesn't sound promising.

Also, even if you could trap it, you would have to destroy it since no one else would be happy to see you relocate in their area (although relocations are rarely successful for the critter, who has to survive in a new territory that it doesn't know). And I agree with you about poisoning---so far, I haven't done that with any problem animals and for the same reasons as you stated as well as making my yard a potential Superfund site.

You may have to hope that natural predation takes care of it for this year and deal with it in the way you plant next year. One thing that I did read is that they "may" move on their own. Yeah, right.
 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
7. One of the books (square foot gardening?) I was looking at last week suggested
Fri Jun 29, 2012, 01:19 PM
Jun 2012

to always build raised beds, and start the bottom with a hardware cloth, 1/4 inch holes in a wire mesh. This is galvanized, should last a while, could overlap a couple pieces and underlay most beds.

http://www.amazon.com/Inch-Mesh-Tall-Hardware-Cloth/dp/B004YSBP8K/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1340989756&sr=1-4&keywords=hardware+cloth+1%2F4

Oh, and since you asked for "any" advice, don't go near the car very soon after eating a hamburger






Retrograde

(10,073 posts)
8. I'm surprised your predators haven't driven them away
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 03:22 PM
Jul 2012

My cat sleeps in the garden during the day, which seems to discourage the gophers.

Rather than line my plot with wire, I make little wire cloth boxes just big enough for the root ball when I put the plants in: this discourages the gophers from making off with the whole plant, and the holes are large enough for the roots to grow through.

Lugnut

(9,791 posts)
9. I have a groundhog problem.
Sun Jul 15, 2012, 01:54 AM
Jul 2012

It liikes to take bites of either red or green tomatoes. We had to fence in the plants to keep the little $#%^$%@#$ out!

BlueToTheBone

(3,747 posts)
10. I use thumpers.
Sun Jul 15, 2012, 08:04 AM
Jul 2012

You can find them in gardening catalogs. Basically they are battery operated and you stick the end in the ground (even in their runs) and turn them on. About every 20-30 seconds it emits a thump. I am going to have to use several because of the amount of space in my garden. They do work. I like the ones that are tubular, but there are some that have a round top above the stick that holds the batteries. Good Luck.

I can't imagine a big cat in my yard! Stay safe! We had a timber rattler taking a nap at the end of a gopher run next to our front door a couple of days ago! We all ran in the house and watched him from the safety of the window. Beautiful...had about 8 rattles...that would have been deadly.

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