Gophers gone wild!

Pamela Knott
by Pamela Knott
Our backyard and all of our neighbor's yards, are full of gopher trails. Many of us have put down grub killer, but every year it just gets worse! I've tried some of the poisons, but we have a dog who goes right to any poisons put out and I don't want the dog to eat them. They go on both sides of the metal traps. One neighbor bought one of the vibrating ones, that didn't work. In fact I was in their garden and the neighbor said "what's that crunching noise?" We looked under a cherry tomato plant and 2 gophers were munching cherry tomatoes! Help!
  11 answers
  • Gayle Eckleberry Gayle Eckleberry on Apr 08, 2014
    I grew up on our family dairy farm in Arizona. If you have a Co-op store or probably TSC...Tractor Supply near you...I would recommend them because they have dealt with rodent problems for years. A plain ol simple Google with show ya bunches of proven...non-poisonous remedies....such as traps. Even though the traps are partially covered with the soil that the little critters have dug...the ones we used had a wooden container around them (bout 4"x8"...so that friendly pets would not be harmed. Usually the directions are very explicit on this...specially if you live in a surburban neighborhood.....lawyers are on every corner...whew~~ Good luck (also used car exhaust...but epa does not like this...same way with peta)
  • Sandy McMillion Sandy McMillion on Apr 08, 2014
    I have rid my yard of gophers up north in Minnesota and also of gophers and voles or moles in Oklahoma. It was very easy!! I watched the farmers and it is simple. Where ever they spread or more precisely injected anhydrous fertilizer the gophers left/died don't know but they were gone and it took literally years before they returned. So I would find the runways and pour some household ammonia in the tunnel and quickly cover the opening. I would do that in several places and they high tailed it out of there. The ammonia fumes I think drive them away. The best part is Ammonia is nitrogen and makes an excellent fertilizer so you are doing a double duty. Your pets won't bother it either so there is no worry of poisoning or harm with traps. Doesn't take a whole lot but several spots is a good idea. If you see a new runway pour some down it and soon you will have all the runways treated.
    • See 1 previous
    • Dfr17016338 Dfr17016338 on Feb 14, 2017

      Thanks Sandy. When you say "some" ammonia, about how much was it?

  • Debbie Debbie on Apr 08, 2014
    We had gophers and moles! Our yard was pure mush when you walked across it! We tried everything, or so it seemed. We were in a Harbor Freight store and saw some windmills made just for getting rid of moles and gophers! They have a ball bearing inside that when the windmill spins, it vibrates and the varmits RUN! It's been about 5 or 6 years now since we have seen any moles or gophers in our yard.
  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Apr 09, 2014
    I have chipmunks and I recently read that peppermint in their holes gets rid of ground varmints. I am going to try the ammonia recommended above as soon as I get outside in the yard.
    • See 1 previous
    • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Apr 09, 2014
      @Pamela Knott Thanks! I will work on this this summer for sure!
  • Jennifer G Jennifer G on Apr 09, 2014
    Here in CO I don't have any gopher/vole problems - the soil is like cement (high clay content) so they seem to leave it alone, but in CA I had a TON of both voles and gophers. The outdoor cats used to dive down the freshly made holes and retrieve (then EAT) them!!! I had a few of those windmills things in my organic veggie garden, but on my 1 acre lot I would have needed many many more I think to get rid of them all!
  • Pamela Knott Pamela Knott on Apr 09, 2014
    Do you live in the high dessert? My brother lives in Pueblo West. Said he went out to dig a hole to put his mailbox by the road...4 hours later he was about 4 inches down! He takes home my old silk flowers and plants them in his yard. TACKY!
  • Bonny McDaniel Bonny McDaniel on Apr 10, 2014
    Pamela Knott; the voles come up through a little hole and eat the whole plant...in fact, I've had them pull a whole iris right down through the hole. I'm very happy to find Sandy McMillion's ammonia suggestion as it is cheaper than Mole Maxx which I have been using. It does work but you have to reapply it every six weeks or so and it is $18 per sack. I have a windmill, too, and it works for about ten square feet of land but not much more.
  • Bonny McDaniel Bonny McDaniel on Apr 10, 2014
    Whoops...I mean the windmill works for about 100 sq ft...we have it near our young fruit trees.
  • Pamela Knott Pamela Knott on Apr 10, 2014
    Thank you Bonny McDaniel. They seem to have tunneled through some of my hosta, but it hasn't killed them yet. I say yet because they should be coming up soon and then I'll know for sure! But if I have to stand out there with a gun (the Dad on Small World? made his son sit at the end of a tunnel all day until the critter came out and he shot him) I'm going to get rid of these critters. My golden retriever will watch the tunnel being made, but can't get in through the dirt fast enough to catch them.
  • Donna Byram Donna Byram on Apr 11, 2014
    The windmills you buy for kids work too! I had several around my flower beds and in my raised garden and they left. They don't like the vibration it causes.
    • See 2 previous
    • Pamela Knott Pamela Knott on Apr 13, 2014
      @Donna Byram I definitely understand!!!! Have them all the time!
  • If you or if you know anyone who has snakes, keep the skin when they shed and place a good long piece in each in hole. They won't be back. Tried and true!