Gopher Problems yuck

[wolftracks]

AH a JRT... My Poodles won't touch them. My Cane Corso wants to dig them up and she wasn't a digger until last month Thing is she is just adding to the problem and I can't have her start digging things up).
I think the hunting part is good. Grandma needs a gun. That I could do myself.
I'm holding off planting bulbs and my garden. It's going to start getting really hot here soon and I have to get started.
Boy I miss my guineas.
Problem where I live is someone see a gun I'll have S.W.A.T coming for me.
The only other dogs I've seen around here at the Beagles next door, 2 Saints down the street (the yard trashers LOL) and other than that It's Chihuahuas and Pits.
Cats from the neighborhood are having no luck and not very helpful.
I haven't seen a single gopher since I've lived here, but every morning I knew they've been busy.
My husband is not in the best of health so he's no help right now. Plus he doesn't care if the yard is nice. I swear he'd mow around the mounds if he didn't know I'd nag the heck out of him. Actually he'd do it anyway.
I'm so frustrated.

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

if the hole is big enough the JRT wouldnt nessicarily have to expand the hole very much since they really dont need to they can just push through the hole and get the ground hog

 

[wolftracks]

Quote:
Wow I type slow.

OK what type of urine and where do you get it?

I'm about to start drinking gallons of water if that's what it takes. LOL

Oh and I may just have to make lunch and hire a Jackie.


OH I wish I could find mountain lion urine.

 

[Kev]

Battling gophers here too.. I am just about at the point of just keeping the yard bare with a couple gopher proof plants. Mostly bulbs, seems pomegranate trees are mostly left alone by gophers... so if you like pomegranates.....

Have you thought about the gopher poison dispensers that is basically a metal pole you push down in the ground to feel for tunnels and then release the poison pellets once you find a tunnel? Been using that, seems to work sometimes.. mounds stop coming up for a while after that treatment.

But, if you are next to a non plowed fields or many neighbors let their yards get weedy, you are going to have to do battle for years.. you will kill those in your yard but new ones just come in.. again... and again......

As for cats.......... next door neighbor(who also lets her yard get weedy) is one of those "cat ladies".. feeds every cat that comes or hangs around.. there has to be like 10 regular plus ?? irregular visitors. Those cats have very little or no effect on gophers. We are all on one acre plots each, so that's a very high cat load.

Mountain lion urine... LOL wonder if that would keep the neighbors cats out of my yard too.....

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

Quote:
or you could ask a hunter who uses them to come to your property to take care of them

Great idea!

Im in Sac, and I would toatally be willing to rent out my dogs' services for a day.
He is proven effective against any kind of small, furry, digging animal.

Basically, pay me for gas and buy me lunch and your gophers will be no more.
Jackieboy does accept tips . . .

this guy seems like he would help ya wolf

 

[wolftracks]

Quote:
I live on pomegrante juice. That would be a plus.
OK, I didn't even think about it, but my DSIL works with an enviornmental landscaping co. I was just on the phone with him. He told me about some tablets at Home Depot that I'm going to try. Matter of fact he told me able a lot of ways to get rid of them, but most you need a license for.
Lion urine might work for keeping neighbors away too. LOL
I'm going to HD as soon as I can get my Gdaughter calmed down for the night. Wish me luck, I'm huntin gopher tonight.

 

[Kev]

Lion urine keeps people away?! Where can I get gallons of that stuff....? ha!

What tablets? Do they smoke out the tunnels or is it poison? Would love to hear about the other ways they mentioned....

Good luck and would love updates too..

 

[chickenwhisperer]

I have seen and used various predator scents at actual nurseries, not the HD garden dept.
Mtn lion, coyote, bobcat, etc . . . all available, all work to varying degrees, all get expensive with continued use.
Yes, if you continually pee on their spots, it would work some.

Trouble with gophers is you can kill some, but theyll come back.
They always come back.

I know that a friend of mine had gotten some kind of electrical device that gets put IN the ground somehow.
I dunno if they ever set it up or not, Ill give em a call and see if I can find out anything.
Im sure it was expensive . . .

If I were to actually bring my dog down there, if you have any other animals youd have to lock them up/keep them out of sight.
Unfortunately, my dog does not discriminate when it comes to killing and attacking animals.
If he really got into the gopher hunt, he would keep going all day and night.
There would probably come a point where Id have to dig him out as well, he tends to forget he lives on top the ground when he is in a hole.
But, youd have a nice neat pile of dead gophers when he finally exhausts himself.

My dog has no training, other than the foothills of the Sierras.
It is in his genetic makeup to kill animals and bring them back to me, whole and unchewed.
His list of species killed . . . squirrel, chipmunk, rat/mice, gopher, rabbit, housecat, possum, skunk(thats always fun), beaver, otter, any kind of bird he can catch including MY chickens, snakes, lizards
Animals he will go after- ANYTHING that walks, breathes, has hair/fur/feathers, slithers, scurries, flies, runs, swims . . . NOTE: does not like horses.
I had to pull him off a raccoon he had pinned the 2nd night in my new house here.
It was 2x his size easily, I shoulda let him kill it, but I kicked it instead and sent it flying.
Have not seen a raccoon around here since, even the neighbors say so.
So far he hasnt taken to climbing, he likes a good hole instead.

Now dont get me wrong either, I dont just go out and let my dog attack any animal I see, there is a time and place for it.
My dog has been a tremendous inconvenience numerous times, but he is what he is and thats what I wanted so I let him be himself as much as is reasonable.
But he does excel at "jobs" such as the OPs problem.

If Guinness was giving awards for PREY DRIVE, Jackieboy would be a world record holder!

Look how innocent he looks sleeping there on his blanket, all cute and cuddly like . . .
I see right thru it, he is prolly dreaming of what he would do to my new chickens(he got the last ones) if he could get to them . . .
He is dreaming of killing and blood and the screams of his quarry.
He is dreaming of The Hunt

 

[jhm47]

After reading this thread, I am going to guess that the gophers in question are what's commonly known as pocket gophers. They are mostly nocturnal, and make chains of mounds, which are connected by underground tunnels. There is usually a small round hole somewhere near the middle of each mound, which is where the gopher plugged his tunnel. They are very hard to catch, and do lots of damage to lawns and fields. I have trapped hundreds of them, and once even caught an albino with pink eyes.

For people who are not practiced in trapping, poison is really the only answer. The JRT would probably do the job, but he will need to dig for a looooooong time to finally catch one. These tunnels are sometimes 20 - 30 yards long, and the dog would be pretty well tuckered out by the time he gets to the end. Not to mention the damage to the lawn.

I caught one recently, and took his picture. If I can find someone to help me post the pic, I'll get back with it. Meanwhile, good luck!

EDIT: The JRT is a fine looking animal. How did you get his picture from the future? The date on the photo says 10 - 8 - 2010. Time machine???

 

[seminolewind]

After trying everything with the gopher, I found that that they are very active in the morning. I found the hole and sat there with a pitchfork and actually did get him. The deal was to stab the ground at the direction he's going to go.