3 Ways That Work to Eliminate and Kill Gophers
Although cute and furry, when a gopher invades your yard, you just want it dead. Sorry PETA, but it's your right to eliminate and kill any gopher that decides to move into your property.
Gophers are pests that destroy your lawn, garden and flower beds. The mounds and holes they create are unsightly and they eat the roots of your beautifully landscaped plants. Enough said. They need to go.
The Only Three Effective Gopher Control Methods.
1. Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide works well for killing gophers on larger properties. The tool of choice is a BurrowRX machine, which pumps 28,000 ppm of CO down into the tunnels at an incredibly high speed, quickly overwhelming and killing any gophers in their tunnel system.
Carbon monoxide is useful for vineyards or groves. It can also be applied safely and effectively to a horse property. However, the equipment is very expensive and the State of California requires a special license to purchase it.
WHAT NOT TO DO:
You've heard of people duct taping a garden hose to their car's exhaust pipe and putting that down a gopher hole. Here are the many reasons why you should not attempt this method at home:
- Your car's catalytic converter removes most of your exhaust's deadly carbon monoxide. It just isn't toxic enough to get the job done right.
- If you are brilliant enough to wrap duct tape around your tail pipe and hose, you'll find that it melts the tape to the very hot exhaust pipe – it's virtually impossible to remove later from your shiny chrome plating.
- Just like the tape, your garden hose will melt too.
- Most importantly, the restriction you've placed on your vehicle's exhaust system can overheat and burn up your engine. Ouch!
2. Bait (Gopher Poison)
Bait is typically used when killing gophers on a large scale like on commercial properties, shopping centers, schools, parks, etc. Since bait is not 100% effective, multiple treatments over a period of time may be required to eradicate all the gophers.
Important Notes:
- Bait can be dangerous if used incorrectly in a residential situation.
- Be aware that there is risk of death to other animals that might eat the poisoned gopher (cats, dogs, etc).
- The truly effective bait systems require licensing by the State of California to purchase the products.
3. Traps
Traps are very effective at exterminating 1-10 gophers in residential lawns. Results are immediately apparent as the gophers are pulled out of the ground.
Trapping gophers is safe and can be used indefinitely, making them an environmentally friendly option. Since no poison or bait is used in a gopher trap, only gophers tend to get caught. There is also zero risk of a secondary kill to your dog that might eat the poisoned gopher.
How to Trap Gophers:
Only commercial grade, stainless steel traps designed to be inserted into gopher tunnels work well for trapping gophers. Gophers live in their underground tunnels which must be precisely located and dug open in order to trap them effectively.
Gopher Traps that Don't Work:
Any gopher trap inserted directly into a gopher mound or placed above ground rarely works well - gophers don't live there!
For example, this above ground gopher trap was on a homeowner's slope for months and never caught a single gopher. When commercial, stainless steel traps were placed inside the gopher tunnels, all 6 gophers were caught for the homeowner in just 2 days.
The Bottom Line
A professional licensed gopher trapper can eliminate a yard full of gophers in as little as two days with minimal risk to pets and children. And, compared to carbon monoxide and baiting, the trapping method is much more affordable for the average homeowner.
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