50 Ways to Kill your Gophers

One of my favorite movies is Caddyshack with Bill Murray. Now I laugh at myself as I begin to undertake the same challenge Bill Murray had in the 80’s popular movie. Gophers and other burrowing rodents are a recurring problem in our area. Lompoc, Ca is surrounded by farm fields so the invasion of gophers, packrats. moles and other rodents is non-stop. There are however, several ways to control them without blowing up the entire golf course or killing the golfers!

There may be 50 ways to attempt to kill rodents but I have narrowed them down to a few effective strategies. Gophers are the #1 enemy since we seem to encounter more damage from these critters than anything else especially in sandy soils. Gophers eat plants, roots, push soil up and create tunnels and dens that become holes which drain away precious water and soil from the base of our plants. If you ever see plants disappearing underground you can be sure its a hungry gopher. They can be prevented somewhat by using gopher wire which is actually a galvanized aviary wire. This wire is laid on top of the ground then secured with sod pins. However, it only prevents them from pushing soil up wards. They can still burrow underneath and eat plants and roots. Gopher repellant in the form of castor oil or granulated castor oil is effective also. Gophers don’t like the smell or taste of it. Castor oil is non-toxic to pets. Poisons delivered underground can be effective also but not 100% safe if a pet is around. I think the most effective treatment is carbon monoxide delivered underground into the new tunnels. Carbon monoxide will kill all rodents that are underground; usually in one treatment. If there are multiple rodents or established colonies then it will most likely take more treatments. Call or text 805-331-3483 or email Becky at beckys.landscape@verizon.net for an estimate.