Pocket Gophers

[Stickney94]

I'm curious what are people's thoughts on pocket gophers/pocket gopher management?

I've started to wonder if they are doing more good than harm in some of my pastures. They don't seem to get quite as out of control as prairie dogs, nor do their burroughs appear to create massive holes (just mounds -- which my cows tend to disperse by rubbing).

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Okay Stickney94, I'll bite, what's a pocket gopher and where are you located?

 

[hurleyjd]

Okay Stickney94, I'll bite, what's a pocket gopher and where are you located?

https://www.bing.com/search?form=MOZLBR&pc=MOZI&q=pocket+gopher+image

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Okay Stickney94, I'll bite, what's a pocket gopher and where are you located?

https://www.bing.com/search?form=MOZLBR&pc=MOZI&q=pocket+gopher+image

Okay, thank you. Now can you tell me where he is located?

 

[kenny thomas]

Not sure where he is but the panhandle of Oklahoma is full of them

 

[ccr]

Gophers are bad. There tunnels, after a heavy rain will flood and can create an erosion problem. In the yard their mounds create problems with mowing. We try to kill them sumbitches as soon as we see their activity. We find a tunnel and gas them with the jeep. So far it's been working.

 

[Dave]

AKA Sage Rats in this part of the world. I don't have them. Flood irrigation is the real answer. Makes the grass grow better and absolutely wipes out the gophers. One of my neighbors who is above the irrigation ditch pumps his water through a wheel line. They shoot hundreds of them. Lots of fun but they never get all of them.

 

[76 Bar]

We relocated to a small farm a few years ago. Over run with gophers & moles is an understatement. Haying was a nightmare. Locals recommended Victor Out of Sight traps. Bought a bunch and had minimal success plus setting them properly was challenging & tedious. Neighbor (he and his wife are serious mole/gopher trappers) discovered this product:
https://www.bishco.com/shop/tools-3074457345616671013--1/small-hand-tools/gopher-traps
This company makes the GopherHawk trap and has the best price to be found. Super easy/quick to set & results were astounding. Moles and gophers were caught within a few hours. If no results in 24 hrs (rare) check for a fresh nearby mound and reset. Ideally trap when a field doesn't contain livestock so they don't disturb the trap(s). A huge plus is unlike the jaw/spike traps there's no worry of ensnaring pets or animals. I'm NOT affiliated with the product...just wanted to share my success story.

 

[Stickney94]

Sorry -- SW MN.

I grew up in SD with 13-stripe gophers, flicker tails, prairie dogs and badgers. We didn't have pocket gophers so I should have understood that others wouldn't have had experience.

Prior to last year I managed them as best I could, but last year was so odd (cold, wet, dry) I didn't manage them at all. This year I was expecting an outbreak, but I haven't really noticed anything worse.

 

[calfmomma]

We get them by the truck load in Southern Minnesota, we will typically set pan traps and flags in the hay fields and check every day. Great project for a teenager, our son paid for Drivers Ed with his gopher feet! In the pastures, its all out war with a .22 or a bb gun. Usually able to shoot a couple of barn rats at the same time, lol! Best of luck, and check the auction sites for pan traps free or cheap!

 

[Stickney94]

We find a tunnel and gas them with the jeep. So far it's been working.

No joke, but I don't have a single vehicle with an exhaust pipe that makes gassing easy, haha (anti spark/big chrome tips).

How long do you run the vehicle? 5 minutes? 10? more?

 

[Stickney94]

Flood irrigation is the real answer. Makes the grass grow better and absolutely wipes out the gophers.

It's interesting you mention this. The ground I operate has a creek running through it. They will slowly edge their tunnels toward the creek. Then we will get a heavy rain. No more fresh mounds.

I assumed that they moved to higher ground. But perhaps they got caught?

 

[ccr]

We find a tunnel and gas them with the jeep. So far it's been working.

No joke, but I don't have a single vehicle with an exhaust pipe that makes gassing easy, haha (anti spark/big chrome tips).

How long do you run the vehicle? 5 minutes? 10? more?

We run the vehicle for about 30 minutes, periodically increasing the rpm to around 1200 - 1500.

 

[Josher]

We have pocket gophers bad wherever we have older alfalfa stands. I'm not sure what your crop rotation situation is but we won't have much for pocket gophers for the first maybe 4 years of a hay stand but then after that they multiply like rabbits so we pull a mole hill leveller over the hay fields every other year just to smooth out the hay fields. By 10 years the hay isn't producing quite as good so we just spray it out and grow crops for a while. The pocket gophers run out of food and shelter so they disappear pretty quick. I used to trap them in spring and just after haying and that was fairly effective but I just don't have time anymore.

 

[Josher]

Also the hay field we switched to pasture did the trick too. They must not like cows caving in there house on a daily basis.