Gopher Control
A Guide to Gopher Control Without Pesticides
Gophers are damaging to all types of grain, fruit, vegetable and flower plants, so gopher control is necessary in order to have a good harvest. Gophers sometimes are known as pocket gophers, because they have pockets in their cheeks for carrying food and materials to build their nests.
Gophers are five to ten inches long with soft fur and special whiskers which help them negotiate the tunnels they dig. They have very strong front paws, and a unique feature that allows their lips to close behind their front teeth so they do not ingest dirt when they dig. Gophers plug their holes and rarely come outside of their tunnel, except to eat above ground plants. Moles are often confused with gophers but are much smaller and their tunnels are much nearer ground level.
Gophers are always active. They dig a main tunnel which can be anywhere from four inches to almost two feet below the ground. They have been known on occasion to be as deep as five feet. The main gopher tunnel has lateral tunnels running off of it. These are the tunnels for which you might see mounds at ground level. One gopher can burrow thousands of feet underground and make several mounds in one day.
If your plants are being eaten by gophers, gopher control is a must. But, if they are not bothering any of your plants, you can leave them to themselves. Gophers are an important part of the ecosystem. They increase the fertility of the soil and aerate it. They carry minerals to the surface, which helps new soil to develop and to make better use of water. Some animals, such as weasels, coyotes, owls and snakes depend on gophers for part of their diet.
One method of gopher control is to protect your plants so that the gopher cannot access them. One way to do this is to use underground screening. This can be made from poultry netting or hardware cloth. You will need to cover the ground underneath the plants and on the sides. If you use raised beds, it is even easier to place the netting across the bottom of the beds when you construct them.
You can stop gophers by isolating your garden space with either a buffer of ground that is bare, or by planting crops around it which do not appeal to gophers. These can include annual grains which are left alone by gophers. Gophers also do not dig through gravel so making gravel barriers around plants or pipes will also deter them. Gopher tunnels can be flooded with water to drive the animals away.
Gophers can be killed by trapping them. Having dogs and cats nearby is also a good method of gopher control.