When it comes to gopher infestations, everyone can agree on one thing: the sooner they’re gone, the better. Gophers may be cute, but they are not the friendly sort of neighborhood creature you would want to pick up and pet, or to feed on the sly. They will dig tunnels all through your property, ruining root systems and leaving anything you’ve planted above them to die.
Many homeowners and pest control companies use chemical methods to get rid of gophers – typically baits and poisons and gopher repellents. While these can be powerful solutions to a serious problem, they can also have a highly detrimental effect on the environment. There are many different solutions that are more friendly to the environment and that use naturally found substances to eradicate gopher problems.
One of these products is called the “Rodenator.” You slide a tube into one of the entry holes, and then activate the device. Propane and oxygen spray out into the burrow, and then you detonate the mixture, leading to a shock wave under the ground. The force should kill any animals nearby and might collapse the tunnel system, particularly after you’ve set it off in several of the holes. According to the company’s website, the mixture will not harm the environment and leaves no damaging chemical residue.
Other natural methods for killing gophers include a wide variety of live- and dead-trap mechanisms. There are basically three types of traps that will catch and kill your gopher for you: the wire trap, which grabs and squeezes the gopher to the point of asphyxiation; the box trap, which traps the gopher against the roof of the box until it suffocates; and the cylindrical trap, which works similarly to the box trap but fits more flush with the existing tunnel. Environmentally friendly baits include oatmeal and peanut butter. Some experts recommend using a high-sugar peanut butter, such as Skippy Super Chunk. Slim Jim beef sticks are another recommended bait that does not harm the environment.
One type of trap that is not as environmentally friendly involves the use of adhesives to capture rodents. While the glue might catch a few gophers, other creatures who wander into the network might also get trapped, or if you put the trap outside, where gophers might sneak to eat from your garden, birds and other animals can end up stuck to the trap as well. Tunnel-based traps target the gophers and do not leave environmental damage behind.
No matter which of these methods you choose, if living “green” is important to you, all of these offer the chance to kill or remove the gophers without leaving any trace that will damage the surrounding plant and animal life.
