Gophers can actually improve the soil quality by aerating , improving drainage , mixing/cultivating while also enriching topsoil with minerals from richer deep soil . Their burrows allow water to penetrate and soak in deeper , capturing rain and actually help prevent erosion.
Gophers are herbivores and even tho they don’t eat grubs , pests or small insects , their tunnels do provide homes for a vast array of lizards snakes and other beneficial garden helpers that do eat soil dwelling pests . Gophers tend to bury a lot of organic material and leaves which in turn decompose adding nutrients to the soil .
Castor plant is extremely poisonous and its roots work well for me as a gopher purge and deterrent . I have planted castor from seed on the majority of my cacti 🌵 hillside , but this section doesn’t have any .
The gopher has bested me and won this round . I shall plant some fresh castor seeds an hope to expel him from this area . Planting castor seeds and growing these poisonous plants is an easier, cheaper and more environmentally friendly way to control where these gophers live than to just kill them .
Overall gophers are an important part of the ecosystem I’m creating here on my hillside , and although I can’t have them procreating and taking over all willy nilly , I can live in harmony with them without declaring war and resorting to bombs 💣 & store bought poisons !
by IMDAVESBUD
10 Comments
Lol silly bugger left the best part
Would love to see a map of the tunnels he digs after this!
Lmao did he just climb all the way inside the cactus? Cute lil fella
One hollowed out my ss03 last week. Must be that time of year.
Blessed
Do they not eat the skin and flesh right under? I would imagine you’d notice some frolicking gophers around your property if they did lol.
This is really interesting thanks for sharing!
That’s insane! I worry about the ground squirrels and voles here… the struggle is real
Gophers making a periscope so he can keep an eye on everything.
Holy smokes, I’ve never seen anything like that before