Glade you still have the spirit. I have given up battling with them. I just sow a lot of seeds n harvest what I can. Plus I try to grow what they hate to eat. Even that sometime they eat too. Haha..
I though a bigger property (23 acres) mean I can grow more and have more but nope. So many wild animals want all of my hard work. I think that’s why large farm do tilling. These ground pest does help get the soil soft for tilling. Tilling would break down their tunnel so they would want to move on their own. We bought a tractor so I’m switching to winter garden because of water situation in ca. Till it now that it’s soft and wet. Sow the seeds. Let the rain water. The pest can thin the crops out but I have enough surface areas to get plenty of harvest. If I work less and spend less , I would consider my harvest a higher yield. Lol
I have used the solar mole chasers. They worked in the beginning but the moles become immune to their vibration. In fact I think it began to attract them to the spot and maybe they even enjoyed the " massage" from the vibration. I think they are worse this year. I have seen them in places they have never been before..en mass. Watch out for poisons. You do have cats out and about and if a mole or gopher happened to come out and die and the cats or wild life eat it they would become sick. Also the poison can leach into the soil.
I had a horrible gopher problem after our dog died at 17 years. I think she was keeping them at bay the whole time. I don't remember where I read it but it said gophers don't like strawberry plants. I planted strawberry plants all around my Meyer lemon tree that was eaten by a gopher. It looked like it wasn't going to make it. It's been two years now and I still have gophers but nothing around my lemon tree. The tree looks like I just pruned it funny and it's producing beautiful lemons. Btw, I've never had a gopher in any of my strawberry patches. Hope you get something from this.
every time I watch your videos & hear the issues you have with gophers, I have to remind myself to be thankful our garden marauders are just squirrels & rabbits. The foot of chicken wire above the foot tall raised beds seems to have solved the rabbit issue & we built an enclosure for the sweet corn, berries, carrots & spinach. it's working against the squirrels & birds. Good luck in your battle & go watch Caddyshack.
I live in San Bernardino County, last year I trapped 22 gophers on my 1/4 acre. This year only 2 gophers. The big improvement was made by the presence of an owl. The gophers and ground squirrels are all gone. Thank you Mr. Owl!
Just the smell of predator urine scares small varmints away. Not sure if that will work on subteranean varmints, since smell doesn't penetrate dirt, but good luck bro!
Gophers and moles, I get both, yay me! I made my own baskets with a bottom and planted peppers, cucumbers and squash in them. They tunneled around and underneath the plants, plants did not survive long 😢. The next year I made a brick raised bed with the metal cloth on the bottom and not 1 gopher or mole got in! Along a fence line I buried buckets and had great success in out smarting them but obviously that won’t work for you. Good luck can’t wait for updates on what you’re going to try!
If you're going to spend money to rent a trencher anyway ( not knowing how hard it might be to dig the trenches ), and have to put in all that labor, why not buy containers instead? Not raised beds with open bottoms, something galvanized at a farm co-op store, or cement planters, fountains, cement benches, anything they are less likely to chew through, for the cottage garden.
That’s us! It’s awful but on the bright side it’s funny to watch my husband go to war with the gophers. Tried everything. Sometimes I see him like Elmer Fudd with his gun. Another time I saw him trying kill a mole with a hammer on our lawn. Hate them but you have to keep your sense of humors. Nothing works btw until you trap every single one and remove them. We would drive far and drop them off. But if there is a family or pregnant lady gophers which we caught then they just keep giving birth. Don’t do the bomb, it blew in my face we weren’t quick enough and it hurt my lungs for awhile. And your basically killing them and what if some animal eats them? Yes they try and crawl out to survive so an owl or hawk or your dogs etc be careful. Trust me after 10 years the only thing worked for us was to build a wall and get traps lots and check daily and crush every hole as soon as you see it place the trap next to a new hole. It’ll take a few years. Sorry wish I had better news but that’s what happened. I’m pleased that with patience and about 1.5 years maybe 2because they hibernate it finally stopped. We still get an occasional one here and there but trap them. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻 you don’t have squirrels they ate all my fruit off my trees. Just one squirrels drove me crazy. Just for fun google the NASA guy during pandemic trued get rid of squirrels it’s so funny but true they are extremely intelligent. I trapped 2 so far seen no more. Best of luck. Remember keep your sense of humor because there isn’t much else you can do. 😊good to see you ❤️
I just suggested something on your other video on mad about gophers but I just thought of something. Pest control has these underground system for termites pretty much invisible green small square flat with the ground. My neighbor (my daughter) got them for termites but company said kept all rodents away. We had gophers and just kept putting out cages and driving them elsewhere but since neighbor put them in and they are right next to our property divided by a wall, we have seen very few gophers holes. Just a thought. Good luck. Don’t turn into Elmer Fudd like my husband did. It was pretty funny for awhile it was like caddy shack and cartoons at our house UNTIL I planted fruit trees and they went to town eating everything and inviting squirrels 🐿. Yeah not funny for me anymore. But we finally got them all with cages and daily checking and crushing their holes. We haven’t seen any around in awhile but as soon as ONE hole pops up you have to go to war. Good luck and hi to your lovely wife.
place a mobile chicken coop / chicken tractor in a highly trafficked gopher area. the chickens working the soil, affect the gophers. takes about 3-4 weeks to notice a decrease in activity.
The gophers ate my apple tree😢. So we got a plum tree to replace it. My husband put a basket made of chicken wire in the ground. Hopefully this works. Btw. We are infested with them too .😠
I've found that the best way to control gophers is to trap them but i have never seen the type of damage the you show in your video. First off I would rake the area that they are working in to determine which runs they are using by finding their fresh dirt piles. Then I would dig down into their run and set a trap on each side of it. Sometimes you will need to enlarge the hole so the trap will fit. Make sure each trap is tied with a string a few feet long and tied to a stake that you shove into the ground to keep the gopher from running away with your trap. You will need to cover each hole so that there is no light coming in and check your traps every day. If you haven't caught a gopher after a couple of days then move your traps to another area. Sometimes you will find the trap sprung and dirt pushed in. You now know that the gopher is actively working that run. All you need to do is relocate the run a few feet from your original position and reset your trap. I always worry about using poison bait because a pet or some other animal might get at the bait or dig up the dead gopher and eat it along with the bait. Good Luck!
I'm celebrating a $30k stock portfolio today. I started this journey with 4k. have invested on time and also with the right tearn now I have time for my family and the life ahead of me
Ok….Love your idea for the area by the cottage house. Yep, kind of pricey but if it works it would be worth it's weight in gold. I am so sorry about your Avacado tree. I hope it has the strength to make a good comeback. I was blown away by how many gopher holes you have. 😳 I wish you good luck but gee that is a ton. I also love the owl house idea. I live in a city in Missouri. We live in a neighborhood where we are the last house next to a large field with a small patch if woods. We had a a mom hawk and her baby living in the woods last summer. They used to take baths in our bird bath. So maybe you could add a nice large bird bath to attract them. Lunch and a bath…..what a deal. Thanks for the update. BTW are those elephant ears in the pots behind you and beside you in the video? I loved them. The pink ones really makes the pots pop!
26 Comments
Best of luck with your war on gophers. It will take be interesting to see if you can save the avocado tree, hope it makes it.
Glade you still have the spirit. I have given up battling with them. I just sow a lot of seeds n harvest what I can. Plus I try to grow what they hate to eat. Even that sometime they eat too. Haha..
I though a bigger property (23 acres) mean I can grow more and have more but nope. So many wild animals want all of my hard work. I think that’s why large farm do tilling. These ground pest does help get the soil soft for tilling. Tilling would break down their tunnel so they would want to move on their own. We bought a tractor so I’m switching to winter garden because of water situation in ca. Till it now that it’s soft and wet. Sow the seeds. Let the rain water. The pest can thin the crops out but I have enough surface areas to get plenty of harvest. If I work less and spend less , I would consider my harvest a higher yield. Lol
Honestly, how long do you think this guy can hold out before he starts making little gopher statues out of C4?
I have used the solar mole chasers. They worked in the beginning but the moles become immune to their vibration. In fact I think it began to attract them to the spot and maybe they even enjoyed the " massage" from the vibration. I think they are worse this year. I have seen them in places they have never been before..en mass. Watch out for poisons. You do have cats out and about and if a mole or gopher happened to come out and die and the cats or wild life eat it they would become sick. Also the poison can leach into the soil.
I had a horrible gopher problem after our dog died at 17 years. I think she was keeping them at bay the whole time. I don't remember where I read it but it said gophers don't like strawberry plants. I planted strawberry plants all around my Meyer lemon tree that was eaten by a gopher. It looked like it wasn't going to make it. It's been two years now and I still have gophers but nothing around my lemon tree. The tree looks like I just pruned it funny and it's producing beautiful lemons. Btw, I've never had a gopher in any of my strawberry patches. Hope you get something from this.
every time I watch your videos & hear the issues you have with gophers, I have to remind myself to be thankful our garden marauders are just squirrels & rabbits. The foot of chicken wire above the foot tall raised beds seems to have solved the rabbit issue & we built an enclosure for the sweet corn, berries, carrots & spinach. it's working against the squirrels & birds. Good luck in your battle & go watch Caddyshack.
I'm surprised that you can get a tree to bear avacado in the States! Man, I need a variety that can do that in the Houston Texas area!
I live in San Bernardino County, last year I trapped 22 gophers on my 1/4 acre. This year only 2 gophers. The big improvement was made by the presence of an owl. The gophers and ground squirrels are all gone. Thank you Mr. Owl!
Just the smell of predator urine scares small varmints away. Not sure if that will work on subteranean varmints, since smell doesn't penetrate dirt, but good luck bro!
Gophers and moles, I get both, yay me! I made my own baskets with a bottom and planted peppers, cucumbers and squash in them. They tunneled around and underneath the plants, plants did not survive long 😢. The next year I made a brick raised bed with the metal cloth on the bottom and not 1 gopher or mole got in! Along a fence line I buried buckets and had great success in out smarting them but obviously that won’t work for you. Good luck can’t wait for updates on what you’re going to try!
If you're going to spend money to rent a trencher anyway ( not knowing how hard it might be to dig the trenches ), and have to put in all that labor, why not buy containers instead? Not raised beds with open bottoms, something galvanized at a farm co-op store, or cement planters, fountains, cement benches, anything they are less likely to chew through, for the cottage garden.
If that avacado tree survives, you sir are the avacado whisperer!!!!
That’s us! It’s awful but on the bright side it’s funny to watch my husband go to war with the gophers. Tried everything. Sometimes I see him like Elmer Fudd with his gun. Another time I saw him trying kill a mole with a hammer on our lawn. Hate them but you have to keep your sense of humors. Nothing works btw until you trap every single one and remove them. We would drive far and drop them off. But if there is a family or pregnant lady gophers which we caught then they just keep giving birth. Don’t do the bomb, it blew in my face we weren’t quick enough and it hurt my lungs for awhile. And your basically killing them and what if some animal eats them? Yes they try and crawl out to survive so an owl or hawk or your dogs etc be careful. Trust me after 10 years the only thing worked for us was to build a wall and get traps lots and check daily and crush every hole as soon as you see it place the trap next to a new hole. It’ll take a few years. Sorry wish I had better news but that’s what happened. I’m pleased that with patience and about 1.5 years maybe 2because they hibernate it finally stopped. We still get an occasional one here and there but trap them. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻 you don’t have squirrels they ate all my fruit off my trees. Just one squirrels drove me crazy. Just for fun google the NASA guy during pandemic trued get rid of squirrels it’s so funny but true they are extremely intelligent. I trapped 2 so far seen no more. Best of luck. Remember keep your sense of humor because there isn’t much else you can do. 😊good to see you ❤️
I'm sorry, but this whole time I'm picturing Bill Murray making a hot female gopher out of plastic explosive!
It is hilarious to hear Mr. Rooster in the background….
When we had horses, we dumped their poop in the holes.
Before you dig the trench in the chicken coop area, make sure you check where the electric, gas, telephone lines run. Ask me how I know. 🫣
I just suggested something on your other video on mad about gophers but I just thought of something. Pest control has these underground system for termites pretty much invisible green small square flat with the ground. My neighbor (my daughter) got them for termites but company said kept all rodents away. We had gophers and just kept putting out cages and driving them elsewhere but since neighbor put them in and they are right next to our property divided by a wall, we have seen very few gophers holes. Just a thought. Good luck. Don’t turn into Elmer Fudd like my husband did. It was pretty funny for awhile it was like caddy shack and cartoons at our house UNTIL I planted fruit trees and they went to town eating everything and inviting squirrels 🐿. Yeah not funny for me anymore. But we finally got them all with cages and daily checking and crushing their holes. We haven’t seen any around in awhile but as soon as ONE hole pops up you have to go to war. Good luck and hi to your lovely wife.
place a mobile chicken coop / chicken tractor in a highly trafficked gopher area. the chickens working the soil, affect the gophers. takes about 3-4 weeks to notice a decrease in activity.
The gophers ate my apple tree😢. So we got a plum tree to replace it. My husband put a basket made of chicken wire in the ground. Hopefully this works. Btw. We are infested with them too .😠
🇨🇦🇨🇦❤️Great!🎥🎥👉
Shhh….. you were too loud while filming this, i think the gophers heard you.
I've found that the best way to control gophers is to trap them but i have never seen the type of damage the you show in your video.
First off I would rake the area that they are working in to determine which runs they are using by finding their fresh dirt piles. Then I would dig down into their run and set a trap on each side of it. Sometimes you will need to enlarge the hole so the trap will fit. Make sure each trap is tied with a string a few feet long and tied to a stake that you shove into the ground to keep the gopher from running away with your trap.
You will need to cover each hole so that there is no light coming in and check your traps every day.
If you haven't caught a gopher after a couple of days then move your traps to another area.
Sometimes you will find the trap sprung and dirt pushed in. You now know that the gopher is actively working that run. All you need to do is relocate the run a few feet from your original position and reset your trap.
I always worry about using poison bait because a pet or some other animal might get at the bait or dig up the dead gopher and eat it along with the bait. Good Luck!
And get more cats too! 😉😉😉
I'm celebrating a $30k stock portfolio today. I started this journey with 4k. have invested on time and also with the right tearn now I have time for my family and the life ahead of me
Ok….Love your idea for the area by the cottage house. Yep, kind of pricey but if it works it would be worth it's weight in gold.
I am so sorry about your Avacado tree. I hope it has the strength to make a good comeback.
I was blown away by how many gopher holes you have. 😳 I wish you good luck but gee that is a ton.
I also love the owl house idea. I live in a city in Missouri. We live in a neighborhood where we are the last house next to a large field with a small patch if woods. We had a a mom hawk and her baby living in the woods last summer. They used to take baths in our bird bath. So maybe you could add a nice large bird bath to attract them. Lunch and a bath…..what a deal.
Thanks for the update. BTW are those elephant ears in the pots behind you and beside you in the video? I loved them. The pink ones really makes the pots pop!