Digging deep
Tackling gopher infestations in lawns and fields
Let’s make a mountain out of a molehill. Those mounds on your lawn and pasture could be moles, but they’re more than likely gophers; Plains Pocket Gophers to be pragmatic—Geomys bursarius to be scientific.
These rodents dig and chew, and the damage they can do goes beyond the mounds we mow over. Iowa State University cited a study in Nebraska showing a 35% loss in irrigated alfalfa fields due to the presence of pocket gophers; the number jumped to 46% in decreased production of non-irrigated alfalfa fields.
Pocket gophers are not a new issue in Oklahoma, but they could be for personal property or an agricultural operation. There is no shortage of opinion about what to do, if anything, and yet many choose to do nothing; this doesn’t impede infestation, it simply exacerbates it. Gophers do math, only they don’t add — they multiply.
In a single breeding season, a mature-bred female can introduce three-to-six new gophers per litter; some ecosystems allow for as many as two breeding seasons per calendar year.
While poisoning is an option, studies show that less expensive, longer-term, more environmentally compatible options can include crop rotation, flood irrigation and trapping.
Though considered impractical by some due to time constraints and physical limitations, trapping remains a cost-effective, humane and self-sufficient means of gopher mitigation.
A pair of all-metal gopher traps can be purchased online for less than $15, before taxes and shipping, and even if minimally-maintained can meet the need for the lifetime of the user.
Poison is effective only if the animal of concern consumes a lethal dose; non-target animals, including pets, can eat the same poison or a poisoned gopher to result in the same fatal outcome.
When setting traps for pocket gophers, trap placement is key. The rule of thumb is to set on sign, and this practically involves first locating the freshest mounds on your property.
They typically appear darker than existing mounds due to moisture in the soil that has yet to evaporate. Note that it is also helpful to level aged-mounds to prevent creating vegetative dead spots.
Once a fresh site is selected, next locate the soil plug which can be identified as a concave-or-convex circle within the fan-shaped mound. It will then be necessary to dig down into the gopher’s tunnel system; this can be two to 12-inches below the surface.
Pocket gopher tunnels are functionally deep enough to provide protection from predators, and shallow enough to allow the rodents to feed exclusively on roots while digging.
Lastly, set one trap per tunnel facing into each gallery making sure to anchor each trap—a wire connected to a stake will suffice. This setup should then be checked each day for a catch, and/or to reset or relocate the traps to another mound if necessary.
Whatever producers, operators, owners and investors choose to do, education is key. The answer could be doing nothing, but it could also be doing something that invests time and money in the short term for a long-term payoff.
Nicholas A. Waters is a licensed nuisance wildlife control operator in Oklahoma and a published author. He lives in Oklahoma with his wife and five children on a 139-year-old homestead. Contact him at 405-238-1717.
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