yes, I've seen caddyshack.

April 8, 2009 1:32 PM

I live on the edge of a huge canyon. Gophers are tearing up my yard. How can I keep them out, when an inexhaustible supply lives just outside my property?

I've seen this old post, but it's kind of scattered, with no real concensus. And because I live on a huge canyon, any trapping or poisoning I do would only be temporary (and besides, I don't wanna). I just need to figure out a way too keep them out of my backyard and in the canyon, so my backyard doesn't end up sliding into the canyon itself.

Is there anything I can plant that would keep them away? Spray along the edge of the canyon? I can't get a cat because my husband's allergic. Those electro-stakes would be perfect -- but I've heard they don't work. Or do they? Also, any tips on protecting my garden without building an entire greenhouse or chicken wire fortress?

Bonus: Here's one of 'em.

posted by changeling to pets & animals (11 comments total)

I have no empirical evidence that this works, but I've heard that human hair stuffed down the holes will drive them away. Raid a barber or beauty salon? Couldn't hurt.
posted by elendil71 at 1:36 PM on April 8

UC Davis has this authoritative article on pocket gopher management. I found it useful.

Like yourself, I live on the edge of a protected canyon and have to deal with these little buggers from time to time. I've found that some irritants (onions and Critter Ridder-type products) are environmentally safe ways to discourage invasion. But nothing can really act as a barrier, particularly since gophers live their lives mostly underground and can tunnel under whatever you scatter or spray.

Probably the best approach is to make your area unattractive by removing as much of their food supply as possible (ie, keep the area free of weeds or other attractive plants). Other than that, be vigilant and act quickly so that the damage they cause is minimized.
posted by SPrintF at 1:48 PM on April 8

Get a terrier? A terrier will chase them away, but I'm not sure how much the hole situation will be helped - they've been known to dig around after whatever they're chasing.
posted by jquinby at 1:50 PM on April 8

As the author of said old post, I can tell you I haven't found anything that truly works. One thing I did do was put chicken wire under my vegetable beds and 6" under the lawn. I have invested in multiple sonic devices, but I don't think they're terribly effective.

I did have some luck with a powdered blood-meal gopher repellent which I am sure repels them because one actually dug its way out of the lawn while I was filling in one of its holes with the powder. The carnage that ensued is best not shared in this forum. Suffice to say it was reminiscent of Altered States.
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:58 PM on April 8 [1 favorite]

Seconding powdered blood. That'll also keep away most rabbits and deer too.
posted by valkyryn at 2:22 PM on April 8

I don't know how much time you have on hand during the day, or how far out in the country you are, but lots of people I know deal with their gophers and groundhogs by shooting them. Depending on what your level of hatred toward them is, this can even be a fun way of eliminating them.

You do have to keep it up forever. Since you don't have access to the main colony to commit genocide, you're stuck sniping them when they come onto your property. Your shooting will improve considerably, though.

(Incidentally, this is how I'm very effectively dealing with a rat problem I have. Except I'm using an air rifle, not a varmint rifle.)
posted by Netzapper at 3:17 PM on April 8

Rodent Blaster?
posted by Wet Spot at 3:18 PM on April 8

I also live on the edge of a canyon, and have huge gopher issues in my yard. Everyone else on my street also has a gopher problem, and they have all resigned themselves to the problem. This makes it even harder to get rid of them, since they can basically tunnel into my yard from all directions! One of my neighbors tried the ultrasonic things, and his conclusion was that it worked for maybe a week or two, and then a gopher moved back in again. So we have written those off.

The only method that I have heard actually works (from multiple sources) is to dig up the sod, lay down chicken wire, and then replace or re-sod over the top. This doesn't prevent the gophers from entering your yard, but it does prevent them from tunneling up and eating the roots of your plants and destroying your lawn. This is on my list of medium to long-term projects to do (or more likely pay someone else to do). I don't think I can feasibly do it on the actual hillside section of my yard, but I can protect my lawn.
posted by Joh at 4:28 PM on April 8

lol, Netzapper. I live in suburbia, so no gopher-sniping (not that I'd do it anyway; I'm a total pacifist).

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. These things seem really tricky to get rid of. I feel discouraged. I'm down to try blood-meal, though.In the long-term, I want to pave the majority of my backyard when we have the funds. For now, it's pretty unkempt; we didn't lay sod because of the water it would use (we're in San Diego drought country).

What are gophers drawn to, anyway? My weeds? Why not eat the weeds in the canyon? It's a smorgasbord compared to my yard.
posted by changeling at 5:08 PM on April 8

I am imagining something a little like this (except pointed toward the canyon). You just need to bait it properly :)
posted by milqman at 5:37 PM on April 8 [1 favorite]

Castor oil. They hate the taste of it and it works.
When I lived in an orchard we had gophers invade the lawn and flower beds around our house. Feeling as you do that any trapped or killed could be readily resupplied from nearby, we took to drive them away. This is what I did:
Bought one of those garden sprayers that attach to the hose.
Put about 3/4 inch of castor oil into the bottle with just enough soap so the mixture foamed a bit when water was added.
Started spraying close to the house, saturating the yard. Made it clear they could find better tasting dirt away from the yard.
To more fully express my displeasure I sprayed good doses down the holes.
I know I repeated the treatment several times; maybe twice the first year and in the spring in the years following.
posted by pointilist at 11:10 PM on April 8