As ridiculously funny as the movie Caddy Shack was, there is some painful truth to the damage gophers wreak and how tricky gopher control can get. Gophers spend their whole lives underground, where they build complex systems of tunnels. Within these tunnels, they eat by munching on roots and pulling plants into their tunnel, mate, and raise their pups.
The four large incisor teeth gophers are notable for continuing to grow throughout their lives, as do other critters in the rodent family, such as mice and rats. However, unlike most rodents, they are not nocturnal.
How Do I Know if a Gopher is in My Yard?
When looking out at a lawn with mounds of dirt, it may not be easy to distinguish between a gopher or mole problem. Both create extensive tunnels beneath the grass and spend most of their time underground. It will take a Critter Control specialist to identify exactly which pest is on your property.
Nice lawns make the perfect habitat for gophers. They love healthy, loose soil, so the better your lawn looks to you, the better it looks to a gopher too. Gophers love garden vegetables, bulbs, and other roots they come across. Their primary way of foraging for food is to eat through plant and lawn roots as they build their tunnels. One gopher will consume 60 percent of its body weight every day. This process can destroy the ecosystem beneath your lawn.
Gopher Damage
The unsightly mounds gophers make are just the visible damage they create. The tunnels they create weaken the ground you walk on and could cause a cave-in. And, by eating the roots as they dig, the grass will begin to die, causing brown patches in the lawn you’ve worked so hard to maintain the beauty of. Gopher problems also arise when the rodents feed on garden crops, ornamental plants, shrubs, and trees.
Getting Rid of Gophers
Gopher removal is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. Gophers are smart animals that can easily outsmart an untrained person trying to capture them. And, with extensive tunnels crossing through your lawn, it’s hard to know exactly where they are. The best way to handle a gopher problem is to call a Critter Control specialist who will arrive with the right tools and training to trap the gophers safely and mitigate any potential damage.
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Pocket gophers generally measure between 5 and 14 inches in length and weigh about a pound as adults. The medium-sized rodents have brownish fur and get their name from the pocket-like pouches in their cheeks, which they use to carry food and nesting materials. Gophers are built for burrowing and living underground, with long claws on their front feet, small eyes and ears, and sensitive whiskers that help with navigation. The sparsely furred tail of the pocket gopher is also highly sensitive and useful for guiding the burrowing rodent through the darkness of subterranean soil.
More information on what a gopher looks like.
Gophers live in underground burrows. They prefer to make their burrows in areas of loose, sandy soil where the surrounding plant growth acts as both food and cover. Lawns and crop fields are therefore ideal nesting sites for pocket gophers. The pests show a particular fondness for alfalfa fields but will also dig burrows under cemeteries, golf courses, hayfields, and roadsides. They like to live alone except when raising their offspring, which are cared for exclusively by the mother.
Are gophers known to enter homes or yards?
The tunneling activity of gophers frequently leads the pests to invade agricultural fields, gardens, and residential lawns. They feed on various plants, roots, shrubs, and trees. The most heavily infested areas can have a population density of 60 gophers or more per acre.
Do gophers harm people or property?
Even though pocket gophers spend most of their time underground and out of sight, the damage they leave behind is highly visible and displeasing to the eye. Their extensive burrowing and tunneling can ruin lawns, while their feeding habits can result in the destruction of gardens and flowerbeds. Gophers also excavate mounds of soil when they burrow, which then become eyesores scattered around the yard. The pests sometimes damage water lines and sprinkler systems with their digging and gnawing, and their tunnels can disrupt the flow of irrigation water, which results in soil erosion.
Read more about gopher damage.
Effective gopher control often involves the installation of underground barriers around gardens and other potential food sources. However, this prevention method can be expensive and labor-intensive. Safety must also be taken into account when attempting to implement control measures, as the pests may bite if handled.
To ensure the safe and humane removal of pocket gophers, owners of infested properties should take advantage of the professional pest control services offered by Critter Control. Highly trained and knowledgeable, Critter Control technicians know all about gopher removal and prevention. Our team of certified wildlife specialists can take care of gopher problems safely and professionally.