How To Identify A Gopher Problem And What To Do About It

By Author: Aponi Laquetta
Total Articles: 3
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Gophers, which are also known as pocket gophers, are rodent that burrow into and through the ground. These pests are very good at tunneling underground and will leave mounds of dirt as they excavate their way through their tunnels. In many cases, the actual hole that they use to enter and exit will be plugged, but stepping on one of these can cause injury to humans, which is quite common. They will generally remain underground but they do surface at times to feed or to move to another area where they begin digging again.

When property owners see mounds of dirt, and there can be a significant number of these mounds, gopher control is called for in order to handle the problem. The sooner a professional is called in, the less damage that will occur. Gophers can cover an area anywhere between 200 and 2000 square feet, and, as mentioned above, all of this tunneling can cause major damage to the land itself as it weakens from the excavated tunnels below.

Gopher control is also important in that these pests do breed. A normal litter will normally consist of 5 or 6 pups and these rodents are known to live for about 3 years ...
... and produce as many as 3 litters a year. As you can see, in a short time, there can be several gophers digging their way through your property. To make matters worse, they do not hibernate during the winter and remain active year round.

In terms of surface damage, these rodents will eat a variety of plants and vegetables and are known to prefer burrowing near or even in gardens and around flower beds. They can be particularly troublesome for those who have vegetable gardens as they like to eat this type of food and have been known to actually pull vegetation down into their tunnel from below. They will also gnaw on underground assets such as plastic water pipes, sprinkler systems and whatever else might interest them. All of these issues can ruin a lawn, cause injury to humans and animals and cause gardeners a lot of anguish and grief. Again, gopher control is the answer to this problem.

There are several ways that professionals can rid your property of these pests. They may employ baiting, trapping or fumigation techniques to remove the gophers. It is important to work with professionals who know what they are doing as this type of removal process requires that the job be done right the first time and that all pests are removed. For this reason many professionals who offer gopher control will come back after the initial visit to follow up to make sure there are no new signs of tunneling.

Homeowners and property owners can learn more about gopher control here. Avoid costly damage to property, gardens, and lawns by ridding the area of burrowing gophers.