Didn't you ever see the cartoons in which the animals, in the wink of an
eye, pull the entire carrot down into the ground with a WHOOSH? It's a
terrible thing.
:-)

When I was about 5 years old and helping my grandmother in her vegetable garden
I watched an entire celery plant go slowly down into the ground as a gopher
pulled it,
not with a WHOOSH, but gone nevertheless.

When we moved back to CA after living in Ohio where we didn't have to deal with
gophers, I had forgotten about them. I was quickly reminded of them one
morning as I went out to check on the first tomato fruit that was just turning
red, when I arrived in time to see the last of the plant ( and alas, the tomato
also) disappear into the ground!

Now I do not plant a tomato, or a rose, without the protection of an
underground wire cage or "basket" which I make from welded wire with 1 inch
square openings.
A whole section of the wire can be laid flat on the ground and a raised bed
with solid sides built on top of the wire to keep gophers out.

I had so many wire baskets in the front yard flower bed, that when the water
man
came to check for pipes, his metal detector went crazy!!!

Emilie
NorCal