I've been warring with gophers. Today, I caught my first one in a trap.
There's finess involved in placing the trap, and knowledge of how gophers do
their tunnels. And those little traps would surely be nasty to get caught
in accidentally. Will try it again on one in the front yard that has a big
excavation underway under the creeping mulberry. I think the cooler weather
has brought them out more.

They are cute little guys, but boy do they cause damage.

Steve

--
Keep an eye on them or lose them:

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the government for a redress of grievances.


Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

I have moles from time to time. I've used those mole smokers, and
surprisingly they seem to work well. I don't know if it killed them or just
drove them off, but the end result was no more moles. And yes, they can do
some serious damage, especially when they push up in the middle of a young
garden!


"SteveB" toquerville@zionvistas wrote in message
news
I've been warring with gophers. Today, I caught my first one in a trap.
There's finess involved in placing the trap, and knowledge of how gophers
do their tunnels. And those little traps would surely be nasty to get
caught in accidentally. Will try it again on one in the front yard that
has a big excavation underway under the creeping mulberry. I think the
cooler weather has brought them out more.

They are cute little guys, but boy do they cause damage.

Steve

--
Keep an eye on them or lose them:

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the government for a redress of grievances.


Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

I played hell with one awhile ago. I ended up throwing some poison pellets
down one of the holes and he disappeared.
I tried to drown him at first and my whole yard dropped an inch.

I though of poison pellets, but their burrows were too close to my well. One
of them actually broke out in my head pipe housing and filled it with dirt.
About that time I start thinking of dynamite....

"Aluckyguess" wrote in message
...
I played hell with one awhile ago. I ended up throwing some poison pellets
down one of the holes and he disappeared.
I tried to drown him at first and my whole yard dropped an inch.

"Zoot" wrote in message
...
I though of poison pellets, but their burrows were too close to my well.
One of them actually broke out in my head pipe housing and filled it with
dirt. About that time I start thinking of dynamite....

"Aluckyguess" wrote in message
...
I played hell with one awhile ago. I ended up throwing some poison pellets
down one of the holes and he disappeared.
I tried to drown him at first and my whole yard dropped an inch.


It was my last resort. I was worried about the dog.
We dont have a well.

"Zoot" wrote in message
...
I though of poison pellets, but their burrows were too close to my well.
One of them actually broke out in my head pipe housing and filled it with
dirt. About that time I start thinking of dynamite....

I built a propane/oxygen/stun gun igniter system similar to the Rodenator at
www.rodenator.com Mine was one tenth the cost. You do have to be careful
when blasting near pipes, buildings, water pipes, or dry grass.

When I caught that one today, I actually admired the little creature for all
the dirt he had moved.

I have two traps set now for another set of big mounds in the front yard. A
friend of mine told me about a type of guillotine trap that I will look for
next trip to the feed store.

Ah. Life on the farm/ranch...................

Steve

"Aluckyguess" wrote in message
...

"Zoot" wrote in message
...
I though of poison pellets, but their burrows were too close to my well.
One of them actually broke out in my head pipe housing and filled it with
dirt. About that time I start thinking of dynamite....

"Aluckyguess" wrote in message
...
I played hell with one awhile ago. I ended up throwing some poison
pellets down one of the holes and he disappeared.
I tried to drown him at first and my whole yard dropped an inch.


It was my last resort. I was worried about the dog.
We dont have a well.

I quit using the xylitol sweetened gum, as last time I put two in the
tunnel, he brought them up and spit them on the surface without a tooth mark
on them. Good thing the dogs didn't find them, as they are poisonous to
dogs.

That is a big consideration to pets, as some farmers/ranchers have different
attitudes towards pets than other people.

Steve

Got another one this morning. Boy, was he causing a mess. Guess I'm
getting the hang of this after all.

Steve

On Nov 29 2008, 12:48*pm, "SteveB" toquerville@zionvistas wrote:
I've been warring with gophers. *Today, I caught my first one in a trap..
There's finess involved in placing the trap, and knowledge of how gophers do
their tunnels. *And those little traps would surely be nasty to get caught
in accidentally. *Will try it again on one in the front yard that has a big
excavation underway under the creeping mulberry. *I think the cooler weather
has brought them out more.

They are cute little guys, but boy do they cause damage.

Steve

--
Keep an eye on them or lose them:

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

The best success I have had with getting rid of moles is using the
bait and applicator from http://www.mole-be-gone.com

Hope this helps!