We recently bought a new place, about an acre, and we are now in the process
of making it fit for human habitation, so we haven't actually moved in yet.
BUT ... there are gopher holes everywhere! I'm afraid to plant any of my
potted plants, since they will probably just become expensive gopher chow.
My new neighbors have the charming practice of flooding the gopher holes and
letting their dogs snarf up the critters that come running out the other end
of the gopher hole ... but that's a little bloodthirsty, even for me.

So, two questions: What, if anything, can one do about gophers except
practice what I suppose we must call "barrier gardening"? And how much of a
barrier is sufficient? I read on one web site that you can run a chicken
wire fence around your garden, burying it about a foot deep, and that the
gophers won't burrow below that. Can anyone corroborate that depth? Or do
you have a better method?

And specifically, will gophers eat daffodils, bearded irises, and rose
roots? I have read that gophers leave daffodils alone. I also know that iris
roots are poisonous, so I would *think* the gophers would leave them alone.
Anyone know for sure? And what about roses? There are some roses in the
front yard left by the last owner, but maybe the gophers just haven't made
it there yet ....

Anyway, thank you very much for any advice on this topic!

- jordan

On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 05:34:10 GMT, "amjordan" wrote:

We recently bought a new place, about an acre, and we are now in the process
of making it fit for human habitation, so we haven't actually moved in yet.
BUT ... there are gopher holes everywhere! I'm afraid to plant any of my
potted plants, since they will probably just become expensive gopher chow.
My new neighbors have the charming practice of flooding the gopher holes and
letting their dogs snarf up the critters that come running out the other end
of the gopher hole ... but that's a little bloodthirsty, even for me.
[...]
Anyway, thank you very much for any advice on this topic!

- jordan

Can't recall ever seeing a gopher in or around Austin (Texas). So
give us a hint, where is the new place? My working guess is that
either you are posting to a newsgroup full of people who do not have
your problem and are not an ideal source of information or they are
not gopher holes. Either way, more data would help.

B.Server wrote in message
...
On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 05:34:10 GMT, "amjordan" wrote:

Can't recall ever seeing a gopher in or around Austin (Texas). So
give us a hint, where is the new place? My working guess is that
either you are posting to a newsgroup full of people who do not have
your problem and are not an ideal source of information or they are
not gopher holes. Either way, more data would help.

Aaaah ... no gophers in Austin? Really? Hm, interesting. Well, I grew up in
Weatherford, Texas, where we had gophers out the wazoo. (Maybe it was the
clay soil there? I once stood in our back yard and watched an entire
sunflower plant being slowly pulled underground!) I started hanging around
this newsgroup when I was living in Arlington, TX -- granted, it wasn't
Austin, but I couldn't find a good local gardening group and Arlington
shared many issues with Austin.

Now I'm in northern California, and once again living on clay soil that is
inundated with gophers! I posted to this group because I have often found
solutions to my problems from the good and knowledgeable people here ...
sorry if I offended anyone! At any rate, if anyone is interested, I found
the solution to my problem (I think) online yesterday at
http://members.tripod.com/Tommy51/aboutbarnowls.html (Using Barn Owls for
Rodent Control). Amazingly enough, barn owls are apparently very willing to
move in to just about any habitat you create for them that is remotely
appropriate, and they are also very willing to take care of your rodent
problems! And here in Sonoma County, there are quite a few barn owls
already. So I intend to put up some nesting boxes and encourage the
feathered ones to come be our new tenants! LOL! Hopefully that will take
care of the problem.

thanks,
jordan

B.Server wrote in message
...
On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 05:34:10 GMT, "amjordan" wrote:

Can't recall ever seeing a gopher in or around Austin (Texas). So
give us a hint, where is the new place? My working guess is that
either you are posting to a newsgroup full of people who do not have
your problem and are not an ideal source of information or they are
not gopher holes. Either way, more data would help.

Aaaah ... no gophers in Austin? Really? Hm, interesting. Well, I grew up in
Weatherford, Texas, where we had gophers out the wazoo. (Maybe it was the
clay soil there? I once stood in our back yard and watched an entire
sunflower plant being slowly pulled underground!) I started hanging around
this newsgroup when I was living in Arlington, TX -- granted, it wasn't
Austin, but I couldn't find a good local gardening group and Arlington
shared many issues with Austin.

Now I'm in northern California, and once again living on clay soil that is
inundated with gophers! I posted to this group because I have often found
solutions to my problems from the good and knowledgeable people here ...
sorry if I offended anyone! At any rate, if anyone is interested, I found
the solution to my problem (I think) online yesterday at
http://members.tripod.com/Tommy51/aboutbarnowls.html (Using Barn Owls for
Rodent Control). Amazingly enough, barn owls are apparently very willing to
move in to just about any habitat you create for them that is remotely
appropriate, and they are also very willing to take care of your rodent
problems! And here in Sonoma County, there are quite a few barn owls
already. So I intend to put up some nesting boxes and encourage the
feathered ones to come be our new tenants! LOL! Hopefully that will take
care of the problem.

thanks,
jordan

On Fri, 27 Jun 2003 05:16:08 GMT, "amjordan" wrote:


B.Server wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 05:34:10 GMT, "amjordan" wrote:
[...]
Aaaah ... no gophers in Austin? Really? Hm, interesting. Well, I grew up in
Weatherford, Texas, where we had gophers out the wazoo. (Maybe it was the
clay soil there? I once stood in our back yard and watched an entire
sunflower plant being slowly pulled underground!) I started hanging around
this newsgroup when I was living in Arlington, TX -- granted, it wasn't
Austin, but I couldn't find a good local gardening group and Arlington
shared many issues with Austin.

Now I'm in northern California, and once again living on clay soil that is
inundated with gophers! I posted to this group because I have often found
solutions to my problems from the good and knowledgeable people here ...
sorry if I offended anyone! At any rate, if anyone is interested, I found
the solution to my problem (I think) online yesterday at
http://members.tripod.com/Tommy51/aboutbarnowls.html (Using Barn Owls for
Rodent Control). Amazingly enough, barn owls are apparently very willing to
move in to just about any habitat you create for them that is remotely
appropriate, and they are also very willing to take care of your rodent
problems! And here in Sonoma County, there are quite a few barn owls
already. So I intend to put up some nesting boxes and encourage the
feathered ones to come be our new tenants! LOL! Hopefully that will take
care of the problem.

thanks,
jordan


I hope that works. We had a pair of barnowls who hunted our utility
easement for mice and rats for a couple of years. Haven't heard them
for a while, but there are some other species whose "hoot" I do not
recognise that have moved in. Nicer when they have a nesting box that
you know about because they are one of the most interesting looking
owls (IMO) that you will ever see. We only were aware of them from
the calls and an occasional large, silent, object swooping past. No
idea where they nested.

Here it may just be "the soil", or rather the absence of same over
much of the area. Excepting drainage bottoms and the blackland to the
east, there is not very good deep digging for burrowing rodents.
Maybe those who live along the Colorado or off the escarpment have
them. Or it might be that none are born with and urge to burrow in
brick.

Oh, and I was not suggesting to not post, only that we might not be
able to help. Sort of like the folks who assume that aus means
Australia and post questions from that perspective.

cheers

On Fri, 27 Jun 2003 06:54:01 GMT, "Catbird"
wrote:


B.Server wrote in message
.. .
[...]

Can't recall ever seeing a gopher in or around Austin (Texas). So
give us a hint, where is the new place? My working guess is that
either you are posting to a newsgroup full of people who do not have
your problem and are not an ideal source of information or they are
not gopher holes. Either way, more data would help.

Texas has at least 5 kinds of pocket gophers. Sorry, can't help you with
getting rid of them though.

http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/geompers.htm

http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/geomburs.htm

According to the map it looks as though Travis Co. is on the edge of
their range. Coupled with the explanaation that they like sandy soil,
it probably explains why we do not see them very often in and around
Austin.