OT: How to get rid of gophers?

[RFC]

Gophers have infiltrated into my corner of the neighborhood. I want to get rid of them.

First choice would be something that drives them away, i.e., ammonia, used cat litter, etc -- for once the cat might be good for something.

Second choice is killing them, but only if quick and fast. No poison.

Also, I don't want to live trap them.

Your thoughts?

[XXtwindad]

You knew it was coming, right? :)

[Elefantino]

We tried peppermint balls and garlic, but in the end what worked best were the sonic stakes.

The sound chased them away

[Clean39T]

Gophers have infiltrated into my corner of the neighborhood. I want to get rid of them.

First choice would be something that drives them away, i.e., ammonia, used cat litter, etc -- for once the cat might be good for something.

Second choice is killing them, but only if quick and fast. No poison.

Also, I don't want to live trap them.

Your thoughts?

If you need an extra supply of used cat litter, lemme know - have plenty ;)

[OtayBW]

Rubber hose, or waterboarding? ;)

[jr59]

Didn’t they do a movie about this?😂

[RFC]

You knew it was coming, right? :)

LOL!

"License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote."

[parris]

:banana:HUH... I thought it was December. NOT April

[old_fat_and_slow]

.22 long rifle. That's pretty quick death. Do it! Git 'er done.

Or if you're living amongst suburban sprawl, then go for the .177 caliber pellet gun.

[woodworker]

The only way that I've found to work consistently is gassing them, which requires hiring a professional exterminator. I've tried traps, poison, sonic stakes, and water (which definitely doesn't work as their tunnels are really extensive).

Good luck.

[echappist]

You knew it was coming, right? :)

you didn't disappoint :) first thing that came to mind

[gasman]

I had a mole problem and I gassed mine with a connector I bought somewhere, sorry it's been a while, that hooked onto the tailpipe of my '99 Suburban. Hooked up a garden hose to the connector. Shoved the hose down a hole and ran the car for an hour. They are just now returning some 8 years later.

The one issue my be if your car has a really good catalytic converter you may not get as much carbon monoxide produced to kill the gophers.

I've also trapped them with these Victor mole traps: https://www.victorpest.com/victor-out-o-sight-mole-trap-0631

The difficult part is finding a run to place the trap in.

Good luck.

[el cheapo]

Carl Spackler...maintenance man in Caddy Shack?

[joosttx]

I got rid of my voles by dosing the holes with cayenne pepper ala Cool Hand Lou.
It worked.

[gdw]

https://gizmodo.com/this-giant-vacuum-sucks-prairie-dogs-right-out-of-their-1668265973

[Lewis Moon]

You knew it was coming, right? :)

Beat me to it.

[Hawker]

Can you shoot a .22 in your neighborhood legally and safely? If not, and I'm serious...I've run across guys who are real experts with high power air guns who could easily take care of those safely and quietly. Of course it depends on how many you have as to how long it would take...but I took care of 13 chipmunks myself this Spring/Summer. They were digging tremendous holes an tunnels in my yard and I was afraid my wife or grandchildren would break an ankle.

[redir]

IDK if gophers are like woodchucks(groundhogs) but we simply trapped and moved them. Some argue that is a death sentance in it's own right but at least it gives them a chance. I would not want to shoot them.

[gasman]

https://gizmodo.com/this-giant-vacuum-sucks-prairie-dogs-right-out-of-their-1668265973

This is the best idea yet !!

Totally impractical for home use but hilarious. I’d live to see it work.

[RFC]

Can you shoot a .22 in your neighborhood legally and safely? If not, and I'm serious...I've run across guys who are real experts with high power air guns who could easily take care of those safely and quietly. Of course it depends on how many you have as to how long it would take...but I took care of 13 chipmunks myself this Spring/Summer. They were digging tremendous holes an tunnels in my yard and I was afraid my wife or grandchildren would break an ankle.

Actually I have several air guns that would do the job. I have shot a lot of Asian Roof Rats. One spring day, I murdered an entire litter as they frolicked on the lawn around the fallen oranges. It was a very Hemingway moment.

Unfortunately, gophers spend most of their time underground, unlike chipmunks.

[merlinmurph]

About 12 years ago, my wife and I were doing a road trip from San Francisco, and headed north along the coast in a Mustang convertible. We were driving thru Elk CA which consisted of a post office, restaurant, general store and a church. We went by the church, then looked at each other with that "did we really see that?" look. We stopped, turned around, and saw a grassy area next to the church full of gopher holes, and a guy with a gun pointed down one of the holes.

We went back to the store to get something to drink, and a pickup pulls up a little later with the gun guy. Man, we have to talk with this guy. Still remember his name - Eddie. Ends up he grew up there (no surprise). He told us a story where he shot a gopher there once and splattered blood all over the white church.

Sorry, no advice here. Maybe call Eddie from Elk.

Note: I just looked at Google street view and it looks like the gophers are gone.

[madsciencenow]

I have 0 advice but this thread brought a huge smile to my face. When I saw the title I instantly thought the same thing many have already expressed (i.e. Caddyshack). In addition to finding many humorous references to the aforementioned movie, the additional stories and solutions to gopher infestation made me laugh. Thanks!

[parris]

This post reminded me of a story I was told by one of our court attendants. This gentleman was an insurance adjuster and had a ton of great stories. One of the ones he told me was that they had a client that had burned down their garage, deck, and part of the neighbors house. The client thought it would be a good idea to burn some woodchucks out by pouring some gasoline down the hole and then lighting it off. It turned out the woodchuck was close enough to where it got heavily doused and when the dummy lit the fire the woodchuck took off like a shot first burning the deck, then part of the neighbors house, and finally the garage where it expired.

My adjuster friend had to work on the homeowner a good amount before it was admitted that the guy used the better part of a 5 gallon can of gas! It turned out that this clown had several holes and he planned to burn them all out.

Maybe an air rifle WOULD be a safer choice...

[CNY rider]

Can you shoot a .22 in your neighborhood legally and safely? If not, and I'm serious...I've run across guys who are real experts with high power air guns who could easily take care of those safely and quietly. Of course it depends on how many you have as to how long it would take...but I took care of 13 chipmunks myself this Spring/Summer. They were digging tremendous holes an tunnels in my yard and I was afraid my wife or grandchildren would break an ankle.

.22 is great for chipmunks and squirrels.
But if you live in the country and don't have close neighbors then .243 Winchester is the ideal caliber for woodchuck clean up.
Tons of fun!

[smead]

An outdoor dog. We had a female mutt who was super gentle to everyone and everything except rodents. She'd smell them out, then wait for hours over the hole until they popped their heads out - chomp. We had to put her down several years ago and our mole problem has come back ..

[adub]

If you are in the country a .220 Swift will vaporize a gopher, no suffering!

[Hawker]

.22 is great for chipmunks and squirrels.
But if you live in the country and don't have close neighbors then .243 Winchester is the ideal caliber for woodchuck clean up.
Tons of fun!

Agree. But they are a tad/lot louder than a .22...a .243 will scare the dickens out of the neighbors. :)

[m_sasso]

I say it is time to lock this thread and I really don't believe I need to explain why. Some really damaged souls here!

[GregL]

You need one of these. We call him “the verminator.” As cute as a teddy bear, but with the prey drive of a serial killer on amphetamines.

[RFC]

You need one of these. We call him “the verminator.” As cute as a teddy bear, but with the prey drive of a serial killer on amphetamines.

I know exactly what you mean. My sister has an Australian Cattle Dog that hunts them in relatively heavy snow.

[tctyres]

I don't have personal experience with these animals.

This youtube channel goes over common traps: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYbru-MPO1xjes4FVn61JUQ

[parris]

CNY not a fan of the 243. My go-to dual purpose rig is my 257 AI with a Hart barrel. I picked up a 6.5 Creed last year but that may be a bit much...

[Louis]

I say it is time to lock this thread and I really don't believe I need to explain why. Some really damaged souls here!

I agree with the sentiment, but given that "let's find more fun ways to kill something that can't shoot back or otherwise defend itself in any meaningful manner" banter is a common game for much of this country's male population, I think it's unlikely that there will be sufficient push back for the thread to be shut down.

[zmudshark]

I agree with the sentiment, but given that "let's find more fun ways to kill something that can't shoot back or otherwise defend itself in any meaningful manner" banter is a common game for much of this country's male population, I think it's unlikely that there will be sufficient push back for the thread to be shut down.

Hold my beer!

[MikeD]

As my coworker once said, "How do you get rid of Bermuda grass? The answer is move." Might be the answer here too.

[Louis]

Hold my beer!

Nice launch !!!

https://i.imgur.com/k4eOztv.gif

[CNY rider]

I say it is time to lock this thread and I really don't believe I need to explain why. Some really damaged souls here!

Damaged souls?
Marc your wokeness is truly dazzling. So dazzling it must be blinding for you.
Such a shame you have to suffer the presence of other humans who are less enlightened and dare not march in lock step with your opinions.

[oldpotatoe]

I say it is time to lock this thread and I really don't believe I need to explain why. Some really damaged souls here!

Ya know, this is a tough one but shooting one with a 22LR isn't really any less 'ugly' than poisoning or gassing them. Which many licensed exterminators use to rid your house/property of 'critters'..How about (exterminator)trap live and let them starve? That's not very pretty either.

[unterhausen]

We had groundhogs when we moved into this house. There was a poorly conceived firewood bin, and the main entrance to their tunnels was hidden in it. Once I tore that down, they vacated. Years later, voles moved into their tunnels. Dogs loved chasing those things around, and I saw one of our dogs catch and eat one. Which is why I won't poison them.


I wasn't trying to get rid of them too seriously, but one day an itinerant snake came to our yard and ate them all and then left. Totally changed my view of snakes. OTOH, it redoubled my resolve not to have any rodents in the house.

[GregL]

I grew up on a farm where gophers (or woodchucks, as they are referred to in CNY) weren’t just an annoyance, they could be could be deadly to livestock. I was taught never to hunt them for amusement, only as necessary to keep cows and horses safe. We actively hunted them in pastures, but mostly ignored them in crop fields. The most expedient solutions were a .222 with a 6X scope and our family German Shepard. Between me with the rifle and a smart, fast dog, the woodchucks ceased to be a significant threat in the pastures.

Today in suburbia, our wheaten terrier keeps the local woodchuck population out of our yard. I’ve only seen one in the yard since Max joined our family, and it quickly vacated the premises when faced with 55 lbs. of fur, fangs, and attitude. Prior to Max joining the family, I live trapped the woodchucks that enjoyed our garden. I released them miles away on vacant land. Cute but annoying rodents!

Greg

[OtayBW]

Well - whatever anyone's level of wokeness is, my first choice would have been a live trap. These were taken off the table by the OP, but they can be very effective if employed with some diligence.

[54ny77]

Air rifle with point tip pellets. Plink....plink...plink...

Them and Chipmunks....them there rodents can wreak havoc.

[old_fat_and_slow]

damaged souls?
Marc your wokeness is truly dazzling. So dazzling it must be blinding for you.
Such a shame you have to suffer the presence of other humans who are less enlightened and dare not march in lock step with your opinions.

+1

[gasman]

Damaged souls?
Marc your wokeness is truly dazzling. So dazzling it must be blinding for you.
Such a shame you have to suffer the presence of other humans who are less enlightened and dare not march in lock step with your opinions.

Guys , there’s no need for comments like this. It approached the line of don’t be a jerk. Many options have been presented here and I doubt there will be new ones.
I’m closing this now .