If a gopher has lately been spotted in your yard or close to your house, you might wonder if you need to be concerned. Yes, you should! The presence of a gopher in the yard might spell disaster.
Gophers and moles are pesky pests that can cause significant damage to yards, gardens, and even your house. Suppose you are looking for a gopher pest control to get rid of gophers without having them return after baiting them with traps. In that case, you should use a predator like rats or owls to do the job.
Still, if you’ve been having problems with these rodents in your yard, it’s time to learn more about how best to get rid of them!
What are Gophers?
Since many people won’t spot the gophers at first, gopher pest control might be challenging. Instead, they’ll start seeing various mounds in their yard. Many people are unaware that gophers are the culprits behind these and are frequently unsure of their origin. If you encounter these pests in your yard, you may recognize them by their size and light brown fur.
Gophers are medium-sized, subterranean living rodents that are commonly regarded as pests. Their multi-gopher mound underground burrowing systems may cover an area of 200 to 2,000 square feet.
sometimes called pocket gophers because they have fur-lined cheek pockets that they utilize to hold food and nest-building supplies. Gophers are intended to live underground and move about their complex network of tunnels primarily by touch. They have tiny eyes, ears, and short, delicate fur, and they move with the help of their tail and whiskers.
Why have Gophers considered pests?
Gophers consume vegetation, bushes, and trees since they are herbivores. They often eat roots while excavating and like to remain underground. To grasp neighboring plants, they occasionally stray outside their tunnel networks, but just a little distance beyond the length of their bodies. Additionally, they can be observed grazing on decorative plants, vines, and garden vegetables since they occasionally mistake them for natural plants.
One little gopher can move a ton of earth in a year, making it one of the most damaging rodents. The animal may leave ugly ridges and holes in your landscape, making it unstable and prone to collapse. Although the tunneling is underground, it frequently occurs just below the top layer of your grass. A gopher may quickly transform a beautiful, verdant environment into a brown wasteland if allowed uncontrolled.
Why do gophers invade your yard?
Here are a few things that can lure gophers to your property:
- Food: Gophers must eat; thus, they will establish a presence wherever they can find food. Gophers are herbivores, which means they exclusively consume plants. Although they prefer planted acorns, plant roots, and tubers, they may occasionally graze the lawn in search of grass, clover, and other treats.
- Shelter: Gophers require a lot of protection to keep them safe since they are a common target for other animals. They could create tunnels inside trees, along fences, or beneath vegetation.
- Composition of the soil: Gophers prefer to reside in places with sandy, loose soil that is simple to move because they enjoy digging.
What kind of damage can gophers impose?
Gopher management is crucial because, if left unattended, it may do serious harm, ruin your house, and put you at risk of other dangers. Early pocket gopher eradication is necessary since, through their digging and burrowing, they have the potential to ruin underground utility cables, irrigation pipes, sprinkler systems, and water lines, as well as the looks of your yard.
In addition to potentially costing you a lot of money, damage to this form can expose you to many new issues. Damaged wires and pipes can put your property at risk of fire and water damage, which can be very expensive and stressful to repair.
How to get rid of gophers with home remedies?
Have you been trying to find a humane way to eliminate gophers? Thankfully, there are many alternatives, including poison-free techniques. You can try these home remedies:
Ultrasonic repellents. Although we have not witnessed the use of underground vibrating or sonic instruments to be successful, it might be helpful. High-pitched sound waves are produced by ultrasonic repellents and are transmitted underground. Even though people cannot hear these sounds, gophers find them annoying and will quickly go elsewhere if the noise is there.
Castor oil. Gophers are prone to constipation and dislike the flavor of castor oil. It also has a strong scent that keeps gophers out of a particular location. For optimal success, use liquid castor oil around the opening to gopher tunnels and in the areas of your property that you wish to keep protected.
Fences. Exclusion fencing prevents gophers from accessing food sources rather than catching and destroying them. Installing an exclusion fence (made from thin metal mesh) helps stop pests from digging into sensitive sections of your lawn or garden or pushing dirt to the surface since gophers enjoy feeding on roots and tubers.
What is the best way of gopher pest control?
If you are looking for a DIY method of getting rid of gophers in your yard, you might resort to using chemicals and poison. Some would also think bombing their tunnels with water would eliminate them. However, these tunnels may collapse; as a result, forcing gophers to inflict further harm on your property.
Hybrid Pest Control experts use trap methods for gopher pest control. We refrain from utilizing explosives, gas, or poisonous bait since they can all harm children and animals that aren’t the intended targets. To gently eradicate and ensure the elimination of your gopher infestation, we deploy lethal traps.
We promise to remove these underground rats from your property before they do too much harm to your landscaping. Usually, we may anticipate seeing some activity within the first 24 hours.
Call a Professional
If you have a gopher professional on hand to assist, treating gophers is simple. DIY gopher control is frequently expensive, annoying, and ineffective. We strongly discourage trying to solve your gopher issue on your own. There is a high possibility that you will continue to have a gopher problem if you have ever had one or neighbors who are presently dealing with one.
If you see a gopher in your yard or suspect one is there, don’t just do nothing. The best course of action is to get in touch with knowledgeable Hybrid Pest Control experts. We have outstanding removal professionals available to assist you and provide the best pest control.
