Stop the holes in your lawn
Getting tired of the holes, mounds and destroyed plants in your yard? It may be time to learn how to kill gophers. Most often suburban areas are infested with pocket gophers. Unfortunately, these pesky little things can be difficult to completely get rid of, but that’s why you here! We will teach you all the tips and know-how you need to learn to how to kill gophers for good!
How to Kill Gophers: The Top 5 Ways
The Natural Way to Go!
First there is a natural method you can use as you learn how to kill gophers. This can be a very effective, natural, and cheap method for dealing with your gopher problem.
Cats love stalking gophers!
Get yourself a cat, or dog to roam your gopher infested area. They will love running around chasing gophers, get some good exercise, and should be very effective killing gophers. Hawks, owls, and snakes can also get the job done. There are many things you can do to make your yard more hawk and owl friendly, such as putting in large bird feeders and abundant sources of water. You can also buy a few snakes to release in your yard. Inviting these predators can be all you need to control your gopher problem. Those who have turned to this method while trying to learn how to kill gophers have been very successful.
However, it is understandable that for many people, those predators may not be an option when researching how to kill gophers.
Trap ‘Em!
When trying to understand how to kill gophers, it is important to learn what traps are available,what will work best for you, and how to use them. A great trap that works wonders when dealing with those pesky gophers is the “Victor 0625 The BlackBox Gopher Trap”. You can find these on Amazon for about 12 bucks, and they work great killing gophers quickly, and effectively. To use this trap first find the main runways that extend out from the main burrow. Grab some sort of long poker like a metal stake. Poke down where you think the tunnel is, if when your poking down, it suddenly moves freely for a few inches, you have found the tunnel. Do that on both sides of the burrow, mark the spots, and grab a shovel.
Gopher traps work great!
Use that shovel you grabbed to dig a hole just deep enough so that you can spot the bottom of the gopher’s runway. Make sure to put traps on both sides of the tunnel, facing the proper directions. It will be more clear once you get the trap, and see how it works. Another tip that is very important when learning how to kill gophers, is be sure to wash any human, or animal scents off the trap and clear out debris in the tunnels before placing the trap in. It is a good idea to tie a small piece of rope, or twine to each trap, and connect it to a stake or post above ground.
Then just grab a piece of plywood, or some type of board to cover the hole with, and make sure to pile up some dirt around the edges of the board where it lays on the ground so that no light seeps through. When researching how to kill gophers, this is one important thing to remember. If the gophers see any light when coming through there tunnel, they will turn around and abandon the tunnel for good. Now just check the traps every other day, being careful not to spill dirt down on the trap when moving the board covering the hole. If you don’t catch a gopher within 4-5 days the burrow has most likely been abandoned. So just pull your traps out, and find another burrow to repeat the process in. You will get more and more experienced at it as you repeat, and it will become a very quick process after doing it a few times. You will understand how to kill gophers after being successful catching one in a trap.
Flood Them Out!
Another method I suggest when teaching people how to kill gophers is flooding. This method can be effective, and is very simple. As we discussed in the trap method, find the two main tunnels running off the main burrow. Dig down just enough to expose these, and bring your hose over and stick it down in the burrow. Turn it on full blast, and let it run for around 15 minutes. When I was first researching how to kill gophers, I was shocked to realize how huge these underground tunnel systems really are. You will need to let it run for quite a while to completely flood them. Now be ready with a shovel, a trap or a kitty for when these buggers run out of their hole!
Bait Applicator
Poison Baits are Great!
For those that are figuring out how to kill gophers, you may be wondering if there are baits or poison pellets like there are are for killing mice. Well there are and they can be very successful if used as directed. What I suggest when teaching people how to kill gophers is a Yard Butler GBA-1 Gopher and Mole Bait Applicator like the one shown here. You can find these on Amazon for about 30 bucks. These thing have a long stem to stick down in the gopher burrow, and a trigger to release the bait out of the end. You can put most types of baits in this applicator and use it anywhere.
Gas Those Suckers!
When teaching people how to kill gophers, gassing sometimes comes up. Gassing is one of the methods I tend to suggest less than others. However, it can still be effective if done right. There are a few gasser options here when researching how to kill gophers. You can get some aluminum pellets, and dig into the gophers mound just enough to expose an opening. Next a pipe down in there so you can pour the pellets down in. Then just close off the burrow tightly by packing dirt in it. For those who want to know how to kill gophers by gassing them out of their tunnels, you can also dig out the burrow enough to expose their tunnels and light and toss gas producing flares into the opened burrow. Then just seal it off making sure not to put the fuse out. Closely watch to see if you find gas emitting out other openings nearby, and seal those off as well. Keep in mind that you can also toss another lite flare down the other openings before sealing them off.
When Learning How to Kill Gophers Isn’t Enough
When I teach people how to kill gophers, I always make sure to tell them that if they get overwhelmed, these methods just don’t seem to work for them, or if you have a severe problem with gophers, at some point it may be best to hire professional help.
I hope this article teaching you how to kill gophers will help you stop your gopher problem and show you how to take charge of your yard again. Here at How to Kill Stuff, you can find everything you need to know to kill any type of bugs, rodents, birds, weeds, and more!