Fish. The next time you go fishing, save some of the scraps (such as fins) and place them in or next to the tunnels. Castor oil. Dilute castor oil with some water and spray it into the tunnels, You can also try dropping some castor oil capsules into the tunnels instead. UNREFINED castor oil is toxic. Coffee grounds. After you have finished brewing a cup of coffee, sprinkle the grounds into the tunnels and cover them with soil. You can also mix the coffee grounds into your soil. It will help repel the gophers while fertilizing your plants. Dryer sheets. Take a few dryer sheets and tuck them into the holes. The strong smell will send the gophers away. Mothballs. Drop a couple of mothballs into the tunnel, and cover the opening with plastic. Gophers don’t like the smell of naphthalene, which is in mothballs. It is toxic to people and animals, however. Tabasco sauce. Mix together a few drops of peppermint essential oil, 1 teaspoon of Tabasco sauce, ½ cup (120 milliliters) of castor oil, and 1 cup (240 milliliters) of water. Soak some cotton balls in the mixture, then drop them into the tunnels.
Other plants that gophers seem to dislike include: castor beans, daffodils, and marigolds. Some people find that the oleander plant is also an effective gopher repellent. Consider planting oleander around the perimeter of your garden. [1] X Research source
Portable radio. Find a cheap, battery-operated radio. Turn it on and stick it into a plastic, resealable bag. Tuck the bag into the gopher tunnel. The plastic bag will protect the radio from getting wet. Wind chimes. They are pretty and create a soft, chiming noise that gophers seem to dislike.
Dig a hole into the ground. Make sure that it is deep enough to fit the stake. Slip the stake into the hole. Fill the hole with more dirt. Avoid hammering or pushing the stake directly into the soil, as this can damage it.
The main tunnel is usually 6 to 12 inches (15. 24 to 30. 48 centimeters) underground. You can find it by poking the ground around a mound, on the same side as you see freshly-dug-up earth. Use a weeder or wooden spoon handle. Keep poking until you feel the soil “give. " Some people find that rubbing the trap with fresh rosemary helps further disguise the smell of humans. Once you have trapped the gopher, either call up animal control or release it into the wilderness.
Dig a trench about 3 inches (7. 62 centimeters) wide and 12 inches (30. 48 centimeters) deep around the area you want to protect. Consider digging a few extra trenches and have them meet in the center of the area you are protecting. Fill the trench(s) with the fertilizer. Cover the trench with 1 inch (2. 54 centimeters) of soil.
Burrow blasters/detonators will also work on: badgers, ground hogs, pocket gophers, prairie dogs, voles, and other burrowing animals.
Keep all poisons away from children and other animals. Consider other methods if you have pets at home. Always wash your hands after handling the poison. To use a Warfarin type bait / pellet poison, you poke down about 1 foot (0. 3 m) from a recent dirt mound to find a tunnel. Gently open a small hole, pour some pellets in, cover the hole without collapsing the tunnel.
Make sure that you are indeed dealing with gophers. Ground moles love the damp. If you have ground moles and flood you are flooding the tunnel, you’ll only make your yard more inviting.
Not all cats and dogs will get gophers, and their smell alone won’t always help. You need a dedicated and skilled cat or dog. If you have a cat who can catch and kill gophers, you are in luck. As for dogs, some dogs you’d never think were ratters can be very good. But if you want to be sure you’re adopting a dog who’ll hunt gophers, try to get two Jack Russell Terriers (both should be altered to prevent puppies). Two terriers will tag team a gopher. They’ll wait on opposite sides of a hole, and when the gopher emerges one or the other will get it. If you have a friend with JRT’s and your yard is fenced and dog-escape-proof, you can ask to borrow them, too. Set up some owl boxes in trees to invite owls into your yard. The owls will prey upon the gophers. You might not want to do this, however, if you have small dogs or cats. Buy some non-venomous snakes and set them loose in your yard. Keep in mind that it may take up to a month for the snake to clear our your yard. If you have a very big gopher problem, consider getting two snakes. [3] X Research source Get a gopher snake with caution. While a gopher snakes are not considered to be venomous, they may still hurt a cat or smaller dog.
Make sure that the fence is a few inches tall above the ground. Try to make the underground part of the fence curve away from your plant bed in an “L” shape. This will confuse the gophers, and prevent them from digging deeper (below the bottom of your fence. [5] X Research source
