GOPHERS 101
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Pocket gophers - Thomomys bottae are an amazing species of rodentia. These are tunneling machines that are extremely difficult to kill because of their high intelligence, sense of smell and tunneling designs.
Pocket gophers live nearly their entire lives underground in their dens and tunnels, coming aboveground to get over or around items, to push soils out of their tunnels and to forage for food.
GESTATION:
The gestation for pocket gophers is 13-14 days. Litters range from 2-8 in a litter, typically 4. MATURITY: Maturity for a pocket gopher is 17 days.
REGENERATION:
Less than 30 days. One fertile female can move into an area, produce 4 within 30 days, take 3 of those 4, add the original mother and multiply them by the 30 days, you then have a possible 120 young. Gophers will continue to breed throughout all stages of life.
COLORING:
Gophers come in a wide variety of colors, shades and designs. From white, to black, to black with orange spots, to cinnamon and stripes. Much has to do with the location they are in globally. They are covered in fur, their sensitive tails are lightly coated with fur, as are their hands and feet. The bottoms of their feet and hands are hairless.
BODIES:
These muscular rodents are designed with long sharp digging claws on all fours, they have top and bottom teeth that will continue to grow throughout their lifetime. They have molars that are used to crush rocks and grind roots. Gophers will bite and usually, will not release unless killed. The pocket gophers is named due to the pockets that are located on the sides of the cheeks, which are large, fur- lined; perfect for items scavenged, foods and even transporting young. Pocket gophers are thick-bodied their legs are muscular and perfect for digging and moving soils and rocks.
DAILY LIFE:
Pocket gophers are hypersensitive to their surroundings and their desire to dig.
Pocket gophers will work continually, foraging and tunneling, digging and chewing, while taking quick naps throughout the day and night. They feed on all types of roots and plants, while marigolds produce a bitter milk that the gophers do not consume, the gopher can pull the plant below surface, to utilize for den material. This is a female ritual, not male. MORE: There are many misconceptions about gophers. Too many people who are reading old information and putting their own spin on things. We've spent years studying these rodents and have proven research from them.
SOLITUDE:
- One of the greatest misconceptions is that "gophers like to be alone!"
- Gophers share tunnels with their mates and even generations of their young.
- In times of food shortages, outside gophers will come into the area and share tunnels until they've set up in a new area and breed.
GOPHER IN NAME:
Gophers are NOT Prairie Dogs, Squirrels, Badgers, Woodchucks, or Moles. While there are many species of gophers, there is a major difference. Our Canadian friends like to call Prairie Dogs gophers. When you hear of their shooting contests, they are for prairie dogs. If anyone tries to shoot a gopher, they will grow old waiting.
GOPHERS AND HEALTH:
Gophers carry many diseases and parasites. In fact, you can simply walk barefoot or handle the soil that a gopher has been in, and pick up tapeworm. Pets, children and wildlife can be susceptible to all. It's always best to immediately contact a professional TRAPPER and have your gophers trapped immediately.
GOPHERS, NOISE AND NOISEMAKERS:
"Gophers can't stand noise." What? If this were true, why then do they dig their dens under highways, in flower boxes in shopping centers, track and football fields and any other place they feel like digging? Gophers could care less about any noisemakers.
GOPHERS AND PLANTS:
"Gopher purge and castor oil". Folks, don't bother. The plant is a terrible mess and the only thing it'll chase away is you! Castor oil? The only way it would chase away a gopher is if you could get it to drink it!
GOPHERS AND BLINDNESS:
"Gophers are blind!" We can guarantee they aren't! The mirror trick in the tunnel to scare them away also doesn't work.
GOPHERS ARE CUTE AND CUDDLEY:
"Gophers are cute, fuzzy and warm." The gopher on Caddyshack isn't real and real gophers look extremely fat and have a long tail and look like a rat, without the long thin face. Gophers have extremely long sharp teeth, two front top and two bottom. These teeth are extremely sharp and are able to cut and chisel away at roots, rocks, hard plastic, wires and anything else in their way. If they can't chew through it, they usually pop up and go another direction.
GOPHERS ARE STUPID:
"Gophers are telepathic and can read minds." While this may seem the case, especially for you whom have tried your own hand at trapping or killing your gophers, we do know how to track and kill these extremely destructive rodent. In fact, gophers are one of the most intelligent mammals on the planet, if they weren't, they would have been killed off hundreds of years ago. Gophers have specific designs in their tunnels, intersections, dens and escape routes. tunneling
GOPHERS AND KIDS:
When it comes to Gophers and the safety of children, we are very serious. Kids are always sticking their hands in places they shouldn't. Most kids haven't even seen a gopher and wouldn't know what to do with one if it popped up out of the grass next to them. Kids need to know that they shouldn't touch, handle or harrass the gophers. The bites are very serious, the gophers can carry rabies, as well as other diseases and parasites. Teaching your kids is always best.
GOPHERS AND PETS:
If you love your pets, you'll never allow them to chase gophers or any wildlife. We're sure that you enjoy living in your home flea-free, however once your pets start digging in the soil where the gophers and other wildlife live, they will most likely get fleas, eventually transferring to you and your family. Fleas are an extremely big problem and fleas are the carriers of deadly diseases. Bubonic Plague is a killer and is carried and spread by fleas. Be safe, don't allow your pets to chase or kill gophers and other wildlife. Hunting dogs can also carry these fleas but most hunters know how to care for their dogs. Dogs and gophers are a bad combination. We've seen dogs throughout the years, turn luscious yards into war zones. Many look like the surface of the moon. With a dog, their hearing is much more sensitive than humans. Gophers are not quiet workers and they will drive a dog crazy. The bigger the dog, the more damage you'll have. If a gopher is cornered or the dog digs up a den, your dog will be faced with not only the mother gopher but also the male gopher, who isn't too far from the nest. If your dog refuses to go into your yard, he may have already been bitten. Be sure to check your dog for any open wounds and sores that can become easily infected. Inspect your dogs nose and mouth area. Gophers latch on with their locking jaws and while hanging on, they will grind deeper into the flesh. We have seen the largest and most aggressive dogs get attacked or the end results. There is nothing worse than a dog who is hand shy, from being bitten. One client had a Saint Bernard that had the right side of his nose bitten off. Cats are patient and sneaky. You have to love them, for those two qualities alone. We have seen cats pretending to be napping outside of a gopher hole and instantly spring into action, as the gopher surfaces. As the cat grabs the gopher by the neck, the gopher begins it's hissing and fighting back. As the gopher will be hanging from the cats mouth, the gopher will rotate and latch onto the cats face. Those claws are not only for digging through dirt, they can also be used for combat and protection. Cats will instinctively drop and play with the gopher and the gopher won't have anything to do with it! Gophers will take a stand against even the largest domestic cats. Even wild cats and coyotes have trouble with gophers. As with the dogs, fleas can easily transmit from gophers to cats to humans. Keep safe and don't let your cat go after gophers. One of the most important information we can provide to you, to keep your pets safe, is to inform you of the possible poisoning of your pets after eating a gopher. Your neighbor could be inserting poisoned baits into the gopher tunnels next door and you would never know it. If a gopher were to eat it and while searching for water, pops up in your yard, then your dog eats it, your dog can easily be killed by secondary poisoning. There are dangers of deadly snakes cleaning out the gopher tunnels and if a gopher has been bitten and is trying to run from the snake, surfaces into your yard...it's the same result. If you love your pets, keep them away from gophers and other wildlife. It's just common sense.
GOPHERS AND LIVESTOCK:
Gophers and livestock are a bad combination. Gophers create tunnels that easily collapse under minimal weight. When cattle step into these holes and open tunnels, they can easily be seriously injured. If they break a leg, they are usually destroyed. Gophers cost cattlemen thousands of dollars in damages every year. Horses and gophers are a serious combination. Your horses are expensive and have no business being near gophers. If you have gophers and horses, you need to call us to another trapper to quickly trap your gophers before they get out of control. As soon as you see the first dirt mound or the actual gopher popping out of the ground, get on the phone. Once a gopher is allowed to run freely, after a week, you will have a serious problem. Gophers work day and night and they don't hibernate. Gophers work all the time and take small 'cat naps'. We have live trapped, marked, released and trapped gophers who have traveled miles in only a few weeks. These tunnels can trip and cause your horse to fall, break a bone and throw and possibly injure you. If your horse is being boarded, tell them to call a wildlife control specialist as soon as possible. You do not want to use any chemicals, poisons or baits anywhere near your horse, so be sure that they are trapped, then they won't return. During trapping, no horses can be in the same area. We have tried leaving large boards over areas where are traps are located, only to find that the horse enjoyed chewing on the board and kicking it around the yard. Horses just need to be moved into a different area and if this isn't possible, then you should board your horse until the trapping is completed. Once the gophers are removed, all tunnels need to be filled and compressed. We can gladly give referrals to you for someone who can help you. If ever you're riding your horse and you notice and gopher mounds, slowly walk your horse out of the area. The injuries to horses are extreme and most must be destroyed. You need to know what to look for and pay attention to your surroundings, for your horse's safety as well as your own. Rodeo Arenas are a big problem area for gophers, usually because the area is hardly used and they are never bothered. When an animal is bucking and a person is on top, the one thing that can seriously injure them both is gopher holes and tunnels. By using traps, you will know that these gophers are gone. Once killed, you need to make sure that the entire area is compacted and grated. We have personally seen what suffering an animal goes through when they break a leg....which is why we have never been back to see a rodeo. We don't mind trapping the gophers, as long as it's during off season. While gophers are in fact rodentia, they are NOT the same. Typical rodentia den, create small pockets in walls, or holes in the ground. They are easily targeted and killed. This is the opposite of pocket gophers. Gophers tunnel great distances, they have colonies that are shared among generations. Years of research that we have done proves that gophers will immediately close off a tunnel which has been contaminated, move over a few inches, and proceed to dig more. Their sense of smell is so great that they can detect anything put into the ground that has a scent, or holds a scent of the applicators clothing. Those compounds and gasses are so horrid smelling, that without the lid on the bottle of Phosphene Gas, it nearly knocked me over! I told him to put the lid on it and he laughed about the "garlic" smell. That was NOT garlic I was smelling. Just because he has no sense of smell doesn't mean the gophers lost theirs, nor myself! Each and every single pest control applicator I have ever spoken to over decades of trapping are all in agreement; trapping is the best method but they don't know how to do it "effectively". They also admit that the only thing their products are doing is CHASING the gophers from one property to another, and then when the gophers return, they are called once again, insuring them their income! This is the biggest rip off!!! Homeowners are being lied to and told that the gophers are actually being killed HOWEVER in over 40 years of trapping, not one single pest control operator or applicator has ever shown me 1 dead gopher that died by their products. WHY? Because they will NEVER work on gophers unless you have caught a live gopher, force-fed baits into it, gassed it or some other method. In our research, we have proven that gophers will not eat anything introduced into their tunnels and nests that is foreign. It doesn't matter if it's something pulled from the garden it was just eating from, or anything else. The gopher will starve itself to death before eating anything it didn't forage itself.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
When you have gophers, ask questions. ALWAYS make sure that you get IN WRITING a GUARANTEE that the gophers are actually being killed and will never return AND that their products are 100% safe, non-toxic, and green. If you settle for anything else; you, your family, pets, livestock and environment can and will suffer the consequences. Since gophers will use the sewer and water lines to enter INTO a home, then den underneath the bathtubs, avoid all deadly gasses, toxins, flammables and anything that can be pushed and mixed into the soils and left inside the walls, and most importantly, can cause an explosion or fire. You don't want to injure or kill your family over your gophers. You need to use common sense.
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