Pest Control. My methods of extermination.(Gophers mainly)

So if you've seen some of my past posts you know that I've had encounters with possums and raccoons in my backyard garden. I've trapped 3 raccoons and eliminated 2 possums but gophers had been a problem in the past I wasn't really willing to tackle. At least until recently. The gophers in my backyard alley were ruining plants and soil everywhere. I'd had enough. So after some serious research I chose my weapon.  A Victor Black Box Gopher trap.  The amazon reviews were great and it was under $15.

Now as you see the trap here it's set and ready to go. You would just point that end (the open end) towards an open tunnel.  It works like a reverse mouse trap, instead of pinning a rodent down it pulls them up and pins them to the roof of the trap.  The trigger is that coat hanger looking metal piece in the middle.  It packs quite a punch when triggered.

Now you can't just look for an open hole and stick it in front of it. I watched YouTube for about an hour seeing where and how to appropriately set and find tunnels. It involves plugging the ground with a thin stick to find hollow tunnels.  It helps to look for freshly built mole hills of dirt and work from there. I recommend checking out some YouTube videos for further instruction.  After you find a suitable spot you dig up a chunk and clear the tunnels.

In this photo you can see the tunnel in the one direction clearly. The other direction isn't visible in this shot. It's important you find a tunnel that is still being used actively.  You also must make sure that the tunnels are clear of  debris. Moles/Gophers like an open tunnel, plus you don't want the debris to set off your trap too early.

Here is my trap in the hole set and ready to go. Now they say you can cover with dirt but I prefer not to. I want my trap to be easy to get back out of the hole. Plus I don't want dirt to clog up the trap from working. I learned this trick on YouTube, using sticks and leaves cover the hole completely. This way no sunlight gets in. Then cover the hole with a little dirt and a bucket to make sure no pets or neighborhood creatures disturb. They say it's best to set traps in early evening.

I checked my trap the next day and found this guy.

Now since buying this first trap I've also bought 2 more traps to help catch as many of these guys as possible.  They say to use two traps on each hole that way you cover each direction of the tunnel because you don't know which way they'll be travelling down the tunnel.

So I then bought the Victor 610 Easy Set Gopher Trap and Victor 631 Out O' Sight Mole trap.  All of these traps got great reviews both on YouTube and amazon. 

Now the one on the left I've used and caught a large gopher already. It was easy to set (after watching a YouTube video) weirdly enough didn't come with instructions but according to YouTube they wouldn't have done me any good anyway. It's very effective at placing inside the tunnel and fitting in tight spaces.

Now the one on the right is a whole other story. To be honest this thing scares the crap out of me. It reminds me of a bear trap for gophers and feels like it would give a bear a bad day too. It comes with two pry bars which are needed to open the trap and set it. Lucky for me it does have a safety lock on it to help set the trap. I've had it in a tunnel for some time now and hasn't got triggered yet. I have no doubt it could work but for now it seems a bit large and not as easy to place in tunnels.

So using these traps I've managed to catch three gophers in a little over a week.  And I've even managed to enlist the help of a local tabby cat that hangs around my alley to help.  One Sunday I went into my backyard to see the tabby playing with something in the weeds. I thought he might have gotten a bird.  I walked a bit closer to inspect what he got and saw that it was a live and well gopher. With my garden hoe in hand I quickly stabbed the soil to make sure this one wasn't going to get away. I left the recently deceased on the hoe for the tabby to reap his reward. Didn't want the guy to feel like I was punishing him for doing a good deed.

Now the fight continues. Who knows how many gophers may be lurking below the surface.  I won't stop until they do. Now that I know how and where to find them.