Tips to Deter Gophers

Gophers can wreak havoc on your lawn, causing severe damage. A simple way to help rid your lawn of gophers is to first locate the main runways extending from the burrow. These usually have two tunnels heading in opposite directions and you can usually guess where those tunnels are by drawing a line from the outermost edge of the debris kicked up by the gopher. Use a metal pole to poke around the area to find the tunnels. Once it feels like it has broken through something and roughly drops two to three inches, you have located the tunnel. Do this on both sides to find each tunnel and use a shovel or post-hole digger to mark these spots. Next, dig a hole just deep enough to see the bottom of the gopher’s runway. Be sure to clear any debris so you can set traps in on both sides of the tunnel. Once you have set the traps, tie a piece of twine to each trap and post markers driven into the ground above. Finally, use a large board to cover the hole you dug then cover the edges of the board with dirt to prevent any light seeping through. Gophers will quickly abandon a tunnel if they notice any light. Be sure to check the traps every other day. If you do not catch any gophers within three to four days, repeat the process at another burrow until you do.