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.
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