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Gophers Guide

Identify

Inspect

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Prevent

Gopher Identification Guide

What Is a Gopher?

Gophers are burrowing rodents that can wreak havoc on your yard by damaging plants and creating mounds. Their mounds are often confused with those made by moles, but there are significant differences between the two, including their appearance, tunneling behavior, and diet.

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Appearance

Though gophers, also called pocket gophers, spend most of their time underground, recognizing their physical characteristics can help you identify the source of your lawn pest problem.

Key Features of Gophers:

  • Cheek Pouches: Gophers have fur-lined cheek pouches on the outside of their mouths, which they use to transport and store food or nesting materials. These pouches are the origin of their "pocket" name.
  • Size and Weight: They measure about 6 to 14 inches in length and can weigh up to a pound.
  • Coloration: Gophers are typically dark brown to black with lighter-colored fur on the front of their bodies. Their paws and tails are white.
  • Distinctive Features:

What Do Gophers Eat?

Unlike moles, which eat insects, gophers are herbivores and feed exclusively on plants. They spend most of their time underground but occasionally emerge to collect food.

Feeding Habits:

  • Gophers store food in their cheek pouches and transport it back to their tunnels for later consumption.
  • They may pull entire plants into their tunnels or feed briefly above ground near tunnel entrances.

Gopher Habitat

Gophers live primarily underground, making it challenging to detect them until you notice mounds or damage to your plants.

Key Habitat Indicators:

  • Mound Shape: Gopher mounds are fan-shaped or kidney bean-shaped, differing from the round mounds made by moles.
  • Mound Size: These mounds are typically 1 to 2 feet in diameter and can be up to a foot high.
  • Tunnel System: Unlike moles, gophers do not connect their mounds with visible surface tunnels. Instead, their mounds are often aligned in a straight line.

Gopher Inspection Guide

What to Look For

Gophers are subterranean creatures that remain active year-round. They spend the majority of their time in underground tunnel systems, which makes them difficult to detect. You might not realize gophers are present in your yard unless you spot their distinctive holes and mounds. These visible signs are the primary indicators of gopher activity, though they may also cause other types of damage.

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Step1 Identifying Gopher Holes & Mounds

How to Inspect Your Yard for Gophers

Because gophers live and operate almost entirely underground, their presence is often revealed only through their characteristic mounds and holes. Knowing how to recognize these signs can help you confirm gopher activity:

Characteristics of Gopher Mounds:

  • Shape: Gopher mounds are fan-shaped or kidney-shaped, in contrast to molehills, which are round.
  • Size: Mounds can measure up to a foot tall and one to two feet in diameter.
  • Surface Tunnels: Unlike moles, gophers do not create visible surface tunnels connecting their mounds.
  • Location: Mounds are located at the end of lateral tunnels that branch off from the main underground runways. These mounds are plugged with soil to deter intruders.

Tunnel Systems:

  • Gophers are solitary animals, but their tunnel systems can be vast, sometimes covering up to an acre underground.
  • Tunnels may range from just a few inches beneath the turf to several feet deep, depending on soil conditions, available vegetation, and the terrain.

Step2 Recognizing Other Damage & Signs

Gophers feed primarily on underground plant parts, such as roots, tubers, and rhizomes, which can lead to noticeable damage.

Additional Signs of Gopher Activity: Gophers consume plant roots, often killing turfgrass and other vegetation.

In the spring, gophers may feed on above-ground plants, especially when they are young and succulent.

  • Plant Damage: Gophers consume plant roots, often killing turfgrass and other vegetation.

In the spring, gophers may feed on above-ground plants, especially when they are young and succulent.

  • Utility and Irrigation Damage: Gophers can chew through utility cables and irrigation tubing, causing additional property damage.
  • Turf Impact: Turf may appear damaged or unhealthy as a result of gophers eating the roots below ground.

How to Eliminate Gophers

Three Effective Methods for Gopher Control

Successfully eliminating gophers involves three main methods: trapping, baiting, and gassing. Each approach can yield results if used with persistence and attention to detail. By carefully following product instructions and exercising patience, you can effectively manage gopher activity in your yard.

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Trapping

Trapping is an effective, hands-on method that requires patience and proper placement. Traps can be set in lateral tunnels or main tunnels. The key is identifying fresh mounds, which have loose, granulated, dark soil and are taller and less compacted compared to old mounds.

Steps for Trapping in Main Tunnels

  1. Locate the Main Tunnel: Find the soil plug in a fresh mound. The main tunnel is typically about 12 inches from the plug. Use a probe to locate the tunnel—soil will feel loose when you find it.
  2. Prepare the Area: Dig a small hole large enough to place the trap and remove excess soil.
  3. Set the Traps: Place two traps facing opposite directions inside the tunnel. Attach traps to stakes using thin wire for easy retrieval.
  4. Block Light and Air: Cover the hole with soil to block light and airflow.
  5. Check Daily: Inspect traps at least once daily, preferably in the morning or evening.

Steps for Trapping in Lateral Tunnels

  1. Find the Tunnel Entrance: Locate the soil plug in a fresh mound. Look for the freshest soil to identify the entrance.
  2. Prepare the Area: Dig a small hole to access the tunnel and remove excess soil.
  3. Set the Trap: Place the trap about 12 inches into the tunnel and secure it with a thin wire attached to a stake.
  4. Leave the Hole Open: The light and air will alert the gopher, prompting it to re-plug the entrance and encounter the trap.

Baiting

Poison baits are an effective way to eliminate gophers when applied correctly in active tunnels.

Steps for Baiting

  1. Locate Main Tunnels: Use a probe to identify the main tunnel about 12 inches from the soil plug of a fresh mound.
  2. Prepare the Area: Dig a small hole to access the tunnel.
  3. Apply the Bait: Use a long spoon to place bait in the tunnel, following the product label instructions.
  4. Cover the Hole: Seal the hole carefully without burying the bait.

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Gassing

Gassing is a reliable method for controlling gophers in active tunnels or mounds, provided they are not located under structures.

Steps for Gassing

  1. Identify Active Tunnels or Mounds: Locate fresh mounds and gather soil, rocks, or other materials to seal openings after using the gasser.
  2. Prepare the Tunnel: Dig a small hole into the mound or tunnel.
  3. Insert the Gasser Cartridge: Follow label instructions to insert the fuse into the cartridge. Light the fuse and quickly place the cartridge into the opening.
  4. Seal the Tunnel: Cover the opening with gathered materials to contain the gas. Ensure the hole is sealed but not so tightly that it extinguishes the cartridge.
  5. Monitor for Escaping Gas: Check for smoke escaping from other openings and seal them as necessary.

Gopher Treatment Infographic

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Gopher Prevention Guide

Exclusion & Repellents

It is very difficult to prevent gophers from making your yard part of their tunnel systems. Since they live and spend most of their lives underground, they can easily extend into your property.
There are a couple things you can do to keep gophers away, or at least make it a less inviting place for them to live and forage.

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Exclusion

How to Install a Gopher Wire Mesh Fence

Exclusion, or using physical barriers to keep gophers out, can be very challenging, since gophers can tunnel very deeply and move over a large distance, and you would have to protect a fairly large area from potential gopher invaders.
However, you could use exclusion methods to protect certain plants, like especially prized trees or valuable ornamental plants, instead of your entire yard.

Use mesh wire fencing material that has small enough openings to keep gophers from getting through. Look for 1/4 to 1/2 inch mesh.
Bury the fencing underground at least a foot and a half deep.
To protect the plant above ground, leave about a half a foot of fencing above ground.
Doing this will help prevent gopher damage if gophers do make their way into your yard.

Repellents

How to Apply Gopher Repellent

Gopher repellents are available for controlling gophers. Repellent products use ingredients to create unpleasant taste, smell, or touch to make the treated area unpleasant to be around. If they are present, hopefully gophers will find your yard to be less than ideal, and not tunnel or forage in it.

Repellent products work best if they are applied before you ever have a gopher problem, and if they are used consistently and correctly. They have to be reapplied often, about every two weeks, depending on the product. They come in granular and liquid formulas, and must be watered in to penetrate into the soil. Follow directions carefully.

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