These critters were completely ruining my front and back yards this year.  The worst infestation ever.  So I found this guy, Ross Roberts, “The Gopher Guy” and he has been fabulous.  He knows the critters, their breeding habits, what they eat, where they dig, everything.  He plants gopher traps that are pet safe and checks them every single day.  He moved in so smoothly in the morning to check his traps that my dog didn’t even bark at him.  He’s a retired Foster City Police Officer and he’s incredibly reliable.  He charges $100 to be hired and then $25 per animal he traps.  He’s at 465-1291.  He’s out of town right now until Aug. 14th.  If you’ve got a gopher problem, he’s your answer.

I have three cats who do a very fine job of gopher control (also moles, voles and rodents).  One neighbor who didn’t particularly like cats, likes ours because they take care of her gopher problem too.

There is a stray cat who hangs out at Shoreline Station, whom we call “Nip Ear”.  He dines on gophers almost exclusively, and won’t eat human food.  He is very fat, and looks happy. 

Many cats are great gopher hunters….many, but not ALL.  I used to have a cat named Lumpy who was afraid of gophers - when they came out of their holes, he would run for cover!

One of my dogs got rid of the gophers in our backyard… the neighbors couldn’t figure out why all the gophers suddenly moved over there.  :lol:

If you don’t like the idea of trapping or poison, there are products like Sonic Mole Chaser that emit a noise underground at a frequency that rodents find intolerable. I’m about to try this in our front garden, where the dogs don’t hang out enough to make a difference.

I tried everything:  sonic devices, lawn sprays, gum, smoke bombs, cyanide, exlax, tobacco, cat litter, hair clippings; anything anyone suggested, I tried.  I bought the hose that attaches to your tailpipe and pumps CO into the hole, I tried water…..one day I even saw a man standing over a gopher hole that had flames leaping out of it and I pulled over.  He’d put gasoline down the hole and lit it.  I said, “Does that work?”.  He replied, “I don’t know, I’ve tried everything else!!”.  Ross the Gopher Guy told me that gophers and moles just move away from these kinds of interventions.  He said each gopher had about 3 off spring which can stay with mom for 2 months and then they need to move 30 feet away to start their own dens.  That’s what was happening to my yard.  Well, in the span of two weeks, he got them all.  My dog would just make a mess of the yard and never caught one.

Yep, Gopher Guy sounds like he is worth the money!  We still have gophers at Shoreline, though I think that part of the grass will be dug up to make parking spaces this week. Poor Nip-Ear will have to look elsewhere for dinner.

Hi Katharine,

Out of curiosity, which sonic device did you try?

I’m glad that your trapper did a satisfactory job for you. But I’m not convinced that trapping is more effective in the long run than preventive measures, such as landscaping that is more tolerant and/or less attractive to these little fellas. And having a more realistic view of where our gardens fit in the larger landscape.

Of course a guy who makes his living as a trapper will tell us that trapping is the only way. Just sayin’. :)