Biological Gopher Control | Barn Owls

Biological control

Biological controls for pests are all the rage these days. You would think that it was something recently invented. It is not. It has always existed in nature. These biological pest controls are known as predators.

Barn Owls

In the world of rodent predators, there is hardly a more efficient hunter than the Barn Owl. The Barn Owl, or Tyto alba Is worldwide in it’s distribution, and goes by many common names. They can eat thousands of rodents in a year, and farmers have relied on them for this service almost since the dawn of time.

How to employ and deploy Barn Owls

How do you harness the power of such an incredible rodent control agent? You have to provide a habitat it likes. Barn owls like structures, hence the term “barn owl”. A nice roomy hallow in a tree, or a man made structure built just for them suits them well.

Positioning is important.

They prefer areas at the edge of a clearing, and do not hunt in dense forests. Houses should be placed high enough that predators can’t easily get to them, and low enough that owlets have a reasonable chance of climbing back up if they accidently fall out. They may starve to death otherwise. Boxes should be placed so that they do not face into prevailing winds.

We offer these Barn Owl Houses for sale to home owners.

Great Gopher Chili

Ok, For this recipe, you need:

• 2 pounds of coarse ground gopher meat.

• 1#3 can tomato sauce.

• 1#3 can of water.

• 1/3 cup ground Chili powder.

• 1 table spoon of Cumin.

• 1/2 cup chopped onions.

• ! tea spoon of paprika.

• 1tea spoon of garlic powder.

• 1 tea spoon of salt.

Instructions:

Brown the ground gopher over medium heat until brown.

Drain of the excess gopher grease. (you can save some of this for the gopher grease cornbread if you like.)

Pour in the water and tomato sauce.

turn the heat to low.

Now stir in the rest of the ingredients except the onion.

Stir occasionally, but allow it to cook as long as you can stand it, and about 20 minutes before you reach that point, add the onions. This way, they will be soft and tasty, but not “sulphurized” because some folks have a weak stomachs and can’t stand the smell of over cooked onions!

If you haven’t caught enough gophers, you can substitute ground beef in a pinch.

Make your gopher grease cornbread using any standard cornbread recipe, just don’t use one of those recipes that calls for adding sugar. That’s just gross! Regular cornbread will do just fine, so will crackers if you like, and I prefer to use tortillas with mine.

The Best Gopher Recipes

“Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts…”

What are you going to do with all those gophers you trap? Well, in these tough economic times, we shouldn’t let anything go to waste, so we decided to include a section on the best recipes for gopher grub! Problem is, we just are not coming up with any great ones yet, but we will continue to search. If you have a favorite gopher recipe that you would like to share, please send it to us, or leave a comment including the recipe in the comment section bellow!

Well, here is a link to get us started:

Ghoul-Ade over Gopher Guts

Great Gopher Chili

• Gophers | What They Are

Pocket gophers have an important function in the natural world as plows and aerifiers of the plains areas.

• Gophers | Why They Are A Problem

They create annoying, unsightly mounds. They cause trip hazards for your children, especially the athletic ones. They can even cause erosion problems, which can result in damage to your home and property.

• How To Deal With Gophers | Prevention

There are very few options when it comes to preventing gophers from attacking a lawn, with exclusion being the most practical, but also, very difficult.

• How To Deal With Gophers | Gopher Treatments

There are tales of chewing gum, castor oil repellents, (or poisons,) and other home remedies, that may, or may not, have some validity, some of which are confused with methods used to rid the lawn of moles, which is another story entirely.

• Gopher Control | Gopher Trapping

The best way to deal with pocket gophers, is to trap them. This provides solid proof that at least one of the lawn terrorists has met his match.

• Gopher Trapping | Introduction

The least expensive, and least hazardous route is by using gopher traps created for the job. Let me warn you from the outset, that this is not a job for the squeamish!

• Gopher Trapping |Things You Will Need

A list of the things you need for trapping gophers.

• Trapping Gophers | How To Do It

The waiting is the hardest part! If you have a lot of territory to cover, buy several pairs of traps, and set them all, maybe you will trap one in the first one by the time you set the last one.

• Service | What You Need To Know

If you want to see the evidence, please let us know beforehand, so we can save it for you. You will also need to let us know where you want to store your “bag of gophers or moles,” as they do not travel or store well!

• Gopher Trapping | Gopher Control Pricing

Our pricing is done “per head”. We also offer a “per thousand square foot” pricing option for both trapping and grain treatments for areas larger than 20 thousand square feet.

See Gophers | What They Are

Gopher Trapping | Gopher Control Pricing:

Some folks, occasionally balk at the price of our service. This is a rare occurrence, but should be mentioned. We understand that the prices may seem expensive, but it is what we have to charge to be able to offer the service. For those cases where the price is not acceptable, we offer a tutorial on this site with step by step guidance on doing the job yourself. It is of course, free for the using.

Per Head Price

We offer a “per head” price of $20.00 plus a $50.00 “stop fee”. The average home lawn will rarely have more than 4 or 5 gophers, and usually less. This price includes a preventative tunnel treatment for any new gophers who might stray into the tunnels after trapping. The “stop fee” is applied whether or not any gophers are trapped. The tunnel treatment is included in the stop fee.

Why a “Stop” Fee

The stop fee is needed to cover expenses just like plumbers or electricians. You will only be charged one stop fee per day under normal circumstances.

Neighborhood Discounts

We offer a discount price for neighborhood gopher control. If you and your neighbors want to rid your area of these rodents at one time, we will trap up to 10 contiguous lawns for one stop fee. Each of the homes would be responsible for paying for what is trapped on their own property, and the “stop fee” split between them. The stop fee is needed to cover expenses just like plumbers or electricians. You will only be charged one stop fee per day under normal circumstances.

Service Area

The “stop fee” price is for homes in the vicinity of Tyler Texas. There will be additional charges for homes outside the area. You can call to see if other charges would apply in your case. The price per mile charge outside our coverage area will be .75 cents per mile.

Square Foot Pricing

We also offer a “per thousand square foot” pricing option for both trapping and grain treatments for areas larger than 20 thousand square feet. The cost is $5.00 per 1000 square feet.

These prices are subject to change without notice. Payment in full will be due upon completion of the job.

Our Gopher Control Service | What You Need To Know

We offer a gopher trapping service for those who don’t like the idea of doing the trapping themselves, or don’t have the time.

Over time, we have realized that there are a few things we should explain about the trapping process, how it works, and some things that the homeowner needs to know before using our service. Please read this, if you are considering giving us a call, because it should help in establishing a common understanding.

What you should know before using our gopher control and gopher trapping service.

This is a list of things you can do to help us help you.

• Let us know of your problem as soon as you see a problem. Early detection is important for proper control.
• Do not disturb mounds or tunnels. Treat the area as though it were a crime scene! Every bit of information is important, and can be a clue to the critters activity. For instance, we can tell where a gopher came from by following back the mounds from the freshest to the oldest. All information is relevant.
• When we set traps or bait, please do not let pets or children into the area, and do not disturb the area.
• Most critters can be trapped in the course of a day, but not all, and not under all conditions. For example, in colder or wetter weather, they may tunnel deeper, and exhibit less activity.
• Trapping or baiting will not cure the problem forever. New gophers and moles will eventually come to visit. This is particularly true if they also exist in your neighbors property. Gophers and moles do not understand property ownership. They do not care where your property begins, and where your neighbors property ends. We offer neighborhood package deals which will be cheaper and more effective for everyone.
• Trapping is the most effective means of dealing with critters. There are other methods, a biological method for moles, and poison grain for gophers. Most other methods are far less effective, some downright dangerous, and others fall into the “snake oil” category.
• With gophers, a two step program can be effective when properly initiated and carried out. Trapping the existing ones, and baiting existing tunnels near likely points of entry. Baiting with poison grain, gives some mixed results, and could possibly be dangerous to family pets, but under some circumstances, can be effective.
• The only effective means of prevention is to install a barrier. This can be done, but can be rather expensive. If you should attempt this yourself, please locate all gas, power, water, communication, and irrigation lines before proceeding.
• We will provide you the opportunity to see any critter we trap, as evidence. If you want to see the evidence, please let us know beforehand, so we can save it for you. You will also need to let us know where you want to store your “bag of gophers or moles,” as they do not travel or store well!

Trapping Gophers | How to do it:

Get all the things that were listed previously together, and follow the following procedure.

The stake or flag should be attached to the wire or chain, and the other end attached to the trap in a way that will not interfere with it’s operation. You need the stake and the wire or chain, to keep any trapped gophers from stealing your traps.

You will need to probe about two feet away from the mound. all the way around the mound until you feel the probe hit a void. You will know you have hit a void, by the sudden lack of resistance.

The tunnel you need is the same one exposed above ground, but will not take a straight path. It will take a more circuitous route, because the gophers want to make it difficult for any predators. You are now the predator!

When you find the void, dig around until you find one tunnel entering the hole and one exiting it. You will need to put a trap in both ends of the tunnel, because you have no way of knowing whether the gopher is entering, or exiting.

Set the traps, according to the manufacturers instructions, and carefully place the trap inside the tunnel with the “flap” at the hole end of the tunnel, and part way inside the tunnel, it should not be forced. Traps should be placed in both tunnel openings, and the stakes set in solid ground outside the hole.

If the trap part has you puzzled, it will all be clear when you see the device. The traps themselves can cause some minor injury if you are not careful. Do yourself a favor, wear the gloves!

The waiting is the hardest part! If you have a lot of territory to cover, buy several pairs of traps, and set them all, maybe you will trap one in the first one by the time you set the last one.

Then, you check the traps, and you find you have caught one! Did I mention that you should wear thick gloves? Well you should! Carefully remove the trap, avoid getting any of your fingers or any other appendage near the gophers mouth, it could still be alive! They have extremely sharp teeth and chew through tough roots for a living, don’t let it chew into you.

Well, I said that the waiting is the hardest part, but that is really not true. The hardest part, is figuring out how to deal with the gopher once he is trapped, especially if it is still alive. This is, as I said, not an activity for the squeamish, and if you are faint hearted, you might want to leave the trapping to someone else. Dispatch any living animals in the most humane way possible. I have never found a pleasant way to accomplish this. If you find a way, let me know!

Be sure to remove all traps if any children or pets will be playing in the vicinity, and of course you will want to cover the holes when you are done.

If all this trapping business is a little to much for you, there is always the shotgun and folding chair. Keep the beer iced down, it may take a while!

Gopher Trapping | Things you will need:

1. Thick leather gloves.

2. A probe, this can be the type of long thin rod with a handle used by plumbers, or a piece of any other thin, but sturdy rod to pierce the ground.

3. A shovel.

4. Some gopher traps, at least two.

5. Some wire or very light light chain, about two feet or so for each trap.

6. A flag for each trap. This can be the wire type flags like the phone company uses to mark cable, or a long bridge spike or a stake with surveyors ribbon tied around the top so you can find it easily.

Gopher Trapping | Introduction

Southern Pocket Gophers, are the nemesis of golf course superintendents, athletic field managers, and home lawn enthusiasts throughout the South. Tunneling is what they like to do, and, what they do best. They can drive you to insanity with the tunnels and the tell tale mounds cropping up in the most unexpected and inconvenient places on your property. Every year they are responsible for numerous ankle and knee injuries, some career ending, in young athletes, on athletic fields throughout the South.

They do provide a certain recreational aspect to life in the South, it involves a six pack of cold beer, a folding lawn chair placed downwind from a fresh mound, and a shotgun! Recreational value aside, they can be pretty destructive to lawns.

There are several methods of dealing with them, ranging from a propane gadget, that fills the tunnels with gas, ignites the gas, and blows the toothy little vermin to “kingdom come,” to various types of strychnine laced grain, and of course, the beer and shotgun method.

There is another way. The least expensive, and least hazardous route is by using gopher traps created for the job. Let me warn you from the outset, that this is not a job for the squeamish!

Gopher Control | Gopher Trapping

The best way to deal with pocket gophers, is to trap them. This provides solid proof that at least one of the lawn terrorists has met his match.
The poisoned grain has some good results in reducing populations, but does not offer the security of knowing for certain that they are gone, and not recuperating in a nest somewhere. There is also the slight risk that one of the poisoned creatures could make it to the surface only to be eaten by the family pet, who could then suffer the fate intended for the gopher. This is a pretty small chance, but it has happened.

The smoke method has some validity, but is rarely conclusive. I have used it in conjunction with flooding in a last ditch attempt to get rid of one that had proven to be the most elusive of my long career. The animal never returned, so I must assume success.

Repellents, electronic devices, and the home remedies, while being amusing, are mostly ineffective, and some downright dangerous. I think that some of these things may have had a background as an elaborate practical joke, which replays itself to each new generation, with roots similar to those of catching a bird by pouring salt on its tail feathers, or putting nothing in your ear except your elbow.

In conclusion, trapping is the only sure fire, safe method of getting rid of pocket gophers.