Oh great Gopher guru,
You trained me and sold me six cinch traps several years ago. Up until now I have successfully protected the Mushroom House lawn against gophers. You would have been proud of your student! A new one in the yard wouldn't last more than a day. It wouldn't be usual to trap three a week. Then it happened. This one or more have attacked the yard from the golf course. One morning there were eight mounds in a line and the dirt in each was around 15" diameter and 8" high. I cleaned them up and put all the traps in and within four hours several had been tripped but nothing caught. Most all holes had dirt forced up the hole, and one time the dirt had all but covered up the trap - again nothing in the tripped traps. This cycle has continued going on a week. I am at wits end, and if I didn't think better of it, I would be tempted to blow them up with one of those oxy-acetylene or whatever they use kits. Do you have any suggestions?
Regards,
Jack, the humbled gopher hunter
Dear Mr Whittman:
I enjoyed reading the article about trapping gophers in the SF Chronicle, by Deborah K. Rich. The article was passed on to me by my neighbor here in Los Gatos. I’ve been trapping gophers and moles for nearly a half century. I was born and raised, and grew up on prune and walnut ranches in the Santa Clara Valley. I was taught by my Father when I was pretty young, and I’m sure it was passed on to him by his Father who started ranching in the Valley at the turn of the last century. I’ve caught literally thousands over the years using the tried and true Macabee traps (invented right here, and still manufactured in Los Gatos). Living in Los Gatos for quite a few years now, I can see why they were invented here. We get some pretty bad infestations with the heavier rainfall and softer ground in wetter seasons. Not that the hard dry clay stops them very much when it dries out. I still trap about one to two dozen gophers per year on my property, thanks in large part to a small creek that runs through It, and which they use a super highway to find their way to my trees, plants and vegetables!
Now, not to be too picky, because you have it absolutely right in 99.9% of the article! The only thing I disagree with you, is the small item, where it said: “As we walked, Wittman clears sprung cinch traps and tucks expired gophers gently back down into their burrows. ”Fertilizer,” he said.” Now, the only reason I disagree with you on this one item, is that I’ve caught as many as 7 gophers and even moles resetting the trap back in the SAME holes/tunnels, and this can continue for a period of up to a couple of weeks! When I catch a gopher/mole, I will leave the carcass on the surface for cats, owls, etc. to eat. Not sure but it seems, at least for the cats anyway, that it entices them to come back and maybe to do some nocturnal and daytime hunting in the same area. I’ll take any help I can get from Mother Nature! I will continue to set the traps in the same holes/tunnels until I no longer catch anything for a period of a couple of weeks. I can catch an entire family of gophers, as well as other gophers/moles which may claim that tunnel system if the infestation is severe or the tunnel is abandoned. They are not solitary creatures while raising their litter. As a kid, I use to tuck the gophers or moles back down the hole, and cover it, thinking exactly as you do, that it was good fertilizer. My Father corrected my ways and showed me that I was wasting a valuable “catch” hole/tunnel resource by putting that carcass back down there. The old ranchers and farmers knew quite a bit about not wasting time and resources!
If it’s possible, after I’ve caught the last gopher/mole from that tunnel system, I will spade the entire burrow system if it’s in an unplanted area, or if it’s in the lawn, flower or vegetable section of the garden, I will break the top of the soil from the surface down to the tunnel, all along the burrow system as much as I can, and/or flood it to cave it in, then refill with top soil. That slows the re-infestation by new gophers/moles claiming that same tunnel system. We use to accomplish the same thing on the ranch each year by discing in Spring and Fall.
Please accept this critique (and it’s not even that), in the spirit of friendship, and for whatever it’s worth. I’m sure you could teach me quite a few things! Thank you again for sharing your insights with some of the newer residents, and fledgling gardeners out there! Please keep up the good work! Good hunting!
Sincerely,
Lawrence Pezino
