Any gopher solutions? Part 2

No plants and you like it there? Holy Moly. If that is my destiny, then I will have to buy a green house for sure or just learn to garden on my upper deck, if possible. I will have to look Javelinas up, never heard of it.

Quilty,
Be careful around the Javelinas, as they can be pretty mean if they feel trapped or cornered.

Living in the mountains will be a first for me Quilty, like you, it is a learning curve and those of us who want to have a landscape will figure out what will survive. I have been contemplating building a lasagna garden in a dog kennel to protect plants from deer etc. I do shrubs, flowers, grasses, trees and not too much in the food zone so it may work, but I don't know? Have you started on a planting plan up there yet?

No planting yet. Friday I brought a bunch of my pots indoors in anticipation of winter coming Sat. It came, we had light snow and last 2 mornings were in the teens. In a couple days the lows will be warming up to 32 - wowie, lol. Yesterday in 40's, but 60's coming back for highs tomorrow, Some left outdoors now look like when you put lettuce in freezer (banana succulent, society garlic, cannas, purple queen, petunias.11AM now and all the way to 41. I was 9 when we left WI for the SF Bay Area, then later to SoCal. Need to rethink how to do things.Dug all those gloves, scarves and fleece shits out - and that is for inside ha-ha.

There are some native plants here on the property, large juniper shrub/trees and some grassy almost pampas grass plants as well as some Nopales cactus.
I am including shots from Pre-monsoon in June when we bought, then during monsoon, Aug, and then Sat when it was snowing.

Ernie, we know to keep our distance from those javelinas. DH saw one on our street while I was in CA last week and thought at first it was a dog/coyote (eyesight issue is why he does not drive anymore) and went down deck stairs with those grabber things then realized what it was (still far enough away). I said good thing. Grabbers vs tusks = tusks win! Now, I am waiting to see one of the giant jack rabbits neighbor have talked about while holding their hands about knee high.

Quilty,
I like that high desert, and yours is a pretty part of it. I like the Junipers, and I think the Greasewood, right after a rain, is one of the best smells there is, but the greasewood seems to be more scarce now than it was 60 years ago.

Light frost in Vista last night, and i know, it is NOT supposed to frost in Vista, but it does. I am protecting a few trees this year, especially a Guava, as it has frosted back the last two winters that i have been here. It has a nice crop on it, and i do want to at least taste one. If i do not like them i will not go through this again next year.

Ernie

Oh so nice. You should get some Attriplex bushes, they grow so fast and because they are salty, gophers and bunnies don't like them, but apparently deer don't mind them, so I put some jalapenos on the branches and so far they appear to be there. It snowed last Friday in Tehachapi, but we weren't there. It melted by the next day except we saw some flurries and had icey snow on our upper deck.

I will need to look up Greasewood and Attriplex. Thnx

Q, I do not know the scientific name for Greasewood, as all i have seen is growing wild. Another common name for it is Creosote Bush, but it smells much nicer than that name sounds.

We used to have a lot of it around Lucerne Valley, and there is still some on I-15 near Mountain Pass, so there is still some around.

Ernie

I haven't read all the posts on the two threads so hope I'm not repeating what someone else has said. This topic didn't click with me until this morning because I haven't had gophers for a year or so, but when someone on Facebook was also asking about gophers I remembered about using dry ice.
Here's what I posted there: A method my husband (a scientist) came up with is to use dry ice. When I googled it there are multiple listings and I listed the link to the one that gives step by step instructions. It works by the dry ice gas vapor changing into carbon dioxide gas and it sinks down into the tunnels and nests and suffocates the gophers by displacing their oxygen.
It's a much more humane way to kill them than poison, gas, etc. which are a horrible death. Using dry ice is cheap, safe and non-toxic, and leaves no mess. Be sure to wear heavy gloves and eye protection. Some ice cream shops carry dry ice and our local Albertsons grocery store does, too.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5352714_kill-gophers-dry-ice.html

Annie,

I am not reall sure i would like being suffocated any better than being poisoned, but i will never know for sure, will ?

But i do see one serious flaw in the actual use of the dry ice, as good as it sound in theory. The gophers keep their tunnels plugged, so unless you have some way of locating the tunnel and inserting the dry ice without disturbing the tunnel so the gopher will be aware of it and plug it, I do not see how it will work. I am always interested in learning new things, so when someone does actually eliminate their gopher problem, using only this method, i hope they share the experience with all of us.

I found a couple of new gopher mounds this morning where one had come in from the neighbor, and I had a difficult time locating the tunnel. In that particular case using the dry ice would not work. But i have, in the past, found hidden holes, that they use for an exit. These holes never have a gopher mound near them, to help locate them, and they always have a small plug of dirt near the bottom.

Thanks for the sharing the method, and i hope to hear it is successfull.

Ernie

Ernie,
I like the idea of suffocation as it's faster and not horribly painful as poison can be. We have rat problems yearly and one year resorted to poison and a few days later saw one that had consumed it. It wasn't pretty and we swore off poison.

I think the problem of finding an open gopher tunnel is a challenge with any method. From the reading I did it sounds like you'd have to put the dry ice in any and all holes you can find, hope for the best, and maybe try multiple times to be successful, as in most methods. The one time we had a gopher at this house my husband was lucky and had drowned it (yuck to that too!) before I returned home with the dry ice so we don't have any actual experience.

Annie,

I have had far too much experience killing them here, but as because of all that experience, I am having excellent results now. It is painful watching anything die, and there are probably not any good choices. I never see the ones i kill, as that happens int he tunnel, too. The poison we use now on gophers kills pretty quickly, but rats are too smart for it and the rat poison that works kills slowly, so the rats do not connect the death of some rats to the food they have been eating for a week or more. I do not know which is the better way, but personally, i am hoping for a quick death when my time comes.

Incidentally, i finally got about forty of Amarantha's Day Lillies planted and they all bloomed beautifully. i also kept the plant tags with the plants, so if you still want some of them, you are welcome to come cut off part of the ones you would like to have, as they are all plenty big enough to divide. It is too difficult for me to get up and down so i cannot do the actual digging and separating for you.

Singing Wolf, Jules, got rid of the rest of them at the Roundup, and her son took some fo them, i think.

Ernie

Yup, Ernie, we still have the day lilies, or at least what survived the summer heat, a herd of puppies frolicking and last but not least they were swarmed by rabbits and eaten back to nubs! But I got mad and my ES and I pulled them into the gh for the winter. They are growing again and quite happy. I hope to be able to separate some of them out, because I'm going to need them for landscaping along the road when the city widens it. You know, I'm really bummed out that the puppies took all of the name tags out the pots. Hopefully, Amaranth can help me id them when they bloom again. Sigh! Say Ernie, I have some yellow Lantana started. Are you interested? LMK, okay?
So far this spring the gophers have not been a problem, but I can't wait to try the fabric softener sheets, but tell me, do you use the kind that have already been through the dryer, or the kind that haven't? Just want to know, because I need to transplant a POB into an area frequented by gophers.
Thanks for all the updated information.
Also the new thread!
WIB~
SIngingWolf

I heard the dryer sheets because the smell is so strong so I'm pretty sure it is not used ones. I like the idea of the quick kill of dry ice if you can get the ice in the area where they are going. If you get a few, then maybe the others won't come for a while if they see death everywhere.

Helln,

I sure want to hear about it, if that dry ice works. but they are so quick to block their tunnels I have not been able to visualize just how it can work. Fortunately, i am completely clean of them now, but i saw some about 100 feet up the road, so i am expecting a few when the new crop is born and the tunnels get crowded.

Ernie

Thanks hellenzn. DH and I were talking about it yesterday, and that's what he thought too. It's that time of year again. Have to look for standing water and dump it out! So until it all drys up, I'll be tucking a fabric softener sheet in my hat.

I am interested in finding out how well the dry ice works. We have an Albertson's nearby, and ES and I will no doubt find a new gopher hole soon. I'll let you know how it works.

WIB~
SW

I wonder about use of moth balls in the ground near the plants or in the tunnels, they would last a while and my dogs have this horrid reverse sneeze when we used them to drive cats off our Mustang Cobra. I imagine they would not like it, they are so strong from far away, if you inandated your yard with them under ground maybe the critters would just scram with a reverse cough and choke to death. It looked like my dogs were going to do it. If you don't know what it is, look it up on youtube. I would not want them too near my plants in case they killed them.

I would sure like to hear about something that works besides the Type I Wilco Gopher Bait, too.

I have pounded tunnels shut and flooded and probed them, as much as 2 or 3 feet deep,and it is pretty obvious that whatever is put in the tunnels is going to have to be forced in by air pressure, as just dropping a dryer sheet or mothball is only going to drift a little way.

My neighbor is a very successful gopher breeder, has a nice weed patch and feeds them well, and so i keep getting all i want, and a few more from him. I usually kill or drown them within 2 or 3 days of first seeing them, but i had a real scare today, when the supplier told me Wilco has stopped making Type 1. It is the only bait i have good consisten results with.

I did find some Type one online, and ordered it, but when the current inventory is used up, the gophers are going to win the war.

Helen, if you do get the gophers to go to your neighbors, i hope they appreciate that more than i do the ones my neighbor sends over to me.

Do let us know if any of you find something that does work for you.

Ernie

Oh Ernie, if you only knew how my neighbors, who I call the Hillbillies, lived, you would care less. They don't have landscape at all. The one side is an exterminator who sprays non stop, any living thing, plant and other, he sees and I am sure he sent them all to me, the other side has 27 thousand members of one family living together and does not have anything but Cacti. Surely they would give the little kids something to do, stomping out mounds.

We live in an area with Mobile homes on 3/8 acre to 5 acre parcels. Why we bought here is something we rethought many times.

Well if you have not tried my jalapeno thing, than you don't know what you are missing. It is definitely a helpful addition to drowning and poisoning them, to keep them off your delicious plants IE roses.

Helen,
It is possible the Gophers enjoy the jalapenos, but as much as they hurt me, i do not think even a gopher will ever eat enough of them to commit suicide.

I still say again the only sure thing i have found that is a dependable way to kill and control gophers is the Type 1 Wilco Gopher bait. It does not do any one any good to just drive them away as they will have babies that get kicked out and will be back to see you next year.

But the worst news i have heard in a long time is that Wilco has stopped making the Type 1 bait, and when the current inventories are sold out, there will not be anymore. I have bought a little bit extra, and hope it lasts as long as i do. Then, i guess after that, the gophers will take over the world.

So, if you really want to get rid of them you should try to locate some of the last remaining Type 1 bait, before it is all gone.

The gopher growing neighbors that i have are not Hillbillies, per se, but they keep the front yard looking nice and the back yard is knee high in weeds and trash. I guess that is what is called putting up a false front. lol

Ernie

Helln
Outside of your neighbors, when I look at Rosamond via satellite, I see your terrain must be similar to ours here in No Az where we moved last summer. Your neighbors are the neighbors that our neighbors used to have with the previous owners in our home (including the son who stabbed a neighbor to death). Our neighbors are lovely, though. I do see some gopher mounds outside of our property, but that may be because NOTHING has EVER been planted in the ground on this property in the 10 years this house has been here. A neighbor down the road said they get voles, so not only do they get the roots, but then come up and eat the tops. I have started digging to put in fruit trees and even though I knew the ground is very hard AND FULL of rocks, I was amazed to find caliche clay (I thought there were clumps of concrete buried a foot down). My helper at 10/hr worked hard for 6.5 hours on 4 holes and I STILL do not have trees in ground. At the nursery I said "well at least the gophers won't be able to dig through that stuff", and she said not to count on that. OH POOP. So, now very little will be in ground (with lots of gypsum) and even a few trees will be in pots. Veggies will be in pots and strawbales. It is even hard to just walk around the property with surface rocks and us being less steady on out feet as we get older. Hats off to you Ernie for all you do in your yard and not being a spring chicken.

I too am wondering of the wisdom of the move to where we are. The house is a foreclosure and way more work than we can do ourselves or afford to get done. A HD rep. suggested pulling this mobile out and buying a new one to put in as it would cost so much to get everything done. A new house could cost as much and EVERYTHING would be new and better than we could fix this one.

Quilty,
One thing i am doing now, in order to get the last mile possible out of me, is using a John Deere lawn tractor mower for a scooter. It only takes about 45 minutes to mow my lawn but i use it ten times as much or more, just running back and forth. I put a milk crate on it to carry tools and sprinklers and such, so i do not waste my energy walking back and forth, and can just do my tasks as i find them. So, that really helps.

That Caliche is tough stuff, and i had it in some places in Lucerne Valley, but i found it varied in thickness and depth, so you might want to dig some sample postholes and see where your soil is deeper, and if you find some deep spots just do your planting there. Digging a hole and planting something in Caliche is not going to give you very good growth.

Or, scrape up some good soil and pile it up to plant on a mound, to avoid digging in the caliche.

Ernie

Girl you should dmail me. Anyways. I have caleche bad here and once I started lasagna gardening and got a good tiller, I started to have some progress. Then there are plants that like that stuff that spread like Coyote bush. You are best to plant roses in tall pots with drain holes or plastic trash cans buried to make some strides at keeping gophers off that type of land, that is open to all the vermin. They don't seem to like the Lady banks roses, they can go in ground, protected from rabbits when young. They don't touch Rugosa roses here either but what the heck, nice for only a few months of blooms.

Ernie, the jalapenos are only good to repel off the good salad bar they like to eat at, while poisoning them. Less damage.

I have not seen any new gopher piles for several days, so i think i have killed off the last crop that moved in from the neighbor. The last three were taken care of with one dose each, as i found the tunnel with the probe. Sometimes it takes a couple of doses, and even some flooding, to get it in the right place.

Ernie

YUP, good news though.

Just reading through this post to see if someone had come up with a new solution. I plant most everything in baskets and pots. I actually had my gophers take out a 10 foot tall Jacaranda tree, that was one hungry gopher. I was not happy to hear they like campanella as I was going to remove some ivy and put in an area of them, not so sure I want to do it now. Well, I guess I'll pull myself together and go put out some more traps. I like the box traps too, I may have to try to make one using a mouse trap.

Hey, I heard of something different, and am willing to try this. Go out and buy Juicy Fruit Gum, (get the kind with sugar). Bring it home, break it up into small pieces and place inside the gopher hole. I don't know if it works, but it will only cost a pack of gum to find out. :-)

WIB~

SW

Ah yes, the old Juicy Fruit gum trick. Problem is how do you know if it's working? I've put a lot of gum in the ground over the years and never had any indicators that it killed anything. But it's a nice thought since it wouldn't kill my dog or cat, probably even safe for snakes and hawks.