Will dry ice get rid of gophers?

I have a veritable plague of gophers in my garden. Yesterday I set the sprinkler in one corner of my garden and when I returned a few minutes later, three big lilac bushes were lying on the ground. There wasn't a single root left on any of them -- just big gopher teeth marks at the bottom of the trunks.

I've lived with this problem for more than 20 years and I've never found a solution. Today someone told me I should drop dry ice into their tunnels. Has anyone ever tried this? Does anyone know of a good reason not to try it? Will it hurt plants?

Get a Jack Russel dog and no more moles. Only concern is there will be a few holes in the pursuit. Dry Ice is good for plants. Just frozen CO 2. Plants keep our exhale (CO 2) and make leaves etc. I have heard all of the stories of how to .... Moles live on your grubs and soil larvae so kill them and no more food for the critters. If you are an Organic gardener use Corn Meal or what ever, and live with them for another 20 years.

Thanks, Sofer, but I don't have moles. I have gophers. They eat plants.

Zuzu,
The Jack Russel should work for gophers too, but as Sofer said you'll have more holes, probably bunches.
Try this site.

http://www.critter-repellent.com/gopher/gopher-control.php

This message was edited May 2, 2006 8:31 AM

Oops I didn't pay attention. My gofers went bye bye but I only had one small area of them. Again Jack russell.

I went to a barber shop , got some hair and shoved down a couple of their holes . Don't know if that did it because the wife saw a feral cat eating a snake in yard and started feeding the cat . not more gofers - either the cat got them or the hair worked . I was told not to use animal hair from pet salon , never know if there are bugs or other bad things in it .

SOFER,
Ed Hume, http://www.edhume.com has a mixture to get rid of moles/gophers, it involves Castor Oil, dish soap, and some other household things. I think the exact recipe are on his website.

Regards;
bluelytes

Castor oil actually does work and it's the basis of Mole-Med and other repellents, but it has to be re-applied every few weeks, and it's not a practical solution for a large garden. Most people don't have that much time or money to spend on this one aspect of gardening.

I've also heard that they don't like garlic, so you could try planting a few patches around your yard. Gophers would drown in their own tunnels around here, though, so I can't say I've actually tried it ;-)

As a benefit, you could harvest once in a while!

A tisket a tasket a green and yellow basket, (with a Jack russell in it) and no more ground squirrells. Borrow one most people with Jacks would like a few days off from their continual activity.

Zuzu,
ask the universe for a gopher cat to come to your garden , that is the only solution I've found. However, if you have nothing else to do I've heard that sitting by the hole with a shotgun until they pop their cute little heads out and then shooting them works. I actually know someone who did this, of course they were retired (and owned a shotgun).
My 4 elderly cats all passed on in the past few years, they had gotten too old to hunt gophers anymore. I have 2 young cats now and I am currently working with them to not kill birds but to focus on the rodents. Training them to be professional killers of the proper type. My Lola killed her first rat a few days ago. Yay, I'm a proud mom. The gophers haven't hit hard yet (ssshh, they can't hear me type can they?) but we're having a rat explosion. I was woken up last night by outside noises and there were 3 rats hanging from my bird feeder stuffing themselves. Omigod!
we are all one, Selieta

Selieta, it's so upsetting to hear that you have gophers in town. I've often dreamed of moving to downtown Sebastopol and leaving the gophers behind. Oh, well -- another dream bites the dust.

As for the gopher cat, I have 18 cats and some definitely are good hunters. The trouble is that they catch dozens, but there are hundreds.

aaiiee... all I can say is I'm so sorry for you.

Actually when I first moved into town I didn't have the Problem because my yard was nothing but lava rock. As soon as I rototilled, added amendment , plants and water...instant gophers. my dream bit the dust as well because I had moved from a place adjacent to an orchard and gopher city and had my fantasy.
But you are in a different category of challenge all together, it sounds like you live by a megapolis!
wishing you gopher tooth decay, Selieta

Zuzu, Paul James aka The Gardener Guy, had a bit about gopher control on his show Sunday. Hope this helps.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_diseases_pests_animals/article/0,1785,HGTV_3578_3910358,00.html

Thanks, Chilihead. I'm going to look into this right away. This sounds ideal. I love the idea of driving them out in a particular direction, perhaps toward the neighbor I like the least.

oh wow, zuzu, i just checked out this link. sounds like it could be the answer to all of your gopher problems and my mole problems as well. yipppeee. thanks chilihead! from me too.

Zuzu saw that program too... pretty cool theory to force a migration of gophers and moles.

I also learned something new - how to tell the difference between a gopher and a mole by the burm the build around their hole.

A neighbor said they say it at Lowes, I have my doubts about that. You can get it from Gardens Alive
http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8849&bhcd2=1150232126

Anyway, I'm interested in hearing how it works for you.
Cheers
Dove

Hi, Dovey. I know they sell the liquid variety at Lowe's, but I didn't see the granular form there. I have a big bottle of the liquid, so I'll use that up first -- while I'm mapping out my defensive strategy. I have some axes to grind with a couple of neighbors -- the ones that let their ivy and blackberries run rampant.

*LOL*

Oh that's good.....

And where the offense is, let the great axe fall
Shakespeare

Oh, Dovey, I love it: You always have a quotation to fit every occasion. Did you see the Pure Poetry rose I posted for you in the rose forum? If not, here it is again.

No I hadn't seen it.
It just makes me sigh it's so pretty.
Did you get it from Vintage Gardens?

No, Dovey, not Vintage. I got it from J&P years ago, but I think Hortico's the only place that sells it now. I don't know why these wonderful roses disappear from commerce. It's beautiful, it smells great, it's a terrific performer, and it's clearly more gopher-resistant than some others or I wouldn't still have it after all these years.