Gopher problem

[Jel]

A gopher decided to move into my backyard. We have a Cairn Terrier. I figured since this breed was bred to hunt such vermin I thought that I'd give him a go.



After 10 minutes of digging and sniffing and barking...he gave up...then he went back at it again for another 5 minutes.



Cairn Terrier FAIL!

We tried flushing him out with the hose but nothing happened. The next day we had fresh new mounds of dirt.

I was going to get one of those gopher traps, but imagine my surprise when the little bastard started digging and poking his head out of a new hole while I was washing dishes this morning.

After 2 minutes of waiting quietly, he popped out his head and I did what I had to do.



Hard to believe such a small animal can dig so much.

[Sam Z]

Good job!

Great story and pics!

Dog just needs more training/incentive

[twotacocombo]

Welcome to the war! I've killed at least 30 of those bastards since I moved into my house 4 years ago. You lucked out with this one.. I've only managed to flush out 3 so far. Got one with a pitchfork, that was epic. Now, I'd suggest getting a bucket of dirt and a hose, then flush as much mud down the holes as they will take. If you leave the tunnels intact, a new one will move in and set up shop in no time.

[Fate]

If you catch them early in the cycle, you can flood the tunnel and get them to breach the surface where you can whack them. They travel above ground to find new spot and then establish their tunnel system. Once they're established, they are MUCH harder to eliminate.

Box traps work pretty well, but better to get them early.

[Chilidaugz]

ugh.... I hate gophers as well.... NICE JOB!

I wish I could just blast them with my 12G SG... but its urban Cali They caused thousands of dollars in damage to me and my neighbor's landscape.

[sl0re10]

+1; they'll mess trees up too by tunneling through the roots....

[NastyNate]

My airgun loves varmints.

NastyNate

[weekend_plinker]

video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYTLm5bLfqw

and the tools
Rodenator Pest Control

[MiddleKingdom]

My airgun loves varmints.

NastyNate

Out of all the nice lawns in my neighborhood a gopher built a homestead under my crappy front weed bed (lawn). It was pretty bold and would pop up to eat the grass surrounding its hole with me just a few feet away. So I ran into my house and pulled my 35-year-old Daisy pump air pistol out of retirement. 10 pumps later I squatted 4 ft. from the hole with a cardboard box in my left hand blocking my neighbor's view across the street (I must have looked ridiculous). The gopher popped up again and after I pressed the trigger it disappeared into the hole. I figured at 4 ft. away shooting one-handed I must have missed. After I looked down the hole with the aid of my flashlight I could see the gopher sprawled out dead... one shot one kill. I ran back into to the house to tell my wife that I killed the gopher. Crickets. It's been about a month and there are no new gopher holes. I was pretty darn proud of myself, although I may have gone overboard with the camouflage and ghillie suit.

9mm, .40, & .45 make way for .177!

[sonofeugene]

If you catch them early in the cycle, you can flood the tunnel and get them to breach the surface where you can whack them.

'Pretty much what my mother used to do when I was a kid. She'd hook up as many garden hoses up to the house as she could, sometimes borrowing hoses from the neighbors. Each hose would go as far down a hole as she could put it. The remaining holes would get tightly filled save one. Then she'd turn on all the hoses full blast and position herself behind the one hole that remained open so the gopher could not see her when he approached the surface. A well timed whack with a full size shovel would then dispatch the beast.

[philobeddoe]

Reminds me of a fight I saw between two farm girls.

[jpscoot_21]

The movie Caddieshack comes to mind..

[Dirte]

This thread made my day. I can't even tell you how many hours I spent eradicating these little bastards at my first home. I killed many of them, but the problem was my neighbor was an absentee landlord who did absolutely nothing to maintain her property. Her yard was so busted it looked like the surface of the moon. It was absolutely maddening. I was setting traps at least once a week, but no matter how many I got they were always breeding reinforcements just on the other side of the fence.

Although it was more time consuming than some other methods, I preferred using the snare traps so I could confirm kills. My wife became concerned about my mental health when I started just sitting in a chair in the back yard, pondering various ways to torture them, while just waiting for them to pop out of the hole. I'm not a hunter and generally not a fan of killing stuff, but these things declared war on me. Luckily we moved before I had a complete break with reality and just went full commando on them.


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[H K corporate assassin]

Very cool posting thanks.

[BigPimping]

Nasty beasts. Good work OP.