The Gopher Chronicles

[Peter]

Nice job Matty! I'm battling one in my front yard-I find the tunnel, put in a black box trap, he fills it in then I can't find the tunnel again-wtf? I've taken 40 out of my 7000sq' yard so far this year but this guy is driving me crazy.

[MattyB]

Just to clarify Ben, the Macabee style traps are different than the Cinch Brand traps. The Macabee traps are smaller and go both directions in the main tunnel, as you've mentioned. The Cinch Brand traps are simply set in the lateral tunnel.

Macabee pictured below

[MattyB]

Cinch Brand

[MattyB]

Nice job Matty! I'm battling one in my front yard-I find the tunnel, put in a black box trap, he fills it in then I can't find the tunnel again-wtf? I've taken 40 out of my 7000sq' yard so far this year but this guy is driving me crazy.

Peter,

I feel your frustration man! I've had pretty good luck placing carrots, green onions, or other veggies in the hole just behind the trigger. Also, I'm finding that if I mostly cover the hole so that I can block out as much light as possible, but still leave some air holes so that air enters the tunnel, it works pretty good. The Macabee traps say to completely cover the hole, the Cinch traps say to completely leave it open, but I have dogs and I don't want them sticking their nose on that pan of the Cinch trap, it's way dangerous, so that's why I cover it but still leave air flow. But in the end, sometimes you just get a real bugger that is tricky!

[trioderob]

the hole needs to be open so that cold air flows into the gopher hole.

they are very sensitive to this and will investigate......tripping the trap.

try using the cinch around 8:00 pm when the air outside is cool and the inside of the tunnel is warm.

the more you can "bug" the gopher with cold air - the better

Edited November 17, 2011 by trioderob

[Joe palma]

My cat is great, a real hunter. I've had huge gophers at my front door many times. He will sit on a hole ALL day till he gets one. My only problem now is i'm not seeing anymore holes. I know those suckers are down there and I think they're getting smarter. They really seem to like Triangles a lot Joe, I lost one this year as well. I think they were just giving you a warning earlier this year with your Robe that you lost, now it's game on!

Hey Jastin,

Well I hope the cat we have now never gets outside cause she will just become coyote bait. We moved in 11 yrs ago and lost a very beloved cat within 2 days of being here. Lost several others that the neighbors left when they moved and we tried to keep around. A total of 5 cats. Anyway, they will get gophers if you don't have coyotes.

The robo was in an area of previous attacks, so that was no surprise and I actually don't mind about that one but whatever replaces it will be highly fortified.

Sorry to hear you lost a triangle!!! Keep an eye out for them cause the do not always excavate and are STILL there.

I haven't caught it yet but I couldn't help myself and dug up the tunnels around my triangle and then flooded it and filled it in. Hope it ate some of the poison (which I hate to use). If not, then I'm sure I will see him again. Heck, I may even see it again if it did.

[Joe palma]

Got him! I checked my cinch trap this afternoon and it worked perfectly. The bizzie will live another day.

Excellent!!!! Way to go gopher hunter MattyB!

I know what it is like to track down the elusive ones.

It can take some serious time!

[SoTropiCal Ben]

Just to clarify Ben, the Macabee style traps are different than the Cinch Brand traps. The Macabee traps are smaller and go both directions in the main tunnel, as you've mentioned. The Cinch Brand traps are simply set in the lateral tunnel.

Macabee pictured below

Did I say "Cinch". I meant to say, Macabee steel "Pinch" traps. Yup, those are the boys. They work great for me, but I may want to try the "Cinch" brand in the future just to try something new.

Edited November 19, 2011 by SoTropiCal Ben

[Palmə häl′ik]

luvit

[Tomw]

I got some Senoret Poison Peanuts Pellet – 6006 at the big box store and it has been working for me, it may be worth a try.

[MattyB]

I've been using poison for 4 years and have 0% success rate. I've applied it directly to the tunnels via spooning it in and I also use the probe tool that delivers it directly into the tunnels from above. I have battery powered vibrating things, poison, chile powder repellents, and traps. I use everything I can.

[Walter John]

I have battery powered vibrating things. I use everything I can.

[Stevetoad]

im getting a crazy idea... what if you buy a tank of co2. co2 is heavier than air so you pump in down the highest holes. the gas is odorless so the little bugger doesnt know whats happening. gas settles in the low points of the hole and he suffocates and dies. will this work or AM I NUTS???

[CardiffPalmNut]

Matty, I think it's time you and I split in for a rodenator.

Hey Hey - I 'm in for a 1/3 that action.

[MattyB]

I wished that they made a small, portable version. The whole trailer thing doesn't work on my slope.

[Peter]

This morning:

[CardiffPalmNut]

1322071353' post=499223]

I wished that they made a small, portable version. The whole trailer thing doesn't work on my slope.

Matty - we just add longer hose's to the R3 http://www.rodenator.com/rodenator-r3-wired-remote-pest-elimination-system

That way it could stay all the way up by the house/driveway where it's flat

[Eddie Spagetti]

Looks like I need to invest in some traps... Out for blood

Does this guy have any chance of a recovery? Those big holes make me think not...

The bummer is it had just become sun acclimated this year. I'd been considering root pruning and moving to another location, gopher beat me to it.

Ravenea Rivularis

'lil bastard ate some canna and ginger too

[MattyB]

awwwww crap Eddie! Was that a majesty palm? They love Ravenea's large, carrot like roots. I'd say that your palm is a gonner most likely.

As an update to my previous review of the "Cinch" brand traps, now that I've had even more time to use them, I'd like to upgrade my review one gopher tooth. I don't know how many gopher teeth there are on the scale, or how many gopher teeth I rated it at last time, but let's bump it up a notch. I'm really liking these traps, a lot. The fact the the trigger is a wire that is not easily detected, as opposed to a flat piece of sheet metal, I think is also another reason this trap works so well.

[BS Man about Palms]

Matty, where did you get those again? On-line?

[yachtingone]

I have been using the trap in post 56 for over a year now with great success! Nice kill Peter!

Randy

[Palmzilla]

I've caught about 5 so far last 6 months....

My dogs now hunt the squirrels over the gophers...they like the chase!

[MattyB]

Matty, where did you get those again? On-line?

http://cinchtraps.com/

I got one small gopher trap and one medium gopher trap. I prefer the small trap for most of my applications, but the medium sized trap is needed sometimes when the burrows are larger. You can see the specs for the open jaws dimensions on their website and order accordingly.

[Matt in SD]

I'll second MattyB's recommendation on the small rather than medium Cinch traps. I only have the medium so far and they are too big. I did get one "kill" with the Cinch trap, but I actually had to kill the gopher myself. I went to check the trap and could see the gopher near entrance to the tunnel, still alive. I jammed a stake into the ground just behind him so he couldn't get back in, then smashed his head with a brick. When i pulled the gopher out, one leg was loosely caught in the cinch trap. Maybe it would have been stuck well enough and died at some point (definitely not a quick kill), but it seemed like he would have gotten free in time. I think the jaws are too far back from the trigger on the medium trap to get the gopher in the body...and this was the biggest gopher I've seen so far.

Matt

[Hilo Jason]

I agree with MattyB and Matt. The small ones are the way to go. I ordered the medium by mistake in the past and had the same problem that Matt mentioned above. You can also order these through Amazon if that's easier for anyone since a lot of people already have Amazon accounts.

[trioderob]

sure am glad everyone loves these cinch traps I have been talking about for 2 years ..........

Edited January 9, 2012 by trioderob

[MattyB]

I've caught two gophers, without killing them, with the medium sized trap. One got caught only by one leg. He's all the way through except one leg when he hits the trigger and it goes off. It broke his leg but other than that he was fine. I felt bad and released him into another burrow across the canyon. He'll probably die since he's got a broken rear leg. The other one actually got caught by a thin piece of skin on his side only. He was not pierced, only pinched. He appeared to be perfectly fine, albiet with some minor brusing I'm sure. Again, I released him across the canyon into a burrow.

I like the larger sized jaws of the medium sized trap when you encounter a large diameter hole. This ensures that the jaws are tight against the walls of the tunnel, preventing the gopher from slipping by on the side. But as Matt pointed out, the trigger is too far away from the jaws. I think I'm going to attach a small piece of wire to the trigger, essentially moving the trigger forward about an inch.

[paulgila]

what? you are releasing gophers!?!?!?!?! i just lost all the respect for you i never had!

[MattyB]

But I mamed them first. That's hardcore!

[paulgila]

maiming is TOO good for them!

come on,yer wife is never gonna read this,be honest.

[Matt in SD]

I'm with Paul. Can't believe you let gophers go. Was your wife watching or something? I probably looked like a psycho-killer when I saw the gopher at the end of the tunnel. I grabbed the stake, blocked his exit and started bashing him with a brick all within the span of about 5 seconds...no hesitation. Of course I just wanted to minimize his suffering

Best gopher kill I've heard of is a friend that found a gopher actively pushing dirt out the tunnel. He went and got his speargun (he's a diver), waited till he saw dirt coming out the hole, then fired a couple inches up from the opening. Nailed it.

I guess I won't even tell you what I did to the skunk that kept spraying our dogs and refused to go into the live animal trap.

Mat

[trioderob]

there is a law that if you catch a gopher you can NOT

release it in another area

no joke.

dont worry Matty - you should be fine

[MattyB]

I did release them, but way across the canyon, one of them was across the street, so its not like they're coming back.

[LJG]

Maybe your kindless will not go unnoticed. Perhaps they call a truce on the war against your garden?

[MattyB]

just like radical islamists

[BS Man about Palms]

Matty, Matty..

I would have released it too...off an over pass?

Throw it like a softball? in front of your dogs? a cat? There were far more inventive ways to release one if you are too wimpy to take one out for "future or past crimes against your garden"...

Matt P., I shot one once thru the eye with a blowgun that shot needle like projectiles... then used a shovel..

[Matt in SD]

Nice Bill. Was it a homemade blowgun? Why would you have a blowgun?

Len, what about that gopher that you chopped in half with the shovel while your 3 year old daughter watched?

Matt

[paulgila]

in the great plains of ND they just sit on the truck & shoot em with .22s when they pop their lil heads up.

its like a sport,except 1 team has guns.

[LJG]

Len, what about that gopher that you chopped in half with the shovel while your 3 year old daughter watched?

Touche

[MattyB]

I got one with a pellet gun once. I pulled my truck into my carport and just happend to look over and see a gopher pop his little claw out with the middle finger extended. I ran and got my pellet gun with a pointed pellet all loaded up sat on a bucket, trained my sights on the burrow and waited. As soon as he popped is head up I shot and as a puff of dirt jumped up the gopher retreated back into the hole. Damn it I missed! I sat there for another 15 minutes but he did not present himself again. So I got my traps and started digging out the burrow to set traps and when I put my hand in the hole I felt a furry little thing! Eeeeeek! Scared the crap out of me! I had hit him, he retreated about 6" into the burrow and died. I got on my horse and rode off into the sunset. The end.