GOPHERS - Castor Oil Remedy?

[el-blanco]

I am not a man of foul language.  Today was the exception - GOPHERS!  I dropped a few bad words this morning as I am yet again dealing with gophers.  Misery loves company so share your stories and remedies!

I am posting to see if you have used home made remedies.  I read castor oil will repel gophers(?)  I use traps with success.  This morning I got one in a trap presumably.  I tied off a trap with wire to a tree BUT did not wrap it tight enough.  Trap is no where to be seen in the hole.

I can go years without seeing a gopher and next thing you know they are back.

Maybe ill get an angry pit bull that likes to dig.........

 

[Darold Petty]

I use the black box trap, it is easy to set, and is placed over the side tunnel where the gopher is depositing the soil.  This requires less digging that the old school Macabee traps which are designed to be used in the main tunnel.  Others favor the cinch trap design.   I have been told also, that gophers are highly averse to human scent, so I always use disposable gloves when handling the trap.

Good Luck !

[Peter]

Hey Jeffe,  it's been my experience that the only thing that works are traps.  I tried plenty of the home remedies and nothing worked, until I started using traps-that way you have a corpse as proof. 

[TheMadScientist]

I'm the guy that has to know, I GOT IT.  So digestive products aren't for me.  OLD SCHOOL TRAPS work well and it's been years since I've seen a gopher...BUT, kangaroo rats take over old abandoned holes....TRAPS work for these also.  When I've discovered a new challenge to kill and I'm potting up palms, my "break in half pellet rifle" sits near me.  The moment I see any dirt movement, I take my beach chair and prop the rifle on my shoe.....BOOM...NOW BACK TO PALMTALK.

 

[KDubU]

Our solution was our Greyhounds. Any that ventured into the 1/2 acre that was fenced was quickly taken care of. Not a fan as I prefer to let things be but they had the other 6 acres we had they could have fun with but no they had to come into the fence line.

[D. Morrowii]

I think I get voles? Ive never seen one but I get holes and lots of dead grass roots. I think they got to the roots on ond of my sylvesters too.
I had a really bad gopher problem when I lived in California and the best solution was to pipe in the exhaust from your car or from a generator and just run it into one of the holes and then cover up any hole you can tell it’s connected to it. Move to the next hole and continue like that. Worked wonders. 
 

I wanted to try this castor oil method on the voles though, sounds cheap and easy if it works

[Jimhardy]

I think the movie Caddyshack can be helpful here......

 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Something that may actually work, besides traps? ..Keep an eye out. Same company that developed a product that targets Rats is apparently working on a similar product for Gophers ..and Moles, < i think >  as well.

https://contrapeststore.com/

[JubaeaMan138]

35 minutes ago, D. Morrowii said:

I think I get voles? Ive never seen one but I get holes and lots of dead grass roots. I think they got to the roots on ond of my sylvesters too.
I had a really bad gopher problem when I lived in California and the best solution was to pipe in the exhaust from your car or from a generator and just run it into one of the holes and then cover up any hole you can tell it’s connected to it. Move to the next hole and continue like that. Worked wonders. 
 

I wanted to try this castor oil method on the voles though, sounds cheap and easy if it works

Not sure castor would Do anything . I have castor bean that pops up in masses in my garden and i still deal with them from time to time . I’ve heard garlic society planted in masses works . If you like the way garlic society looks. I’ve never been a fan . I did notice when we moved into this property there was zero sign of gophers but the planters were loaded with garlic society after I pulled them all Out I noticed the gophers arrived coincidence maybe . Also have a friend who has weimeraners and they are constantly making small gopher holes into

massive tunnels and holes in search of gophers and it ends up destroying plants . I always stick to the old traps they work excellent as long as you place them properly . Put up a couple owl nesting boxes . The owls Definetly help me keep gophers down . I find the owl pellets all Over the yard with gopher skulls 

[JubaeaMan138]

There is a trap I’ve been wanting to try called gopher hawk little pricey but atleast there isn’t any digging . 

[Jimhardy]

Throw some smoke bombs down there and wait (disguised as a tree)

near an exit hole, then play whack a mole.

[Johnny Palmseed]

2 hours ago, D. Morrowii said:

I think I get voles? Ive never seen one but I get holes and lots of dead grass roots. I think they got to the roots on ond of my sylvesters too.
I had a really bad gopher problem when I lived in California and the best solution was to pipe in the exhaust from your car or from a generator and just run it into one of the holes and then cover up any hole you can tell it’s connected to it. Move to the next hole and continue like that. Worked wonders. 
 

I wanted to try this castor oil method on the voles though, sounds cheap and easy if it works

They are moles. I will PM you. Castor oil repellent does little good and does not last.

[BigWaveDav3]

The best traps I have ever used are Cinch traps. The mole size works well for pocket gophers in California that have smaller holes. The nice thing about them is you can put the business end of them down the hole and the spring plate and trigger sensitivity adjustment stay above ground.  This avoids having to excavate any more than necessary to just open up the hole from the mound or plug. Once set, I cover mine with trash can lids with a rock on top to keep my dog's nose and paws safe.  I highly recommend trapping instead of poison or repellents since their effectiveness is immediately known when you check the trap vs worrying if a poisoned gopher got eaten by domestic or wild animals The gophers instinctively want to plug open tunnels, so when they start pushing dirt up the tunnel, they push the trigger plate, and get "cinched" by the 2 arms that go down the hole with curved ends.

[JubaeaMan138]

9 minutes ago, Billy said:

I'm pretty sure the best way to keep gophers away is to get a kill and put the dead gopher back down in the hole and bury him. That way his family members and friends know that they came to the wrong yard.

I also do this with the ones I catch haha

[el-blanco]

Lively post here!!!!  REDRUM, REDRUM!  I just placed a lot of traps in a lot of holes.  I live in a RESIDENTIAL neighborhood too!!!  Will advise once they start getting their little bodies snapped.

JW

Hi Pedro!!

[Peter]

I use the Black Box; the cinch traps dont seem to work that well in my sandy soil for whatever reason-could just be me.  But either trap can work-you just need to finesse your technique and find out which one works for you.  It can be frustrating at first until you get the technique down-once you do, both are very effective.  I've removed somewhere between 2-300 gophers from my small yard over the last 6-7 years

[TomJ]

12 hours ago, Peter said:

I use the Black Box; the cinch traps dont seem to work that well in my sandy soil for whatever reason-could just be me.  But either trap can work-you just need to finesse your technique and find out which one works for you.  It can be frustrating at first until you get the technique down-once you do, both are very effective.  I've removed somewhere between 2-300 gophers from my small yard over the last 6-7 years

Agreed.

I have used the same two traps 10 plus years now.

Haven't bought anything else since.

If I notice a fresh manifestation, The hose down the hole works well, but you have to do the deed with the shovel... not for the faint hearted. 

https://www.victorpest.com/victor-the-blackbox-gopher-trap-0625

[msporty]

I don't think any of the "natural remedies" work to repel gophers. I have gopher chaser (Euphorbia lathyris) everywhere and a few clumps of society garlic -- neither one seems to do much. Maybe you'd have to rip out all your palms/cycads and use these plants instead, but that defeats the purpose.

Trap-wise, I have and use both the black box and Macabee traps. Personally, I like the Macabbee because they are smaller and you can slide them deep down the hole.

 

My biggest success has been preventative, using PVC coated wire (https://www.amazon.com/YARDGARD-308258B-Height-24-Inches-Length-25/dp/B0030MIHBE/ref=sxin_14_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-cHZjIGNvYXRlZCBoYXJkd2FyZSBjbG90aCAxLzIgaW5jaA%3D%3D-ac_d_rm_rm_rm&cv_ct_cx=pvc+coated+wire+mesh&keywords=pvc+coated+wire+mesh&pd_rd_i=B0030MIHBE&pd_rd_r=a02e0fdb-0d9a-4ea1-949b-45412677b17f&pd_rd_w=g5mO3&pd_rd_wg=tf5sK&pf_rd_p=1dcacca2-86c1-44b6-b509-8cf93960a908&pf_rd_r=MK33D38A465DWHY3XM8X&psc=1&qid=1647010899&sprefix=pvc+coate%2Caps%2C132&sr=1-2-12d4272d-8adb-4121-8624-135149aa9081).

 

I have been planting my palms into wire baskets and I also trenched and lined part of my yard perimeter with it. I had one gopher this year and she entered through my unprotected boundary. She's dead, thanks to Macabee and peanut butter.

[msporty]

Photos of a basket and a palm planted in a basket. 
 

[Darold Petty]

This company has several products made with stainless steel, including pre-formed baskets up to 25 gallon, and 3x100' wire rolls to fabricate a basket of any size.*  Since I learned of this resource I use their products for all my plant installations.   If you need to fabricate a really large basket by joining pieces together small rolls of stainless wire are available at any well-stocked hardware store.

https://gopherslimited.com/  

* A friend in Fallbrook has lost two large Bismarkia palms to gophers,.. he believes that Bismarkia is particularly attractive to them.

[Ventura]

Ive played around with a lot of traps poisons and gas and none of it works half as well as a cinch trap.  They come in three sizes.  In California the small is good. 

 

 

[Darold Petty]

Ventura, Welcome to Palmtak !    

[tinman10101]

ive had luck with cinch traps and black box.  i did see this recently and heard good things about it. i like the design overall and simplicity.  hope someone can offer experience using this on the forum:

https://www.amazon.com/GopherHawk-Trapping-Wedge-Probe-GH-SET/dp/B00KXE6RKK?ref_=ast_sto_dp

 

i have more rabbit issues now but i am inclined to try this out when needed.