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    Home » Blog » Organic Gardening » Gardening Tips

    October 8, 2019 | By Jami

    The One Way to Get Rid of Gophers Consistently

    If you've seen the damage that one, or maybe two, pocket gophers can do to a lawn or pasture, imagine that multiplied by 30+ and you have an idea of what our 1+ acre lawn and pasture looked like after years of hosting a "gopher city." We spent months trying different methods for control and finally found the one that works the best to get rid of gophers and are happy to share it with you to save you some time and frustration.

    One way to get rid of gophers

    If you've been following along since we purchased and started working on our farmhouse fixer, then you also know about the war we've been battling with the many gophers in our large yard/pasture that surrounds the house. We've mentioned it many times on the podcast and even had a whole episode devoted to our struggle with gophers.

    But we just couldn't seem to find a trap or method that worked consistently. And the damage in our yard just increased to the point that it was almost impossible to walk on or mow. I mean, we could mow, but since there was almost more dirt than green, if it was wet the mower wheels caked with mud and if it was dry, the amount of dust it caused made the mower disappear and the rider covered in a thick layer.

    In other words, not fun.

    There's also the fact that we had just paid for a foundation and large infestations of gophers like we had can actually undermine the foundation with all the tunneling.

    Wait, how many are you talking about? Don't people usually only have one or two like that movie "Caddyshack?"

    Gopher hills in lawn

    From what we've read and heard, yes, most people have only one or two, yet the damage can look like much more. Shortly after we moved to the property, however, and noticed the amount of damage across the 1+ acre of lawn, we started hearing about the years and years of gophers the people who owned the house before encountered.

    We heard from a man who had grown up in the house that one summer as a kid he and his dad caught 40 gophers. 40 in one summer.

    Then we hired a local company to trap ours because we weren't having luck catching any on our own. Over the phone he said the same thing about how it might look like you have a lot, but it's probably only a few.

    Then he visited our property.

    And said, "I've never seen anything this bad." Yep, really.

    He then proceeded to trap 26 gophers before we had to stop him because of the cost. Yikes.

    The Ways to Get Rid of Gophers that DIDN'T Work

    gopher hills

    Months passed while we tried method after method and watched multiple You Tube videos. In the following year we got a total of only four gophers - and one of those was caught by a friend of ours, so may not even count, ha!

    Meanwhile the damage and dirt mounds intensified. And we were super discouraged not only by the fact that we weren't being successful but also at the amount of time it took which we could've been spending on our vegetable garden and remodel, as well as the cost.

    But then Brian saw one more product that he thought might work, bought it and gave it a try.

    The result?

    Fourteen caught in just a little over one month! We knocked down the mounds and they are starting to green up, making our yard look more like lawn again.

    We want to save you the money and time we spent trying to get rid of gophers, so Brian created not just one but two videos for you!

    The first video shows all the methods we tried that didn't work (so if you hear of something someone just swears by, you can be forewarned) as well as the one that finally worked:

    The One Way To Get Rid of Gophers Consistently

    The second shows exactly how to prepare, set, and use the trap that worked:

    We are finally breathing a sigh of relief that we have a way to control our well established gopher city. We know it will be a continual chore so they don't get so out of control again, but it's not discouraging anymore since we know what will actually work.

    If you've got gophers, we hope these videos will help you to gain control and minimize their damage. And if you've tried something else that we haven't and it has worked for you, let us know in the comments!

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    About Jami

    Since 2009 Jami Boys has been helping readers live a simple homemade life through whole food recipes, doable gardening, and easy DIY projects on An Oregon Cottage. From baking bread, to creating a floor from paper, to growing and preserving food, Jami shares the easiest ways to get things done. She's been featured in Cottages and Bungalows, Old House Journal, and First for Women magazines as well as numerous sites like Good Housekeeping, Huffington Post, and Apartment Therapy.

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    1. Victor Delano says

      February 15, 2023 at 8:00 pm

      You forgot one not so minor detail: What did you do with the gophers?.

      Reply
      • Jami says

        February 20, 2023 at 3:48 pm

        We bury them in the tunnels on the off chance it may ward off others gophers...

        Reply
    2. Shawna says

      February 06, 2023 at 12:47 am

      I cant kill anything. I wish there was a way for them to just move to another home lol.I guess I will have to build a green house for my garden. Im like you, we have an acre and there are SO MANYYYYYYYY. It’s just not worth the karma killing them IDK

      Reply
      • Jami says

        February 06, 2023 at 12:54 pm

        I get it - it's never easy and we get TIRED of it for sure. But when we've ignored them, they've multiplied so much that our pasture is unusable. It's a sad conundrum.

        Reply
    3. Lindsey Hewell says

      November 15, 2021 at 9:19 am

      Thank you thank you thank you!!! We have a gopher problem as well and have tried soooo many things and traps. I found your post and bought these traps, I used them yesterday for the first time and got 3 gophers that were tearing up our yard! I still have 2 more to get for now but what a relief to feel we are finally on the right path to getting our yard back! Thank you again!

      Reply
      • Jami says

        November 15, 2021 at 9:47 am

        Wow, so great to hear!! Brian is impressed - he's only gotten 2 in one day.:)

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Jami and I'm so glad you're here! My desire is to help you live a simple homemade life through delicious whole food recipes, easy organic gardening and preserving your harvest.

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