Re: gophers

Here is a suggestion once used for a client of mine - perhaps helpful where the site permits.

On a fairly level site that was routinely infested with gophers, a specific area was defined to become a fence vegetable garden that would be free from gophers. Just inside the installed fence, and just outside (8-12 inches away), galvanized hardware cloth (galvanized 'chicken wire' could also be used) was installed as a vertical underground fence, buried in a 18in trench. The two buried wire fences were in case there was a break in one, hopefully the second would still hold.

With all of the above construction, most of the gopher vacated the general area briefly. When all was complete, there seemed to still be a few inside the 'perimeter' of this new space. Whenever a new hole was discovered, a garden hose was inserted into and water turned on to slowly to flood the tunnels (possible where water is available and not expensive), moving to new holes they appear or as the old ones 'fill-up'. The gophers, apparently after trying repeated to block the remaining tunnels to avoid flooding, seemed to vacate the site over ground (one or two were spotted), slinking away outside the fenced area to the 'gopher-zone'.

Took some persistence, but future gopher 'attacks' within this protected area were far and few between, and easily dealt with in the same manner.

Those of us reading this thread from California can easily pick out that those with gopher problems generally live in area adjacent to wildland meadows, where these critters are often found (no gophers in my garden in town). Last week while walking around the Lafayette reservoir, I crossed a park lawn that was riddled with gopher holes! (dangerous to run play soccer on as it is easy to step in a hole and break your ankle!)

Regards,
Seán O.

h o r t u l u s a p t u s - 'a garden suited to its purpose'
Seán A. O'Hara fax (707) 667-1173 sean@support.net
710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.

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