But now the tide has changed. The rascals have started to eat all my flowers. They have even eaten the flowers on the deck in pots. My neighbors and I are exasperated with the devastation they have caused to the landscape. I know they have to eat, but why not just the crab grass or weeds.
I am now fed up with the gopher’s eating habits and decided to get out all the guns. I started with the old myths to keep out varmints. That’s what Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny use to call them. The old myths advocated putting moth balls around the garden or using fox urine.
I sprinkled a whole box of moth balls around the bushes, the foundation and under the garden shed. Now I can smell the odor as I come in the driveway 30 feet away. I bet no moths will come within ten feet of the house. After leaving the balls scattered around I saw the gophers actually sniffing them. That sure didn’t work and now I have a hazardous waste site with (naphthalene) scattered around. I guess I am going to have to pickup all those balls.
Next I tried fox urine. This was advocated as the crème de la crème of animal deterrents. It comes in a spray bottle and stinks to high heaven. I sprayed it everywhere around the house foundation and under the shed where the little varmints are living. It smells like a bar room in the in the city or a back street alley. Now I have stray alley cats frequenting the area.
My last thought was to get a Haveahart Trap. I looked online and found out that this works pretty good but you need to be careful not to catch other animals or to get bitten by one or sprayed by a wayward skunk. I looked at Home Depot and Aubuchon Hardware online and found the best price at Aubuchon. You can see the web link below…. http://lawn-and-garden.hardwarestore.com/79-504-animal-traps.aspx
I needed a larger size for the gopher and got the 32x10x12 inch one, ($54.95). It comes in a flat box and is supposed to quickly spring out into a box shape, but not for me. Is anything ever easy? I had to read the directions several times to see how it unfolded and how to set all the clips and wires so it was functional. In addition, I had to bend the latch slightly that holds open the trap door.
I loaded the trap with some fresh lettuce and cucumbers but no luck after one day. I then loaded it with a cut up apple and left it overnight on the side of the shed near the gopher den. The next morning there it was, my first critter. I told my wife and she said to release the poor critter and worried that the family of four were going to be separated from each other. I then released it for several reasons. One was to make the wife happy, next to see that I could open the cage without getting bitten and lastly to see if I would catch another one on a second try.
I was worried that the gopher would run back at me and up my leg when I opened the cage door. So I braced my self for the attack of “GODZILLA” and opened the trap door. To my delight, the gopher scurried off running quickly under the shed. A few minutes later I imagined hearing some animal snickering and the whole gopher family laughing. “I’ll get you varmints next time, said Elmer Fudd”.
The next morning I set the trap again with fresh apple pieces and I caught the mommy gopher. I covered the cage with a sheet to quite the animal and put it in the back of the SUV. I then drove to the town park which is next to the town forest and released the “cute” critter. As she scurried off into the woods, I thought I heard animal swearing but it was probably just my active imagination.
I set the cage again over several more nights and have caught the rest of the gopher family. They are now all living together in a larger woodland area with plenty of food to forage. I wish them well but don’t expect any post cards.
You can see some photos at the following web link ….. https://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/Gopher62411#
Comments are always welcome…. markryan82@comcast.net
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