How to Get Rid of Gophers and Moles from Your Yard
Removing moles and Gophers is a must, as they can seriously damage your property, especially the lawn, gardens, farm, and yards. These burrows rodents can survive underground for days and work like a tunneling network for living and hiding.
Check out below a few ways of getting rid of Moles and Gophers.
About Moles and Gophers
Gophers, also called pocket gophers, are a bit bigger than moles, weigh around 200 gms to 1 KG, and are 5-14 inches long. On the other hand, Moles are 6-8 inches long and weigh only 72-128 gms. The Gophers dig a tunnel of around 4-18 inches beneath the soil surface. A mole digs only a cone-shaped mound about 2 inches in diameter for living.
Why Do I Have Gophers In My Yard?
You might not find that answer so simply unless you work on it. However, there could be a few things attracting Gophers to your property. So, check below to see if you have any of them around.
Food Sources
Your house or lawn may be a good source of food for them. Gophers mostly like fresh pieces of vegetables, like alfalfa. Therefore, look at your garden or yard to see if you have any available celery, carrot sticks, apples, and even peanuts that might attract and prevent them from leaving.
Soil Composition
The soil settings play a vital role in attracting and sheltering these creatures. However, due to their lack of strength, hard and rocky soil compositions don’t suit them well. So, they prefer well-drained, porous, loamy soil for easy dwelling.
Shelter: These gophers mostly take shelter underground in the form of tunneling. Also, they can stay hidden for many days and only go out for food. So, look for their holes to find their shelter homes.
How to Identify Gopher Damage in Your Yard and Garden
The presence of fan-shaped mounds in your lawn and garden means you have Gophers. Also, they go for the fresh vegetables and fruits you are growing and will snack on them. So, if your food is getting chew marks on them or is decreasing, it means they are there.
How to Get Rid of Gophers and Moles
Cayenne Pepper Powder
You can sprinkle Cayenne Pepper Powder directly into their holes or use it as an insecticide. Mix the pepper into the water and spray directly into their holes.
Smelly Things
Gophers and moles have a high sense of smell. Therefore keeping anything highly smelly near their mound holes can make them leave after smelling it.
Cats and Dogs
Cats and dogs love to chase or troll these small creatures. Therefore, you can leave your dog or cat in the area where you feel their presence, and they might take care of them.
Noise
Loud sounds or shrieks can keep gophers and moles away as they hate sound pollution like most of us humans. Place a radio or natural noisemaker to see if it works.
Oils
There are a few oils that moles and gophers do not like interacting with and leaving in their presence. Castor oil, for instance, is said to be an effective repellent against these creatures.
Plants
There are a few plants like daffodils, Iris, Thymes, Geranium, Rosemary, Salvia, Oleander, etc. You can install them in your lawn or garden to repel these creatures.
Physical Traps
Physical traps are effective for getting rid of moles and gophers. They are affordable and are reusable for long-lasting periods. Just place them inside their holes away from children’s reach and leave the rest on them.
Poison
To poison them, either install plants that repel them; these many plants have poison stuck to their roots, which moles and gophers eat. Otherwise you may even spill the poison directly into their mound holes.
How to Deal With Gophers Humanely & Naturally
No-Kill Traps
Just put a small no-kill trap where you suspect they are residing and catch them alive to leave to some far unpopulated place. Keep using these traps from time to time to catch more of them.
Exclusion Fencing
Underground fencing can work to repel gophers and moles. Build a wall of ¾ inches of poultry mesh wire or hardware cloth two feet below with 6 inches of additional mesh and wire bent at 90 degrees below the surface around the plants, valuable trees, or material and equipment you may want to protect.
Repellents
Different repellents can also work to force moles and creatures to leave the area. You can use repellent plants, peppermint and fish oils, tobacco sauce, and coffee grounds near their tunnels to repel them from staying.
Just put a small no-kill trap where you suspect they are residing and catch them alive to leave to some far unpopulated place.
Castor Oil
Castor oil is most effective in getting rid of moles and Gophers. Mix some castor oil and ¾ of the oil into one soap part. Add this mixture into a gallon and use them on tunnels and holes for moles and gophers to leave forcefully.
Ultrasonic Repellents
You can use these repellents; sometimes ultrasonic repellents are not that effective against these creatures. They create high-frequency sound waves to irritate these pesky creatures, which might not be as fruitful as it may appeal.
Conclusion
No one likes to have Moles and Gophers in their yards, gardens, or lawn where their family or pets play. But getting rid of them may be challenging unless you track their movements for better strategy development. Then, once you know how they tread around, you can devise a strategy since getting rid of them is crucial for your family, yard, and the whole house’s sake.
Jennifer Mornard is the owner of a backyard farm in Calaveras County. She keeps her garden pest-free by using organic and inorganic methods and keeping it clean. She also tests pest control products to keep snakes, gophers, and other pests away.
Jennifer has worked and study reptiles around the globe including Africa, Asia, Australia and in the open prairies, grasslands deserts in USA. It is her mission to provide a solution for reptiles, manly snakes, and human beings to co-exist. Her goal is to educate people so they can prevent the unpleasant experience of snakes and humans crossing paths in people homes and properties.
No-kill traps are an effective way to capture gophers instead of killing them. These traps can mostly be effective in small areas where only a few gophers exist. You can use these no-kill traps gophers alive and leave them at some far place open field, never returning.
Oils and scents are very effective in naturally repelling gophers. Since they have a weak sense of sight, they must rely heavily on their smelling sense. Some odors are unpleasant for gophers, forcing them to leave their tunnels. So, spilling different oils will like make it can be beneficial in repelling gophers. These oils have a sharp smell, making it unappealing for gophers to stay in the same area for longer.
Like oils, few plants can work as a natural and safe repellent for gophers. Gophers usually make fresh fruits and vegetable roots like apples, lettuce, alfalfa, carrot sticks, and, most importantly, peanuts. If you have all these natural foods grown in your lawn or garden, they are more likely to attract gophers. They love to attack the tubers and roots of these fruits and vegetables, trees, or seeds and make them the main source of their food.
Gopher Spurge
