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Advance warning
For those that have suffered through my rants about gophers, I'm offering up a friendly word of warning for this spring.
The warm weather in Iowa this winter has the gophers working overtime on new tunnel construction - in my yard. I beat then back last spring, but they are coming back with a vengance. Worse than before.
This could get very ugly and could include explosives or other rapidly combustable items. I expect my rants will be bad this spring. Right now, my wife is very glad I still don't have that D4 Cat dozer I agreed to buy from her uncle. She knows I would be out there destroying the yard and gophers while kackling maniacally...
Just a friendly heads up that I may venting on this board soon.
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Advance warning
I am beginning to feel under privilege. No snow or gophers.
But now tourists are another matter. "yankees" are our pest here. Notherners are fine. If you don't know the difference, it is "attitude".
kt
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We each have our own cross to bare. Ours are armadillos. They tend to dig large holes everywhere. I caught one digging a 1.5 x 1.5 ft hole straight down about 2 ft one day in the front yard. I rolled the tractor tire over it, injected it with lead and filled in the hole. I told he kids it was nice that he dug his own grave.
That all said they are the less destructive than the neighbors pigs who break loose and sneak over at night and root up a whole patches of lawn. I have never had the shot gun handy when I caught them. Certainly better eating then the armadillos.
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Peters,
sure you could not BBQ them?
I can see your name up in lights.
Pete's BBQ Armadillo. Could be bigger than KFC if you got the right marketing people. Then you might be forced to raise them.
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Advance warning
Iowa,
I've had the same ongoing battle with the pocket gophers, with little success. I’ve been able to keep them out of my "good" lawn, but my acre of alfalfa field, garden, orchard and vineyard is another story. Persistent flooding of the new and existing tunnels, seems to keep them in check, but doesn’t even come close to eliminating them.
If you find something that works, let me know. I've tried about everything.
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Grophers are not something we have, but this may work.
I have heard of people running auto's exhaust into the ground for rat tunnels and the carbon monoxide killing the rats. I suspect even a lawnmower engine would be sufficient.
I don't know if you can find it there or if license is needed but they make a gas to kill weed seeds in seed beds for tobacco plants. It use to be buyable in same cans underpressure that you could run a small rubber tube into rat tunnels that also killed them. That gas is not something you want to breath either. Have never heard of anyone being killed by it but being made sick different story.
Warning, if you do either of these or similiar, be sure to cover all openings. I guess gophers will but I know rats will run faster out than you can jump if you don't and they will not be killed. They will run up your leg or over you if not careful.
kt
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Advance warning
KT - I parked my old Oliver 4 cyliner diesel tractor by a hole two summers ago and piped the exhaust directly into the tunnel. I ran the tractor at decent RPM for over an hour. By the next morning, my digging to the tunnel had been repaired by the resident evil gopher.
The only thing that has really worked for me has been poisoned food. But that's hard work and is hit or miss. But it does work. Unfortunately, it leaves the tunnel system intact. The new crop of offspring just oves back in to the vacated tunnels and expand.
I'll keep everyone informed of what I do. aybe even some video footage...
The armadillos sound worse for holes, but at least you can see them to kill them. These gophers work at night. You wake up to new mounds of dirt in your yard. If they worked in the daylight, I'd be picking them off with a rifle.
I have something in mind that would kill goper and collapse the tunnel. We'll see what happens when spring arrives and how mad I am...
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I was looking at the sonic chasers on the Delta Air line catalog (Long trip to Silicon Valley this week). They are solar powered and hammer down into the tunnels. They are probably more wild technology than practical solution.
The Armadillo also work at night. The holes are big enough to break a horse's or cow's legs.
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Iowa,
I started to put in my post this but I have been told diesel fumes will only make such sick, not kill. Have no idea on that. Surely there are there who know if this is true or not. Not sure if they still do but unwanted dogs and cats were put to sleep (killed) with gas pickup fumes by our county.
Something that will kill tunnelling animals but...are the right kind of snakes.
Wish you well.
kt
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Now Ken is getting creative. I was thinking you should take up falconing. You could take a regal pose in the yard, falcon in hand and impress the neighbors.
The red neck way would be the black footed ferret on a leash. Naturally the neighbors would all be snickering, at least until the ferret dispatches all the rodents. I believe the sent of the ferret delays them re-inhabiting the burrows also.
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Gas Generator Weather Protecti
01-05-2006, 09:32 
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