Gophers
Geezer, Sat Mar 19 2011, 08:49AM

Since I am seriously trying to get the gophers, I thought I would start a new thread, aside from the squirrel thread. Here is what I have tried so far:
1. Metal traps. I had a little success with these early on, but now the little devils seem too smart for them.

2. Cat poo down the hole

3. Smoke bombs

4. Plants called gopher Purge

5. Castor oil spray that is supposed to chase them out of the yard

6. Stakes that go into the ground and emit a high frequency sound

If you have another suggestion, I would love to hear it!

By the way, Bookie has seen me in my Caddy Shack mode!

Re: Gophers
Bookworm, Sat Mar 19 2011, 08:56AM

That outfit alone should have done it!

Re: Gophers
Mountainlover, Sat Mar 19 2011, 09:25AM

I will be watching this thread with great interest! These little buggers are driving us crazy!!! We've tried the hose down the hole then had second thoughts seeing stories of sink holes lately haha. We've tried the flare-like things but those seem to be just pushed out.... Haven't tried the metal traps yet kind of spooked about those... But getting closer to trying those. The only option we can think of is . But I think the Big Bear Sheriff might get grumpy. Looking forward to hearing more suggestions.

Re: Gophers
OldJoe, Sat Mar 19 2011, 09:42AM

I had success in Missouri with Molepro
[Click Here]

I didn't bring the traps with me.

I had more success in early spring early in the day when they are most active, you might say "careless" in their burrowing. I made a game out of it over about 1/3 acre of my lawn. I nailed three of them in 2009. But it took countless setting of the traps. I found it is all in how you set the traps. They had a long established deep tunnel system so could come in from my pasture.

Here's a UC Davis link on moles, gophers, trapping, etc.

[Click Here]

Re: Gophers
Geezer, Sat Mar 19 2011, 09:42AM

I have only seen the hose trick work one time, but it was not in my yard. It takes a tremendous amount of water $$$$$!

Re: Gophers
Codger, Sat Mar 19 2011, 09:46AM

Maybe this would work.

[Click Here]

Re: Gophers
Geezer, Sat Mar 19 2011, 10:05AM

Codger wrote ...

Maybe this would work.

[Click Here]


Dang, I can';t get it to load!

Re: Gophers
Delj, Sat Mar 19 2011, 10:14AM

Years ago, down in Quartz Hill, we had horses AND ground varmits. We were able to use Gopher Snakes/King Snakes as a control...quite effective. The occasional rattler would appear but as more horses were affected by a leg in a varmit hole than snakebite, we didn't get too concerned. Of course, there was the local idiot who stuck his hand down a hole to see if there was a snake!

Re: Gophers
Geezer, Sat Mar 19 2011, 10:52AM

I would LOVE to have some snakes to control them, sadly all I have spotted in my yard is a garter snake, and they do not eat gophers. I spoke with a reptile specialist once who told me the reason they call them "Gopher" snakes is because they live in gopher holes, not because they eat gophers!

Re: Gophers
Socalman, Sat Mar 19 2011, 11:19AM

I had luck with the vibrating things that operate on 2 D batteries.

Re: Gophers
skypros, Sat Mar 19 2011, 11:29AM

Go get some auto flares...... Ignite, put down hole then cover with dirt.

Re: Gophers
Benny ⭐, Sat Mar 19 2011, 12:14PM

skypros wrote ...

Go get some auto flares...... Ignite, put down hole then cover with dirt.


That's how the gopher bombs work, except with poisenous gas, I gave her a few and it sounds like they didn't work... Might I suggest the Rodenator?



Re: Gophers
Geezer, Sat Mar 19 2011, 01:36PM

I have visions of the gophers smoking the gopher bombs like cigars while they are playing poker in their den and munching on my plants! The Rodenator looks like fun...wonder what our whacky neighbors would do if they saw dirt flying up in their yard! Most of the gophers come from there place.

Re: Gophers
dd, Sat Mar 19 2011, 02:07PM

If you can kill one, stick it back in the hole. They don't like the smell of death and will visit your neighbor's yard. The trick is killing the first one.

Re: Gophers
Rain, Sat Mar 19 2011, 02:41PM

what about the wrliy birds that suppose to bring vibration down into the hold, i heard gofers dont like that.. but unknown if that is true..

Re: Gophers
ROCK, Sat Mar 19 2011, 03:11PM

1 big ass bomb have euro eat a bunch of fisheads and ...... get the picture

Re: Gophers
Geezer, Sat Mar 19 2011, 03:55PM

dd, I would have to kill a whole lot of gophers to fill all the holes with dead gophers...I can't seem to nail a one of them any more! When I was able to get them with the traps, I used to hang them up on the fence to show off for the neighbors!
Rain, I have tried the whirley things...they jusst don't bother them at all!

Re: Gophers
Sunni (KK6UDF), Sat Mar 19 2011, 04:25PM

Go to the $ store and get three or four bottles of the hottest hot sauce you can find. Mix half with water and pour down every hole you can find. I got rid of ours, but I felt so bad, because some of must have gotten on some sunflower seeds and when we had our grey squirrels (which we don't have any any more) one got a bite of it and went high-tailin' it to the water pan with a very "I am not amused " look on his face

Re: Gophers
Lumber Jill, Sat Mar 19 2011, 04:27PM

Actually, hot sauce (cayenne pepper) is used in bird food to keep squirrels and other critters our of it. Birds don't have receptors for capscasin (the hot chemical) like other animals do.

Re: Gophers
Geezer, Sat Mar 19 2011, 04:50PM

Well, that's one thing I haven't tried...I will give it a shot! The castor oil stuff certainly didn't work on em!

Re: Gophers
L18Flyboy, Sat Mar 19 2011, 08:12PM

Socalman wrote ...

I had luck with the vibrating things that operate on 2 D batteries.


You must have had male gophers which were scared off. But I expect those
toys may attract the female gophers!

Re: Gophers
Geezer, Sat Mar 19 2011, 08:24PM

L18Flyboy wrote ...

Socalman wrote ...

I had luck with the vibrating things that operate on 2 D batteries.


You must have had male gophers which were scared off. But I expect those
toys may attract the female gophers!


Well, D cells are pretty appealing!

Re: Gophers
Mtngoat John⭐, Sat Mar 19 2011, 08:26PM

L18Flyboy wrote ...

Socalman wrote ...

I had luck with the vibrating things that operate on 2 D batteries.


You must have had male gophers which were scared off. But I expect those
toys may attract the female gophers!

Man am I glad you said it, I had one, but I would have been banned.

Re: Gophers
Cam, Sat Mar 19 2011, 11:02PM

MOTH BALLS ??????

Re: Gophers
cricket, Sun Mar 20 2011, 12:13AM

at Butchers Block they sell gopher poison. it is poison grain. you tape a plastic spoon on the end of a stick so you get more reach...angle that into the hole with a spoon full of poison grain...dump it in and back the spoon out...the poison goes in deep enough so the birds do not get it. they eat it and meet peter at the pearly gates.

Re: Gophers
Socalman, Sun Mar 20 2011, 07:27AM

Mtn.goat John wrote ...

L18Flyboy wrote ...

Socalman wrote ...

I had luck with the vibrating things that operate on 2 D batteries.


You must have had male gophers which were scared off. But I expect those
toys may attract the female gophers!

Man am I glad you said it, I had one, but I would have been banned.

I guess I really should have proof read this post!

Re: Gophers
BootsNBridles, Sun Mar 20 2011, 08:05AM

Be careful with poison. Gophers don't always die in their holes and they are a food source. If they crawl to the surface and are eaten other animals will die. Sadly our neighbor proved this to the entire neighborhood...

Re: Gophers
Geezer, Sun Mar 20 2011, 08:11AM

BootsNBridles wrote ...

Be careful with poison. Gophers don't always die in their holes and they are a food source. If they crawl to the surface and are eaten other animals will die. Sadly our neighbor proved this to the entire neighborhood...


I am trying to use other methods Boots, just not having much luck

Re: Gophers
dd, Sun Mar 20 2011, 09:44AM

cricket wrote ...

at Butchers Block they sell gopher poison. it is poison grain. you tape a plastic spoon on the end of a stick so you get more reach...angle that into the hole with a spoon full of poison grain...dump it in and back the spoon out...the poison goes in deep enough so the birds do not get it. they eat it and meet peter at the pearly gates.

Please no poison. Your neighbor's dogs and cats along with the wildlife will get poisoned also.

Re: Gophers
dd, Sun Mar 20 2011, 09:45AM

L18Flyboy wrote ...

Socalman wrote ...

I had luck with the vibrating things that operate on 2 D batteries.


You must have had male gophers which were scared off. But I expect those
toys may attract the female gophers!



Re: Gophers
BootsNBridles, Sun Mar 20 2011, 10:22AM

Geezer wrote ...

I am trying to use other methods Boots, just not having much luck


OH, I am sooo with you! We have the worst trouble with ground squirrels. I think we've finally given up getting rid of them and now anything that goes in the ground gets a wire cage around the root system, all the young trees have wire cages around the base, and we're building a raised bed garden - with wire screening underneath. When we're ready to final our front yard we'll dig down along the perimeter and put wire mesh there too. Thankfully they stay out of the horses pasture. But the little boogers just drilled up into the hay room so now I have to figure out a deterrent there too!

If we can't get rid of them we'll just make it harder for them to destroy what's important to us!

Re: Gophers
cricket, Sun Mar 20 2011, 10:37AM

BootsNBridles wrote ...

Be careful with poison. Gophers don't always die in their holes and they are a food source. If they crawl to the surface and are eaten other animals will die. Sadly our neighbor proved this to the entire neighborhood...

That is why you needd to get it deep in the hole...this is the only thing that works

Re: Gophers
L18Flyboy, Sun Mar 20 2011, 10:59AM

cricket wrote ...

That is why you needd to get it deep in the hole...this is the only thing that works


Oh... Never mind. I'll only get myself in trouble...

Re: Gophers
bc, Sun Mar 20 2011, 02:09PM

Are they "Gophers", or the big ground squirrels?

Re: Gophers
Geezer, Sun Mar 20 2011, 02:18PM

Big gophers!

Re: Gophers
bc, Sun Mar 20 2011, 02:29PM

Unlike ground squirrels, Gophers are loaners; to the point if they meet outside their holes, it's a fight to the death. Hence, one hole = one gopher.

Never had them up there (ground squirrels yes).

Down here we had a huge invasion. Western Exterminators are the best for small critters. One "treatment" by them, and Gopher problem gone for good. They get to use stuff that normal people can't get. Takes a skilled "technician" to do it right.

Re: Gophers
Geezer, Sun Mar 20 2011, 03:05PM

Yea, I have thought of that..$$ is an issue. Also, there is an empty lot on one side of my yard that they come from, as well as my nasty neighbor's yard that they do not keep up

Re: Gophers
JohnnyT (K7JNT), Sun Mar 20 2011, 10:06PM

I grew up on a farm in Ventura County and gophers were a constant scourge. My dad showed me how to set up a "black box" trap. These traps are super effective, I'd say I had at least a 90% catch rate when I learned the right way to set them up. The latest renditions of these traps can be found on Amazon...

[Click Here]
[Click Here]

They do require a bit of digging to expose a gopher run, but you can be careful and save the sod if you're doing it on a lawn. The key to the success is proper placement. Find and dig up a run. Get two traps and place each of them with the entrance firmly into the run. It's critical that you cover up with packed dirt any opening or light at the box entrance where meets the run. It needs to be a good seal. That's because air drafts or light will cause the gophers to investigate and simply cover up the run before they enter the box and spring the trap. If you can't find a gopher run, just carefully dig up a gopher mound with a spade shovel until you expose the horizontal run leading to it. Then place a single black box trap there. These traps have a small hole on the opposite end of the box from the entrance. This hole should be left uncovered with dirt. The air draft and light will cause the gopher to come into the trap to investigate and spring the trap.

I've probably caught a couple hundred of the buggers with these traps and swear by them. Best of all, no poison, gas or explosives.


Re: Gophers
Jellylorum, Sun Mar 20 2011, 10:20PM

The Black Box is great. I've actually caught up to three gophers in a single hole by resetting the trap in the same hole. Not too much digging - a sturdy trowel will work.

Neat, clean, easy to empty. Pull the trap out of the hole, push down the trigger, shake the trap a little, and most gophers slide right out and into the trash can.

Re: Gophers
Geezer, Mon Mar 21 2011, 08:24AM

I actually have a Black Box trap...never caught a thing with it, a;though I know many people swear by them. I have caught gophers in the past with the McAffee type traps, but it seems the little buggers have gotten to smart for those.

Re: Gophers
MountaingoATT, Mon Mar 21 2011, 08:24AM

I say ya shoot at em, that's how the Beverly Hillbillies got so rich.

Re: Gophers
JohnnyT (K7JNT), Mon Mar 21 2011, 09:45AM

Geezer wrote ...

I actually have a Black Box trap...never caught a thing with it

If you make a complete seal around the entrance by packing dirt around it, it works great. If there is any light or air seeping in, including the holes where trap bar passes through the top of the box, the gopher will be spooked and not enter the trap. The only hole that should be exposed is the one at the far end of the trap. That will lure the bugger in. One last thing, it's also important to use gloves to set the trap, since your scent will make them wary.

My fastest catch with these black box traps was literally 2 minutes. It wasn't uncommon to catch one in an hour or less.


Re: Gophers
heyjude, Mon Mar 21 2011, 10:07AM

I read a lot of gardening magazines and the method people say is most successful is using Juicy Fruit gum, onlu JF works). Take a stick out of the foil wrapper, give it a few twists and put it down the hole. I've heard many good reports on this, crazy as is sounds, so it is sure worth a try. Don't chew it first, buy yourself another pack. lol!

Re: Gophers
dd, Tue Mar 22 2011, 12:21PM

heyjude wrote ...

I read a lot of gardening magazines and the method people say is most successful is using Juicy Fruit gum, onlu JF works). Take a stick out of the foil wrapper, give it a few twists and put it down the hole. I've heard many good reports on this, crazy as is sounds, so it is sure worth a try. Don't chew it first, buy yourself another pack. lol!

It sounded like a good idea. Tried it. I don't think BB gophers like chewing gum. The neighbors do though.

Re: Gophers
BootsNBridles, Tue Mar 22 2011, 07:46PM

Lots of info here:
[Click Here]

Re: Gophers
Cam, Wed Mar 23 2011, 08:52AM

ive got a big ol mole in the yard any suggestions im thinking pellet gun on the deck.

Re: Gophers
Mtngoat John⭐, Wed Mar 23 2011, 12:58PM

Cam-n-Tina wrote ...

ive got a big ol mole in the yard any suggestions im thinking pellet gun on the deck.

I’d contact a dermatologist.

Re: Gophers
Bookworm, Wed Mar 23 2011, 03:03PM



Re: Gophers
bc, Wed Mar 23 2011, 05:50PM

I agree on the box traps. Done correctly, they're darn near 100% successful. Trick is tiny little pinhole for light. Not that I care, but death is not necessarily swift. Just don't want any complaints about "You didn't tell me it would be gruesome!" Hey, they're vermin.

Re: Gophers
Benny ⭐, Wed Mar 23 2011, 06:24PM

Mtn.goat John wrote ...

Cam-n-Tina wrote ...

ive got a big ol mole in the yard any suggestions im thinking pellet gun on the deck.

I’d contact a dermatologist.


AHAHAHHAHAHA

Re: Gophers
Revvirginia, Thu Feb 11 2016, 09:43PM

My cat has started catching them! Maybe I could rent her out lol. Have you tried ferret poo? They live in Prarie dog towns and live on prarie dogs in the wild, so that.might work! I can get some if you can't find some....

Re: Gophers
Skier, Sat Mar 12 2016, 09:17AM






Re: Gophers
cricket, Sat Mar 12 2016, 10:46AM

I hate them...so destructive.

Re: Gophers
Mtngoat John⭐, Sat Mar 12 2016, 02:03PM

Me too! This one stole my Cheez its at MDO SP.




Re: Gophers
Arrowbearmoma, Sun Mar 20 2016, 11:47PM

I have been fortunate to have pretty good luck with the metal traps. Little tricks my grandpa and dad taught me. 1st rub your hands in the dirt to get the "human scent" masked. Find a fresh mound of dirt and dig down a bit and root around the sides till you find the tunnel, dig the tunnel out a bit in order to place the trap. Rub the trap in the dirt or grass to also mask the scent and place a little grass over the trap before you put it in the tunnel. I also don't cover up the hole completely..just some big clumps or rocks to keep most of the light out. That seems to attract them to come back and cover everything back up..Leave your trap alone for a few days then check it. I attached a chain/cord to mine along with a steak for marking where I placed them. It also makes it easier to pull out of the hole. I and usually catch 4-5 during the season. Even caught an albino gopher one year. It had red eyes. My Dad said in all of his years he never saw an albino one. Best of luck to you!

Re: Gophers
Around The Lake, Mon Mar 21 2016, 03:58PM

WD40 is the trick. spray the trap then place it as always

Re: Gophers
Hooky Bobber, Tue May 28 2019, 08:58AM

Poisoning up the food chain

The second-generation anticoagulants can also bioaccumulate in an ecosystem in various ways, says Maureen Murray, clinical assistant professor of wildlife medicine at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. “Imagine a squirrel eats some, but not enough to die,” she says. “That squirrel gets eaten by a predator. This happens again and again. These smaller amounts of rodenticide can add up in the predator, accumulating in the individual until it has a lethal dose.”

Or, Murray says, “There’s a bait placed somewhere, and some invertebrates eat it. Then songbirds come along and eat the insects. Then a Cooper’s Hawk comes along and eats the songbird. These are compounds that can move through different steps in the food chain.”
Red-tailed Hawks in NYC. Photo by Lincoln Karim
Red-tailed Hawk Lima (at left) perches with Pale Male in New York City. Photo by Lincoln Karim.

But pinning down a rodenticide as the cause of death for hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls is challenging. “It’s tough to say for sure [how many birds are affected],” says Allen Fish, director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory in California. “Diagnosis is expensive, $100 to $200 per bird. A lot of wildlife rehabilitation organizations can’t afford that kind of expense.”

The high mobility of raptors further complicates attempts to pinpoint cause and effect. Second-generation rodenticides used for prairie dog control on the Great Plains, for example, may end up in the liver tissues of hawks or eagles that travel long distances. As Fry points out, “If these birds are feeding on poisoned prairie dogs, it’s a foregone conclusion that they will die. But it takes 5 to 10 days. They could be hundreds of miles away by then, if they’re on migration.”

To try to assess the prevalence of rodenticide toxicosis in raptors, veterinarian Murray published a study examining Massachusetts Red-tailed Hawks, Barred Owls, Eastern Screech-Owls, and Great Horned Owls that had been admitted to the Tufts Wildlife Clinic between 2006 and 2010. Of 161 birds, 139—a whopping 86 percent—tested positive for anticoagulant rodenticides. Ninety-nine percent of those had brodifacoum in their liver tissues. Yet only nine of these birds displayed sufficient symptoms to lead to a clinical diagnosis of anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning. “The birds that we get in that are clinically showing signs are a very small percentage of the number that are actually affected,” explains Murray. “For us to get a bird, someone has to find it, pick it up, and bring it in. With these rodenticides, it takes a few days for the bird to die—for them to lose so much blood that they can’t fly off.

“But before that, the bird starts feeling unwell. It may hunker down in its roost and not move. It’s possible that a lot of these birds are dying unnoticed.”
Lima was killed by rat poison. Photo by Lincoln Karim.
High-Profile Hawk Poisonings

In 2012, a cluster of Red-tailed Hawk poisonings in Manhattan raised public awareness of the impacts of rodenticide on raptors. One of the casualties was a hawk named Lima (above), the mate of Pale Male—the famous penthousenesting red-tail of New York’s Central Park. (The two are perched together at left.) A necropsy revealed three anticoagulants in Lima’s liver: bromadiolone, brodifacoum, and difethialone.

The Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine assisted the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation with these investigations and continues to do so through a consultation and surveillance partnership for free-ranging wildlife. Since 2011, the Cornell vet school has confirmed 39 cases of rodenticide deaths in birds—mostly Red-tailed Hawks with several Cooper’s Hawks, a Redshouldered Hawk, a Great Horned Owl, a Snowy Owl, and a Dark-eyed Junco. The Cornell vet school has also worked with NYC Audubon and New York University on reducing rodenticide use on campus, and consulted with the Environmental Protection Agency on their efforts to issue regulations to companies that manufacture rodenticides.

Last year, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology joined with NYC Audubon, the American Bird Conservancy, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, and Raptors Are The Solution to file a petition in the state of New York to ban the use of all second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides. The petition was denied by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

Indeed, it may well be that the proximate cause of death of a poisoned raptor is something other than the poison. Imagine a sick hawk that is slow to get out of the way of an oncoming car. Or take the case that Lisa Owens Viani describes of a hatch-year Cooper’s Hawk “killed by a kitten” in her neighborhood in August 2013. Suspecting that there was no way a young cat should have been able to take down even a recently fledged hawk, Owens Viani packed the bird’s body on ice and sent it to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for examination by a wildlife pathologist. She says the report came back saying that the cause of death was a puncture wound to the breast, but that brodifacoum and bromodialone were both found in the hawk’s liver tissue. Would the cat have been able to kill this bird if it hadn’t been exposed to anticoagulants? There is no way to know.

A knowledge gap, says Allen Fish, is precisely the trouble. “There’s no clear public record of where we’re putting pesticides, who’s using them, how much is being used. Until we demand that information, we’re flying blind. There needs to be a whole public reckoning of who uses what, and why. We need to track how operators are using [pesticides] and then see if there’s any correlation with animal kills. We don’t know these impacts. We don’t have any data.”

Cynthia Palmer, director of pesticides science and regulation at the American Bird Conservancy, agrees: “I fear that there won’t be enough information to accurately assess the impacts since [the EPA doesn’t] have information on sales at the retail or wholesale levels, and their incident reporting system is quite weak and in desperate need of reform. The reporting thresholds are absurdly high for dead wildlife, 5 raptors, 50 songbirds, or 200 ‘flocking’ birds. Four dead hawks…does not meet the reporting requirement.”
A “Simple” Solution with Tragic Consequences

Rodent baits containing brodifacoum or similar compounds have been marketed to squeamish consumers as a “simple, mess-free solution.” “You don’t have to come in contact with mice to eliminate them from your home,” reads the advertising copy for one product, “because mice take the bait and then leave to die, all you have to do is set the bait and let [it] do the rest.”

Poison baits containing second-generation anticoagulants sound like the perfect solution to those hair-raising skritching noises in the walls at night. “You have a rat problem. You want to kill the rat, but you don’t want it to die in your house. So it was brilliant logic for these companies to develop a poison that causes the rats to get really thirsty and follow their instinct to go outside to get water,” says Fish. “The problem is, there’s an owl out there. It’s hungry. It’s looking around, scanning for prey, and it sees this rat staggering around. Of course it’s going to eat it.”

Infestations of rats and mice have plagued human settlements for millennia, but our efforts at rodent control haven’t always had the far-reaching impacts on wildlife that we see today. Historically, people with rat problems set out baits laced with substances such as arsenic or strychnine. These poisons are very good at killing rats—too good, in fact. Because they are acutely toxic and act fast, a rat that feeds on arsenic-tainted bait will keel over on the spot. The corpse warns off other rats, and the rodent problem remains a problem.

The solution lay in a slower-acting rat poison. In the 1940s, warfarin became a widely used anticoagulant rodenticide that made it much easier to kill pesky rats. Because of the delay between consumption of a lethal dose and death, the rat could feed on poisoned bait and then scurry about its business, dying of internal bleeding somewhere else a few days later. Without a telltale carcass alongside the bait, other rats did not sense any danger and fed freely on the poison.
Barn owl with rat. Photo by Gary Kramer.

Warfarin and the other early anticoagulants have waned in popularity over the decades, though, because the effects of warfarin are chronic, meaning a rodent must feed on poisoned bait several times over the course of about a week. A single dose is usually not enough to kill. Plus, rats and mice can develop resistance to warfarin if the compound is used in one place over a long period.

The second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides solved these problems by acting like a beefed-up, re-engineered warfarin. A single feeding on brodifacoum bait is often enough to kill a rat, but the dying process still takes days. During this time, the doomed, disoriented, and desperate rat makes an easy meal for a hawk.

If the hawk ingests enough poison, it too faces a grisly death. Its internal organs become puddled with blood that just won’t clot. It bleeds out of its mouth. Some hawks, says Fish, have drowned in backyard swimming pools as they try to satisfy their unquenchable thirst.

Raptors will continue to die from second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides despite the EPA’s new controls. Even after online retailers and corner hardware stores have sold the last bait from their existing stock, the second-generation rodenticides will still be sold in bulk at agricultural supply stores.

The EPA’s 2008 decision to restrict consumer access allowed manufacturers three years to comply with new regulations that would “minimize children’s exposure to rodenticide products used in homes” and “reduce wildlife exposures and ecological risks.” To accomplish these goals, the EPA set out two categories of new restrictions. First, the agency required that rodenticides be sold only in a block or paste inside an approved bait station. Making it harder to scatter lethal bait pellets across the basement floor should cut down on accidental poisonings of children and dogs, but may do little to affect indirect transmission of rodenticides to wildlife. That’s where the EPA’s second restriction comes in, the requirement that “general consumers” be limited from directly purchasing second-generation anticoagulants.
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“It’s really good news how it’s turned out, in that at least we’ve gotten the second-generation rodenticides out of the Walmarts and K-Marts where so many people go,” says American Bird Conservancy’s Palmer. “That was a victory for eagles, owls, hawks, and other wildlife, and obviously children and pets as well. But there’s a ways to go. We want to close the loopholes that still exist.”

One of the largest loopholes is the agricultural exemption. In 2007, the EPA proposed restricting the agricultural use of secondgeneration anticoagulants. But the agency’s 2008 Risk Mitigation Decision states that their proposal was met by an outcry from “poultry and livestock producer groups indicating that the proposed requirement would [constitute] a significant burden.” Based on those comments, the EPA concluded that “the benefits of the use of second-generation anticoagulants by poultry and livestock producers outweigh the risks.”

“Even if there are cases where some contained use of rat poison may be justified,” says Fish, “it surely isn’t as many cases as where the stuff is used now.” Until more data are available on where rodenticides are used and how many wild animals are affected, there is no way to know what constitutes a justifiable use.

For that reason, says Palmer, ABC would like to see the whole reporting system revamped. “It’s so rare to find animal kills that even a single death can be the canary in the coal mine. If more deaths were investigated, they could give tremendously useful information about the impact on wildlife and people. And then make this information public so that we can actually use the data to make changes for the better.”
Pest Control Options Save Lives

After finding several raptor carcasses in her Berkeley neighborhood, Lisa Owens Viani turned activist. Appalled at the slow pace of the regulatory process, she decided to see if grassroots action would yield better results. In 2011 she co-founded a coalition called Raptors Are The Solution (RATS) that seeks to educate the public about the ecological dangers of rat poisons. From the start, the organization’s key message was that birds of prey are a fantastic, all-natural form of rodent control. “Lots of people have an appreciation for and an interest in birds of prey,” Owens Viani remarks.

At about the same time, the city of San Francisco was working on the rodenticide issue in response to wildlife poisonings in Golden Gate Park. While waiting for the implementation of the EPA’s 2008 ruling, the city sent out letters to businesses requesting that they stop selling second-generation anticoagulants. Although this was simply a voluntary measure, “they’ve had some really good compliance,” says Owens Viani. In fairly short order, “about thirty businesses…responded saying they’ve taken the stuff off their shelves.”

Following San Francisco’s lead, RATS soon succeeded in getting the city councils of nearby Berkeley, Albany, and Richmond to pass resolutions along the same lines. By spring 2015, 22 cities in California had taken similar steps.

To commend businesses that stop selling and organizations that stop using rat poisons, RATS started the Owl Wise Leaders award program. Recipients of the 35 OWL awards so far include stores, restaurants, Marin County, the San Francisco Recreation and Parks’ Natural Areas Program, and Pepperdine University.

As for the environmentally conscious homeowner with a rodent problem, Palmer points out that “there are many effective, economical, and easy-to-use pest control options that are much better for human health and for wildlife.” (ABC offers a list at saferodentcontrol.org.)

According to Fish, snap traps offer a more humane way to kill rats than a drawn-out and painful death by poison: “Snap-traps are fast and efficient, and have the wonderful added benefit that no raptor is going to come along and eat the rat and get killed.

“But if you could create the perfect rodent trap for your suburban backyard, it’d look like a hawk.”


Re: Gophers
holeinbow, Fri Jul 31 2020, 07:23PM

Used to have a problem with them even though ol' fatcat was *expert* at hooking them directly out of their holes and biting them behind the neck. Its been years since he passed, new one seems to be getting the hang of it...

Re: Gophers
Sewretired, Mon Oct 05 2020, 09:23AM

Has anyone used steel gopher mesh: [Click Here] ? It's a tighter pattern than chicken wire which, in our experience, doesn't work very well. We've scraped several inches of topsoil to reshape the grade. Before the dirt gets replaced this mesh would be rolled out.

We see gopher-free lawns in places like Eagle Point Estates. Yet just a quarter mile away in our yard they do a lot of damage. Maybe the pros in BB use mesh?

We had some success with traps and poison, but would rather not deal with these at all.


Re: Gophers
doo·hick·ey, Mon Oct 05 2020, 11:37AM

I believe you'd have to go a couple feet below grade. Several inches of topsoil and they'll just dig under it.

Re: Gophers
Sewretired, Mon Oct 05 2020, 12:09PM

We will finish with DG, but for lawns they recommend just a couple inches of topsoil: [Click Here] If the mesh keeps them from burrowing topside then we'd be satisfied.

The root baskets look good for plants that run deeper.

Perhaps the folks in the Estates are just lucky about gophers.

Re: Gophers
doo·hick·ey, Mon Oct 05 2020, 12:45PM

Gotcha. I was picturing a parimeter, not under a lawn. We have critters that dig under the foundation of house. Yeah, decomposed granite helps for nice drainage.

Re: Gophers
wisteria1, Fri Oct 09 2020, 11:22AM

Obviously this isn't the solution for everyone (I don't think they're available at hardware stores) but skunks are excellent mouse/gopher predators. I've been blessed to have a family (now generations because average lifespan is only 3 years) living under my front deck for 15 years. The gophers seem to respect this and confine their activities to the back of my lot but in front (skunk territory) I've grown tulips, raspberries, artichokes, lavender, thyme, lilacs, and hollyhocks for over a decade without problems. I still do my veggie garden in containers though because there's always the possibility of a rogue invader. So if you have a skunk nearby, all they ask for is privacy. Don't call animal control, give it a safe home and you will be rewarded with poison-free rodent control.

Re: Gophers
Indiana Jones, Sat Nov 07 2020, 05:08PM

I have lots of gophers in my backyard. I have never seen so many. I also have a place on 5 acres in Johnson Valley and there are LOTS of rodents there as well. I wonder if its just a coincidence? Many folks in the desert have a problem with rodents and other small critters. Not only do they burrow underground but they chew on your automobiles wires and cables!

Re: Gophers
holeinbow, Sat Nov 07 2020, 05:46PM

Cat takes care of most of them. Last one a couple months ago was popping its head up, saw it while brushing my teeth. Headshot with the trusty beeman .22 pellet gun at about 30 feet...