Berkeley Parents Network: Moles & Gophers

Berkeley Parents Network

Moles & Gophers

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Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > House & Garden > Moles & Gophers

Dec 2003

I have seen the previous posts about rodent control and exterminators but nothing specifically about gophers or moles.We have some gophers or moles ripping up our lawn and would like some advice in getting rid of them or services we can call. Judy

I certainly understand your distress having done battle with a mole in our backyard this summer. First thing is to identify if indeed you have a gopher or a mole--they have different mounding/tunnel tendencies. From our experience, if you have a mole, you might just learn to live with it, because our various attempts to get rid of it, were utter failures. We hired ''Critter Control'' to put out the ''guillotine'' type traps to kill it, but after a month and $100, we all called it quits. I talked to Contra Costa Animal Control about it and they didn't give me much hope either. The one thing that worked a little (maybe?) is that the mole was tunneling under our irrigated lawn and it was recommended that we change our watering regime to early morning (rather than the evening) so the lawn dried out a little more and provided less of a grub habitat which is what moles eat. But anyway, the mole eventually went away on his own (overall stay about 3 months) and he's been gone about 4 months now. I wish you luck but not much hope! a mole a day keeps the grubs away

April 2003

We just moved to a home with a beautiful wooded backyard. It is being overrun by gophers or some other burrowing pest. We tried the sulphur bombs. No luck. Any advice? We have a dog and child, so we want the solution to be non- toxic, with minimal damage to the soil and landscape. Thanks.

(no replies were received)

May 2002

After many years of professional gardening, this is the first time I've had to deal with the problem of moles burrowing through a newly planted parking strip. How have people dealt with moles in the garden? I am loathe to kill them - but are there alternatives? Thanks in advance. Jadwiga

I think I read this tip in a local newspaper (or maybe here in the digest?) for getting rid of gophers...this person put dog poop down every visible gopher hole in her garden, and that kept the gophers away! (She happened to have two dogs so acquiring dog poop was not a problem.) Although, I've never tried this myself--I have a dog but fortunately no gophers--so I don't know if it really works. Clarisse

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