KSL Greenhouse Show: Controlling pocket gophers

SALT LAKE CITY — When it comes to rodents, pocket gophers are among the most destructive. Guest host Dave Mecham and KSL Greenhouse Show host Taun Beddes had a conversation on Saturday about pocket gophers, and how to get rid of the pesky rodents.

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According to Beddes, gophers are “mother nature’s soil aerators.” But when it comes to a person’s yard, they aren’t needed and can become quite the menace.

Two common pocket gophers known to the state are northern pocket gophers and the botta’s pocket gopher, according to Utah State University.

“(Pocket gophers) are not your best friend in your yard,” Mecham said.

Beddes added that pocket gophers can damage a lawn by feeding on its roots, or become a menace by feeding on trees. To add to the chaos, the gophers are difficult to get rid of because the rodent is able to tunnel into the ground about six inches to a foot deep or more.

According to Beddes, the damage doesn’t end there.

“They can tunnel right to your carrots, or the roots of your tomatoes,” Beddes said.

Bad news for gardeners

The pocket gopher can be motivated to move into a person’s yard simply because of the food a person grows in their gardens, according to Beddes.

“We’ve just built a Golden Corral in our backyard for them,” Beddes said. “And we’re watering and so they have a food source year-round, and so they are motivated to move into your yard because when we dry out, the food becomes much more difficult for them to eat.”

According to Beddes, the most common pocket gopher people may see in their yard is a breed that likes to eat alfalfa.

Identifying pocket gophers

There are different rodent species that can get into your lawn and gardens. How to tell the difference between those rodents and pocket gophers? Beddes said pocket gophers make volcano mounds and tunnels. 

“I want to differentiate them from metal voles because the voles make little race tracks in your lawn, and they’ll burrow, but they don’t make tunnels,” Beddes said. “The voles go right through your lawn under the snow.”

Mecham added that voles will tunnel, however, people won’t see the mounds associated with pocket gophers when it comes to voles.

“The size of the hole is incredibly different,” Mecham said. “In my case the voles… the tunnels weren’t long, they basically tunneled from one side of the fence to the other.”

Controlling pocket gophers

When it comes to getting rid of and controlling pocket gophers, there’s a little more than a few options at hand.

“You have trapping, baiting, smoking and… we’ll just call it concussions,” Beddes said.

According to Beddes, trapping and baiting are usually the most popular option for people. This is because of the effectiveness of the traps, and kids and pets are less likely to get into the traps due to where they are located.

“The key to trapping is, you’re actually going to be using two traps and to tell where to put them you go out and knock down all the mounds and tunnels,” Beddes said. “The gopher will make new tunnels. Where you see the new tunnel being formed is where you’re going to trap.”

Beddes said when trapping a gopher, there needs to be two traps facing both directions of the tunnel because there’s no way to know what direction the gopher is going.

When it comes to smoking the gopher out of the tunnel, Beddes said garden centers and farm stores sell smoke bombs to put in the active tunnels.

Mecham said his neighbor had a gopher in their yard and smoke bombs didn’t work as they’d hoped. 

“We tried the smoke and it didn’t work,” Mecham said. “I don’t know why. I suspect it was because the tunnel was too long, because we never could see the smoke escaping anywhere.”

Mecham said his neighbor was finally able to catch the gopher in a trap.

The KSL Greenhouse Show airs Saturdays from 8 to 11 a.m. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.