Moth's gopher wars

[Moth1992]

Spring 2024 is here, my allergies are killing me and I am so busy at work I had no time to prep my garden plot for this season until yesterday.

Did a trip to home depot to get some smelly compost and off to work on the plot! Pulled all the bolted brocolis and letuces. Pulled the sad looking snap peas. Fixed my trellises. Put a nice layer of compost, its all ready for planting, I think ill put some lettuces and wait a couple of weeks before I put the tomatoes.

My strawberries have started flowering and my ground cherry is giving me some few very tasty fruits.

I want more snap peas but I found them temperamental. My county's local extension calendar has snap peas planted until may but that might be too warm, I dont know.

Now, I managed to win last years battle in the Gopher Wars with the use of a lot of metal. Its annoying since I cant use all the space and plant heavily, I need a gopher basket under everything. But it was worth it and suffered no casualties. The prior occupant if my plot came to congratulate me in winning the battle he surrendered to.
I hope this year is as successful.

That being said. One if them buggers is currently under my plot. I dont know why. It cant access any food. It hasnt managed to get anything. But there is a whole underground network under my plot right now. Go away little *Bleep* go eat the stuff in the neighbouring plots!

[Julianna]

I have good luck with snap peas all year round but the fog gets them to mildew like crazy. I think we have ground squirrels now in addition to the gophers. Hopefully you just have the one!

[Moth1992]

@Julianna thats great to know! I love snap peas, i have some cuttings im rooting and ill start some seeds. I only wish they were better behaved.

[worth1]

I only had to deal with gophers in one place.
It had Sandy soil.
There's gophers north of me but not where I am.

[Moth1992]

So I already planted my tomatoes and peppers. Also lettuces and snap peas.

Its early for the tomatoes and the peppers but I was sick of tripping over them in the balcony and they where getting big.
Hopefully they dont get stunted.

[Moth1992]

Well I have a gopher. And guess I left my guard down after last years success and my metal deterrent systems were sloppy this year.

It ate the leaves of 3 garlics and obliterated two lettuces.

I hate the thought of it but i ordered traps. Gopher needs to die.

[zeuspaul]

Now you know how I feel when a gopher destroys a hundred dollar tree. I feel the same with gophers as I do with killing mosquitoes.

[habitat-gardener]

The gopher has already eaten an artichoke root and several elephant garlics.
We get an incursion of gophers whenever the university plows its fields across the road from the community garden.
For several years, I've been planting every tomato, pepper, and eggplant in a DIY gopher basket made with hardware cloth.

[Moth1992]

Little *Bleep* is still at it. It loves garlic. It cant eat the bulb because if the cages but it has figured that it can poke out and cut the leaves and drag them in the borrow and eat them.

I set traps today. I hope i set them right, I was highly confused with the instructions...

[zeuspaul]

Wha type of trap are you using?

[Moth1992]

Wha type of trap are you using?

I put these ones:.
https://www.victorpest.com/victor-easy- ... raps-m0611

[zeuspaul]

The first thing you want is recent activity, last day or two. You want an active tunnel. Dig down and expose the tunnel. Often you will encounter a tee where you won't know if he is left or right. If you encounter a tee you will need to set two traps. You want to clean the tunnel as best you can. You want the gopher to think he is just running through a normal tunnel. Set the trap with a hair trigger as best you can. If you leave the opening of the tunnel fully exposed the gopher will sense the air flow and try to close the tunnel opening. He will bring dirt in front of him to close the opening and may set off the trap with the dirt before the trap gets him. It's a good idea to place some weeds or something similar over the opening of the tunnel to slow the air flow entering the tunnel.

I have no experience with the traps you are using. I don't know how you visually inspect those traps to see if you have a gopher. You may want to tie a piece of string onto the trap with the end of the string protruding out of the end of the tunnel making it easier to retrieve the trap.

Good luck!

[Moth1992]

Thanks! Yesterday it rained and the gopher stayed put. He is probably all cozy eating my garlic leaves....

Ive tied a string on the traps and put them in two directions in the tunnel that goes right inside my plot. I do cover the hole then with cardboard and dirt so no air and light goes in.

Wich traps do you like @zeuspaul ?

[zeuspaul]

I like and use the Victor Black Box. The one I use doesn't seem to be available. It looks like it has been replaced with a newer version. I can't recommend it without having used it. With the Black Box it isn't necessary to cover the tunnel. There is a small air hole not visible in the image which provides a small amount of air flow. Also I can walk by and see if it is sprung. I modified it by drilling a small hole. I place a steel rod in the hole anchoring it to the ground so the coyotes can't steal the trap.

I also have a Blackhole trap. The quality isn't as good as the Black Box. Also I prefer the Black Box because it has the dirt floor.

I also have the cinch traps which I also don't use. They haven't held up well over time. The mechanisms have corroded making it hard to set a hair trigger.

gophertrap.png

[Moth1992]

WellI never actually caught a gopher but guess disrupting tunels and putting traps was enough to make it move. Havent had more casualties.

My issue is now different in nature. My ground cherry has started the occupation of my garden plot and its now shading my tomatoes. Not sure what to do.

[Moth1992]

Wow. They werent joking when they said stupice was early. I dont think ive ever had tomatoes before mid july, and most of them I get in september!

[JayneR13]

Ah the pest wars! I was looking at my brassica beds earlier today and thought they were looking a bit thin! Later while fixing supper, I look that way and there’s a rabbit chewing on my broccoli! I’ve got those beds surrounded by 3’ high chicken wire, which was dug into the ground when I put in in 5-6+ years ago. Well guess what! It’s dug in no longer and the rabbit found the way. When I saw the little darling in my bed, I went outside to watch it. As soon as it saw me it went for escape, then when it couldn’t jump the fence it showed me how it was getting in. I’ve pinned those holes with long staples and hope I’ve saved my brassicas! I feel a bit like Elmer Fudd, only with staples. Lousy wabbits!

[Moth1992]

Well my tomatoes are loving the heat waves. Ive never had such an early season. I have a small bounty ripening over the microwave, cant wait to eat them all.

[JayneR13]

I just sprayed mine with copper to hopefully get ahead of the fungal problems. I do have a few flowers and fruits set, so I have hope. It's early up here for much of anything, really.

[Moth1992]

Well so my tomatoes gave me a very early bounty this year. And then got sick.

My neighbours plots have green lush tomatoes and mine are scragly and looking awful like end of season. Stunted, yellowing and leaves diying.

The height of my season is usually september and I dont think they will make it.

Not sure if its the soil or I watered them less and they got pests or what.