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Replies (14)
gopher!
- 80smusicrox
- Contributions:420
If they were...I'd think I'd hear more about it. We have a gopher and mole issue in my area...not to mention other pests like rattle snakes and wild hogs.
I lived near a private golf course that had a problem with gophers and moles...traps were the only solution. Unfortunately, the traps also reduced the squirrel population.
I know someone mention cats as a solution for rats...not so, but cats are very good at catching gophers and moles. I have 3 outdoor cats, and 4 others who hang out and eat at my house every morning (I won't claim them)...and they are catching gophers left and right. They can hear them under ground and they lay in wait. Even after they've just polished off a plate of 9-lives...there's always room for fresh gopher. It's weird though...half the cats hunt for sport, and the other half hunt for food.
- SoCal_Engr
- Contributions:5661
The local "coyote patrol" insures that there are no "outdoor cats" in my neighborhood. For that matter, I haven't seen a single stray cat/dog in the 5 years I've lived here, so cats are not an option. I'm giving the devices a try (hey, it's only a "few bucks" and will let you all know if they actually do anything useful.
- julia111
- Contributions:656
I am here in Oregon on high ground, and the moles and gophers made my lawn look like a post war battle field.
I have tried zappers, smoke bombs, everything!!!!!!!!The only thing that has helped some what is the stray cat who showed up after we moved in, and the scary old fashioned traps that only my hubby can set.
- Old House
- Contributions:6
I'm in CA and have tried everything as well. Everything does include poison, smoke bombs, and the electronic (ultra-sound) device/repeller (they are not cheap, BTW). The constant buzzing didn't annoy the gophers but drove my boyfriend insane.
The only thing that worked in my case was a gopher trap - very unpleasant, but effective. After catching four gophers, we are enjoying a break from them. I'm sure more gophers will be back after they discover my backyard is available. Meanwhile, I need to buy more traps to be prepared for next invasion...
- SoCal_Engr
- Contributions:5661
Placed two of the devices in my back yard this weekend (just a little overkill based on product specs, but I figured I'd give them every chance to work). I'll let you all know if they do any good.
As an aside, my father-in-law said that his father had shown him how to make mechanical noise-makers (using iron rods and whirli-gigs) to do the same thing as the electronic chasers I put in. Gives me a little hope that these might work.
- mina36
- Contributions:3478
- SoCal_Engr
- Contributions:5661
Update...
I put the devices in last about 8 days ago...and it looks like the gopher(s) have left. No new activity (mounds), and the mounds we messed with have not been re-opened. Hoping that I'm not jinxing myself by posting this.
- SoCal_Engr
- Contributions:5661
They're back...
It's been almost two months, and we just noticed some new gopher mounds. However, they immediately gravitated toward the nearest gopher chaser. If the advert is correct, this will soon be followed by the gophers hightailing it for our neighbor's yard.
Will let you know if this happens...or if the electronic chaser's are a bust.
It's been almost two months, and we just noticed some new gopher mounds. However, they immediately gravitated toward the nearest gopher chaser. If the advert is correct, this will soon be followed by the gophers hightailing it for our neighbor's yard.
Will let you know if this happens...or if the electronic chaser's are a bust.
- SoccerShepard
- Contributions:211
Get the green traps at the local hardware store and set them in the holes. Use a couple feet of line and tie it to the trap and stake it in the yard..If not, they can pull the traps in the holes. My wife has 37 certified kills, in the last 3 years she has been using them. Also push the dead gopher back in the hole, then cover it up. This will cause the others to leave the area. I'm serious, this is a tried and true method. There are products that are natural, for the faint of heart, on the market. You spray it on the grass or where ever and it keeps them away. A little bit expensive, but the one we used did work. A quart was like 50 bucks thou.
- Pat Bourgo, "Pat Bourgo"
- Contributions:1051
I have heard they work. Moles have two tunnels deep and shallow. The shallow ones are there feeding tunnels. The deep ones about 8-12" deep are there living tunnels. Once you find the deep tunnels get a 3" flex pipe they use them for dryer and other venting, these fit over the old exhaust of lawnmowers. Gas them out. This has worked great for me. You can try spraying for bugs. No food no moles. This also works but more on a sustainability level.
- Melody91
- Contributions:229
I do not have experience with the outdoor electrical repellents; however, one person who lived in a Unit once put in one of the indoor electrical repellents for insects or perhaps rodents; I do not think it helped; HOWEVER, all please be aware, I had a honored guest to whom we gave parsonage, and at week;s end she asked if I could remove it from the house.
There is a hazard with people prone to seizure activity, that these electrical devices can trigger either epileptic 'petitl mal seizures' (which this woman confided she had&asked me to protect her from in future visits to my home); and they may also be able to trigger grand mal seizures , which are far more dangerous.
I do not have the har data on that one.
The point is, whether they do or do not work, do you want your children, their friends or you and your friends & neighbors being subject to electric subliminal sounds that can trigger an eplileptic seizure?
There is a hazard with people prone to seizure activity, that these electrical devices can trigger either epileptic 'petitl mal seizures' (which this woman confided she had&asked me to protect her from in future visits to my home); and they may also be able to trigger grand mal seizures , which are far more dangerous.
I do not have the har data on that one.
The point is, whether they do or do not work, do you want your children, their friends or you and your friends & neighbors being subject to electric subliminal sounds that can trigger an eplileptic seizure?
- sunnyview
- Contributions:25127
I have not used electronic gopher repellers, but my father in law swears by an aged "tea" of urine and old hair steeped in the sun for a bout a week and then poured down the gopher holes. Yuk! He says it works, but I'm not sure it's worth it.
- So Cal Home Automation, "SoCal HomeAutomation"
- Contributions:16
I have used them and everything else years back.
The property I had back a school p e field.
I had little success with the battery noise generators that stake into the ground approx 12 inches.
I will now tell you what did work
GOPHER SPURGE
it is a small plant. I planted the seeds approx 4 foot on center and in a year no more gophers! I had a neighbor who had them in their front yard and the gopher spurge was impractical. He hooked up a 2 inch flex line from the exhaust pipe and put it in the fresh hole in the morning and started his car let it run for 15 minutes. I never saw another gopher hole in his lawn again.
On caddy shack he used c-4 and when they filmed it in Florida the planes that flew over thought it was some major bomb or minor nuclear explosion. The puppet lived for caddy shack 2
The property I had back a school p e field.
I had little success with the battery noise generators that stake into the ground approx 12 inches.
I will now tell you what did work
GOPHER SPURGE
it is a small plant. I planted the seeds approx 4 foot on center and in a year no more gophers! I had a neighbor who had them in their front yard and the gopher spurge was impractical. He hooked up a 2 inch flex line from the exhaust pipe and put it in the fresh hole in the morning and started his car let it run for 15 minutes. I never saw another gopher hole in his lawn again.
On caddy shack he used c-4 and when they filmed it in Florida the planes that flew over thought it was some major bomb or minor nuclear explosion. The puppet lived for caddy shack 2
Are "Electronic Gopher Repellers" Effective?
Has anyone used the electronic gopher/mole repellers? If so, what was your experience?
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