Jun 17th, 2009
Gophers: What Are They?
Pocket gophers are rodents, medium to small in size, which burrow, spending 99% of their lifespan in underground tunnels and nests. Gophers have external cheek pouches on the outdie of their mouths where they store food for their young. There are many different species of pocket gophers in North America. They are powerful diggers, have front paws with large claws which make them the enemy of many home owners with well manicured lawns. The pocket gopher is well suited for digging holes and tunnels because the generally live underground, and when over populated, pocket gophers become difficult to control.
Pocket gophers eat roots of grass, forbs, shrubs, and even someitmes small trees. They can be very destructive for forest plantations. Actually, every year the US Forestry Service contract out work to manage pocket gophers in order to safeguard newly planted tree seedlings. These animals are herbivores, loving to eat all manner of plants in yards, lawns, gardens, and flowerbeds. The burrow systems they dig ave many different braches and individual gophers tend to be quite territorial. During studies in California, where radio collars were placed on gophers, some gophers were tracked moving 200-300 ft per night. A single gopher might dig up 250 mounds a year, moving up to 4 tons of soil within weeks. Burrows constalty change and evolve, with some tunnels sealed off and new ones created. How a great number of tunnels and burrows are built? No one can really say but gophers cause serious damage for property owners.
Pocket gophers work year round, during the winter, the summer, even during heavy snow fall. In alfalfa fields, gophers are often watched feeding above ground. Generally, gophers cruise along their tunnel systems and eat roots from plants growing directly above the tunnels. An simple way to figure out if a pocket gopher occupies a tunnel system is to simply dig open the tunnel. If gophers are active then they will fill in that hole, in this case, you have gophers.
Gophers are one of the most difficult to manage in the U.S. EPA approved baits and traps are generally used to reduce potential impact gophers may have on the environment. Some bait includes the following active ingredients: strychnine, diphacinone, chlorophacinone, and zinc phosphide. t. However, because of the length of the tunnel systems, such fumigants may not be very effective.
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