Gophers are common animals in backyards, and unfortunately can cause a lot of damage to plants and hardscape elements. There is no one easy way to prevent gophers from ever damaging your yard, but by combining multiple approaches, you can avoid conflict with gophers as humanely and effectively as possible.
Step 1: Assess the Problem
One mistake that is commonly made when dealing with any human-wildlife conflict is to immediately jump into action, trying to "get rid of" the animal(s) causing the problem, without first evaluating the conflict and your options for resolving it. Having gophers in your yard does not necessarily mean you have a "gopher problem" if they are not causing damage. However, as many people can attest, gophers often do cause damage if they are left to do their own thing in your yard. This can include:
Eating or otherwise damaging lawns or garden plants.
Undermining the structural integrity of hardscaping elements like brick pathways, causing potholes.
Creating a trip hazard with their holes, especially in areas where people or pets often run fast (such as fields where kids are playing sports).
Depending on what specific problem(s) the gophers are causing, you may want to try different options for solving the problem. Regardless, you must remember this fact:
Completely banishing gophers from an area is generally not a feasible option!
Unless you make it physically impossible for gophers to enter the area, such as with barriers, more will keep moving in to replace any that were killed or otherwise removed. Instead of focusing on having a gopher-free yard, focus on keeping them out of specific areas where they are problematic.
Step 2: Install Gopher Barriers to Protect Sensitive Areas
The best way to keep gophers off of your plants, out of your garden bed, or away from your hardscaping features is to install physical barriers that they cannot tunnel past. Half-inch hardware cloth works well for this purpose. Keep in mind that gophers can dig up to six feet deep (although they usually stay within two feet), and climb up to a foot high above ground.
Raised Garden Beds
Raised garden beds are a good way to grow a large number of vegetables, herbs, flowers, or other plants while keeping them safe from gophers. There are a large number of tutorials online for building raised beds- just make sure that the sides are at least a foot high above ground, and the bottom is lined with half-inch or smaller gauge hardware cloth that is firmly affixed to the sides of the box (such as by stapling it).
Gopher Baskets
Gopher-Proof Hardscape
Underground Fences
What About Deterrents for Areas Where Barriers Aren't Feasible?
Step 3: Remove Stragglers
Once you have gopher-proofed sensitive parts of your yard with hardware cloth, you may still be left with some gophers that have been accidentally "walled in" if you installed an underground fence. Or, it may be infeasible to completely gopher-proof an area that you need to keep gophers out of. In these cases, you may need to turn to gopher traps.
Just Say No to Poison
Rodenticides, or poisons, are commonly used to control gophers and other rodents, but the costs outweigh the benefits. Not only do they cause a slow and inhumane death for the target animal, but they also can be harmful to nontarget species (including pets) and the environment. They can even be counterproductive. With certain types of poisons, a predator that eats a poisoned rodent will be poisoned as well (this is called secondary poisoning). These predators are important members of the ecosystem, and can benefit you by controlling the gophers and other rodents themselves, so you wouldn't want to accidentally harm them.
Not all traps are alike, and it's best to choose one specifically designed to kill the gopher quickly and humanely. The Skunk Corner does not endorse any specific brand or type of gopher trap, as none are perfect, but rather recommends that you take the time to read reviews, both good and bad, that other users have left about the trap you are considering. Red flags to look out for in reviews include live gophers being caught when the trap is retrieved, gophers moving the trap after being caught, and traps wearing out easily or being difficult to set (leaving more room for error). These signs can indicate problems that cause gophers to suffer while still alive in the trap.
Why Not Use Livetraps?
Livetraps may seem like a humane and effective way to get a gopher out of your yard, but in reality they're generally not a good idea, for several reasons:
The nature of a gopher tunnel as the location for the trap makes it hard to design one that the gopher is attracted to and won't be able to escape. This is why it's very difficult to find gopher livetraps for sale.
If you do catch a gopher, it may not survive until the trap is checked and then transported to a new location, and even if it does, it will likely become prey or die of exposure to the elements once introduced to an unfamiliar place.
Any livetrap compact enough to fit into a gopher tunnel would likely require close contact with the live gopher to release it, which can lead to the user being bitten.
Even though many exterminators and landscape professionals will gladly trap your gophers for you, it's best to do it yourself so you have full control over the type of traps used and can actively monitor the gopher situation in your yard. Gopher traps are generally designed to be user-friendly, so you won't need a professional to help. If you do choose to hire someone to trap the gophers, make sure you ask them about their methods and research the type of traps they are using to ensure they are relatively humane.
Whatever trap you choose, it should be placed in an active hole for best results. These holes will usually have mounds of fresh soil next to them, and the hole will sometimes be open. Don't place a trap in a hole you know is old- it won't catch anything. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for setting the trap. Cover the hole with a brick, a piece of wood, or another flat object to prevent injuries to people or nontarget animals. The gopher will be caught when it comes back to fill the hole.
Step 4: Invite the Natural Predators of Gophers
Gophers have many natural predators, such as snakes, owls, hawks, herons, and more. Consider putting up an owl box, putting up rock piles for snakes to hide in, planting native plants, or taking other steps to invite wildlife into your yard that could help keep the gopher population under control long-term. Never relocate a snake or other animal into your yard from somewhere else- it likely won't survive. However, making the habitat more suitable for native animals and letting them come on their own can be beneficial not only for controlling gophers, but also for making your yard a more functional part of the urban habitat.
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