If you’re pulling your hair out because of gophers, and you want to get rid of them, we can help!
In this Pest Strategies guide you’ll learn:
- 如何首先防止他们
- 如何识别它们
- How to get rid of them
- perc：它是什么以及如何使用它
If trying to get rid of gophers on your own becomes too challenging, we recommendOrkin,Terminix， 和能力。这些灭蚁有一些最好的出场d professionals that are able to use traps, baits, and other chemically treated solutions that are often more effective than standard DIY methods.
For Terminix quotes you can reach them at866-577-5051, or withthis form。
对于Orkin的引号，请致电866-701-4556，或填写this form。
For a free quote from Aptive, call855-521-7075or visit the company’swebsite。
Ed has been working in the pest control industry for years helping 1,000's of homeowners navigate the world of insect and rodent management. He manages Pest Strategies now helping homeowners around the world!
目录
Gophers on your property can cause untold amounts of damage to your yard, crops, trees, and flower beds. Their mounds are unsightly evidence you’re not in control – they are.
是时候重新获得控制了。我们将介绍主要方法，讨论每一个方法的利弊。
We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get started!
Can Gophers Be Prevented?
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is still yes, but with some caveats。防止地鼠需要了解他们的知识。
像所有动物一样，地鼠总是按这样的顺序寻找水，食物，庇护所和伴侣。如果这四个中的任何一个都存在于您的财产上，最终他们会尝试获得它。您需要查看的主要食物是他们的食物。
地鼠主要喜欢苜蓿，蒲公英，tap-roots杂草，福布斯, bulbs, shrubs, and trees. They want plants that have fleshy underground storage structures, i.e., big roots. They’ll eat other roots as they burrow, but that’s just a “target of opportunity” kind of a thing.
生活环境的改变
Habitat modification技术包括使用抗性作物品种，作物轮作和洪水灌溉。根源很薄的谷物作物不会产生足够的食物，使地鼠无法全年生活。如果您种类农作物，地鼠就不会有问题。这是一个简单的方程式：没有食物，没有地鼠。
If you’re unable to change your crops, (for financial reasons, etc.) this method won’t work.
Crop rotation, planting alfalfa one time then grain crops the next, accomplishes the same thing by reducing their available year-round food supply below the survival point. Flood irrigation, in rice fields, for instance, will fill their burrows with water. It forces them to leave or drown.
The objection here is the same as above, although maybe not as severe. This brings us to the next possibility.
Exclusion
Exclusionis a fancy word for “keeping them critters out.” It means building a fence, but since gophers are subterranean, at least half the fence has to be underground.
The best material to use is 1-inch chicken wire all the way around the target area. Dig a trench 18-24 inches deep. Place the chicken wire down in it and leave 1-2 feet above the ground. Shovel the dirt back in, then tack the exposed wire to stakes to hold it upright. Stretch it tight the way you normally would with a fence.
The obvious disadvantage here is the time, expense, and labor involved in erecting the fence. If you’re trying to protect an area much larger than a normal yard around a house, it’ll probably be more than you wanted to do.
缓冲带
A缓冲带涉及在要保护的田野周围种植50英尺宽的谷物。它在田野周围创造了一个不合适的栖息地，并阻止地鼠进一步进行。他们还不够聪明，无法确定，如果他们继续前进，最终会发生变化。
But this method presupposes that A) you’re a farmer with large crop fields and B) you can afford to lose a 50-foot wide swath of your field to an off-target crop. Most people aren’t, or can’t.
How Do You Identify Gophers?
Before jumping into the nitty gritty of eliminating gophers once they’re on your property, you need to make sure that’ what you actually have.
一些痣和地松鼠看起来很像地鼠，但事实并非如此。它们也不会造成Gophers造成的伤害。有两种一般识别方法。
Method 1: Catch & Comparison
方法一involves catching a specimen and comparing it to a database. The advantage is, you’ll know exactly what you’re dealing with. The disadvantage is, it takes time to capture, or trap, one of them. Moreover, the available databases online are, sad to say, less than complete. You might have to take your specimen to the County Extension Office in your area for a positive identification.
方法2：Gopher Mound Review
Method twois a bit more general in nature and applies to a wider number of species. In addition to examining the overall body structure and appearance, it focuses on the thing you’ll notice more than anything else, their mounds.
Gopher mounds are almost as unique as fingerprints. Ground squirrels live in underground burrows, but不要做土墩地鼠的方式。痣会造成土墩，但没有什么比Gopher土墩更像了。此外，痣隧道在地面的地面下方，在地面上留下了清晰可见的“奔跑”。
Gopher mounds are often described as semi-circular or horseshoe-shaped. As a gopher digs down into the ground he pushes the dirt up behind him with his back legs and tail. It creates the singular shape that gives away what species he is. Followthis linkto see the mounds from different animals.
您如何摆脱地鼠？（5个简单方法）
方法1：射击
这是最不有效的方法，如果您生活在城市范围内，那是最充满法律问题的方法。大多数城镇和城市对在城市范围内释放武器，尤其是在晚上都有严格的法律。如果您想用手电筒和步枪在晚上坐起来，建议您先与警察联系。
The researchers at怀俄明大学(no shrinking violets) agree that shooting gophers (along with ground squirrels and moles) is largely a waste of time, especially if there’s more than one or two of them.
方法2：陷阱
Trapping is a time-honored method of catching and killing animals of all shapes and sizes. Done properly it consistently delivers good results. Doneimproperly，这是一个巨大的浪费时间。
阅读更多：切除地鼠的最佳陷阱是什么？
只要您遵循一些简单的步骤，大多数陷阱都会完成工作。
- 确定隧道的方向
- Open the tunnel about 1-2 feet from the opening
- 在隧道中背靠背放两个陷阱
- 掩盖他们
- 覆盖隧道的主要开口
当隧道开口关闭时，空气流将停止，促使Gopher调查发生的事情，他会直接陷入陷阱。
The downside of using traps is that you have to clean blood and gore off the traps after each use. Sometimes the traps don’t finish killing the gophers completely and you’ll have to do it. It comes with the territory.
Method 3: Bait & Poison Them
Baiting is another method with a long, proven track record. There are all kinds of good baits on the market, many of which we’ve already reviewed.
阅读更多：What’s the best bait for gopher removal?
将必须将诱饵推入隧道的开口，并密封洞穴，以便Gopher将其打开并遇到诱饵。
For granular baits, you’ll need to poke a hole into the tunnel about 1-2 feet from the opening, pour some granules in, close up the hole.
Also cover up the main opening, once again, prompting the gopher to come and see what the problem is.
诱饵的缺点是您永远不会看到尸体，因此很难分辨它们何时死亡。优势是，您不必与死去的地鼠吵架。
Can Gophers Be Prevented?
是的，但是有一些警告。防止地鼠需要了解他们的知识。像所有动物一样，地鼠总是按这样的顺序寻找水，食物，庇护所和伴侣。如果这四个中的任何一个都存在于您的财产上，最终他们会尝试获得它。您需要查看的主要食物是他们的食物。
找到当地的灭虫者
Methos 4：击退他们
There are two kinds of repellents for gophers, sonic repellents and chemical repellents. Both of them work, neither of them perfectly.
声音驱蚊剂通常由您埋在地面4-6英寸的木桩中。顶部是一个太阳能电池板，可充电运行设备的电池。该赌注以设定的间隔（通常25-30秒）发出400-1000 Hz低频声音，这会激怒和烦恼地鼠。每个桩的有效半径根据模型在70-80英尺之间的变化。
You’ll need to purchase multiple units to cover the area you want to protect with overlapping fields
Chemical repellents consist of granules or pellets made of a material which smells and tastes bad to gophers. Castor oil is popular lately. Normally you’ll have to broadcast them with a spreader then put a spoonful down the main opening of each mound in the affected area.
These granules are usually water activated so you’ll have to water the area when you’re done spreading the granules. You’ll also have to pour some water down the mounds you put the granules in. In addition, you’ll have to reapply them after a heavy rain.
Repellents – either sonic or chemical – require closer observation of the habits and activities of the gophers than the other methods do. If you observe a change in their movements in response to the repellents, you might have to change the location of the sonic stakes or change the amount of the granules you put out.
阅读更多：What’s the best mole repellent?
方法5：熏蒸它们
The last method we’ll discuss isfumigation。熏蒸正是听起来的样子，您要燃气。该过程很简单，但有点耗时。
使用几种熏蒸剂中的任何一个，例如this one，点燃墨盒，然后将其深入插入地鼠丘的敞开中。尽可能紧紧关闭开放式，以将气体捕获。仔细检查地面，寻找烟雾逃逸的区域。将土壤压低以将气体保存在隧道中，否则将不会有任何好处。
If the gopher is in the mound when you put the fumigant in the mound, he’ll probably be dead in about two minutes. That’s a minimum of two minutes per mound, so be prepared to spend some time at it.
使用加压的排气啮齿动物控制（PERC）进行地鼠去除
PERC is a specialized type of fumigation requiring some fairly expensive equipment. It involves a gasoline-powered machine that captures and pressurizes its own exhaust, carbon monoxide, in order to pump it into a gopher mound.
It’s not unlike putting a hose in the tailpipe of your car and running the other end into the mound. The main difference is the pressure, which forces the gas further back into the tunnel system.
If you’re wonderingdoes PERC work，答案是肯定的，但是。。。
A California study of gopher control involving PERC admitted that the system works as long as a gopher is in the tunnel when it’s used, but the cost – several thousand dollars for the equipment – is prohibitive for most people. In fact, the study had to be conducted with donated equipment because the researchers couldn’t afford to purchase it.
PERC的另一个问题是，排气中的一氧化碳是无色气体。如果其中任何一个正在泄漏，则没有视觉证据。
这导致研究人员林肯内布拉斯加州大学to propose adding a smoke bomb to the mound when gassing it. The smoke leaking out of the ground would show them where the soil needed to be compacted to retain the gas inside the gopher tunnels.
Final Thoughts On Gopher Removal
我们讨论过的所有方法都将杀死地鼠 - 或将其赶走 - 但它们都不是完美的。大多数曾经在该领域外的害虫防治技术人员得出的结论是，方法组合是最好的答案。您将使用的特定组合取决于您要保护的区域的大小。
对于普通的房主来说，他不想弄乱死去的地鼠或陷阱，但只想让他们离开院子，最好的组合是诱饵和驱虫剂。驱虫剂将阻止地鼠留在该地区，诱饵会吸引顽固的人。
其他组合也将起作用，因此不要觉得您必须使用这种组合。随时进行实验！
