pocket gophers eating my tomatoes :-(

[MelissaCA9]

New poster here. I don't know if I'm looking for commiseration or solutions, but I'm so frustrated.

Every morning for the past four days, a pocket gopher (I think!) is eating my tomatoes, as well as a few branches. There are a few holes and fresh mounds of dirt. One morning, several few weeks after I transplanted, an entire plant completely disappeared as if it had never been there. It was a Better Boy so I wasn't heartbroken. Now that my fruits are growing bigger, it's coming up to eat them. I have my garden fenced with sturdy chicken wire to keep rabbits and my dog out, but of course that does nothing for gophers.

A few nights ago, I covered the tomatoes with little plastic zip locks and that worked a couple times, but this morning I found them on the ground, one bag had a tomato in it, and a few others were empty.

I did plant a few of my tomato plants in wire baskets to protect the roots, but these suckers seems to be crawling around and eating tomatoes from various plants.

I don't want to dig in my small garden to put a trap. Can i put a trap on ground level? Any other ideas? I did put half of my tomatoes in containers as an insurance policy so not all is lost... still, it's disheartening.

[zeuspaul]

These cinch traps are designed to be set from the surface. https://www.amazon.com/Cinch-Gopher-...ct_top?ie=UTF8

I have a few almost identical traps made by Gopher Goner but don't use them. The Gopher Goner traps need some maintenance to keep the tripping mechanism clean and working.

I use the Victor Blackbox gopher trap https://www.amazon.com/Victor-Black-.../dp/B000FBMFDO

This trap can also be set from the surface. You just need to square off the hole to get a good fit for the trap. Make sure you set a hair trigger for any trap you use.

The other option is poison. I don't use poison because I want to know for sure that I got the rascal and also don't want to risk secondary kill.

Either way you need to go after it as soon as possible.

[MelissaCA9]

Thank you!! I'll see if I can run out and get these traps at a local store. Much appreciated :-)

[zeuspaul]

Home Depot carries the Victor Black Box trap. The Cinch trap may be harder to find.

Good Luck

[Jeanus]

I can commiserate I have a plague of chipmunks, grab the fruit, run off and take one bite leave it and go back for another fruit. It is a race for the few strawberries I am getting this year. They dug up all my flowers 3x now.

[RJGlew]

I get Northern Pocket Gophers into my beds each summer. I tinkered with a bunch of traps but have settled on the Gophinator from Trapline Products. Simple, rugged, and does a really good job. Made in USA too.

http://www.traplineproducts.com/

[MelissaCA9]

Originally Posted by RJGlew

I get Northern Pocket Gophers into my beds each summer. I tinkered with a bunch of traps but have settled on the Gophinator from Trapline Products. Simple, rugged, and does a really good job. Made in USA too.

http://www.traplineproducts.com/

These look great, I ordered some, thanks for the recommendation.

[MelissaCA9]

Yay, I bought the Victor Black Box recommended above and caught one gopher yesterday and another one just now. i wish I had done this sooner! My lawn would look much better if I had.

[Worth1]

Glad to see you are getting on top of the little buggers.

[zeuspaul]

Yay, two fewer gophers. Congratulations. I wish my neighbors were that good.

Originally Posted by MelissaCA9

Yay, I bought the Victor Black Box recommended above and caught one gopher yesterday and another one just now. i wish I had done this sooner! My lawn would look much better if I had.