I am putting my money on the gophers. ;)

TMT

Gophers notch a win in man-rodent battle Mon Mar 24, 7:43 PM ET



A war on gophers waged by two Canadian men went awry this weekend when
a device used to blast the rodents in their holes sparked a massive
grass fire in a rural area near Calgary, Alberta, causing more than C
$200,000 ($197,000) in damages.

Despite a ban on fires in the tinder-dry area of Springbank, just
northeast of Calgary's city limits, two men went into a field to kill
gophers using a device called a Rodenator, fire officials said on
Monday.

The device pumps a mixture of propane and oxygen into gopher holes,
which is then ignited, and, according to the manufacturer's Web site,
the resulting blast creates a shock wave that kills the gopher and
collapses its tunnel system.

"We had a couple of acreage owners out taking care of their rodent
problem with this device," said Captain Joe Garssi of the municipal
district of Rocky View's fire department.

"They did a few holes successfully and then hit a hole that didn't go
in very far. When they filled it with propane it over-filled the
hole...and when they ignited it (fire) flashed out of the hole into
the grass beside them."

The resulting grass fire scorched about 160 acres of surrounding
property and destroyed a number of outbuildings. No homes were
damaged.

"The way I look at it, it's 'humans eight, gophers one'." Garssi said,
as the two men destroyed about eight of the rodents before sparking
the blaze.

Charges are being considered against one of the two men involved.

In Western Canada, gophers, more properly called Richardson's ground
squirrels, are often considered a nuisance, blamed for ruining crops
and damaging golf courses and lawns.