On 12/2/2013 5:17 PM, Danny D'Amico wrote:
I couldn't find *that* gadget, but, I did find these
gopher gassers today at the hardware sto
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7388/1...c9c2fa07_o.gif

Stuff to cram in, and light on fire?
I wonder if, some wet day, you might
cram in some dry sawdust. Light that on
fire, and push in combustion air with a
shop vac. Dunno if that would help, but it
might be fun to try. Road flare and back
fill could do some thing.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:11:19 -0500, Stormin Mormon wrote:

This was several years ago. It was a flex tube
about an inch diameter, with a sort of cup at
the end to go over the exhaust pipe.

I think I've given up on the "novel" ways to get 'em.
I really just wanted them to go away.

I bought the Mcabee trap, so, if any pop up on the lawn
where I had flooded them, I'll put the trap in and let
you know what happens.

At the moment, I have tramped down all the gopher mounds,
so, if there is any activity in the flooded areas, I'll
probably know by tomorrow.

On Mon, 02 Dec 2013 15:45:05 -0800, Oren wrote:

'bout time you came to your reckoning

Yeah. After spending about $30 or $40 on noxious chemicals, and who knows
what it costs for 10,000 gallons of well water to be pumped, plus possibly
damaging the steps and retaining walls (from the water pressure), I now
realize why the $9 *reusable* trap is the way to go.

I have the trap ready just in case I see any gopher mounds tomorrow, as
I tramped them all down and raked them over for an hour today, so, anything
that shows up tomorrow is fresh (and would mean the flooding failed anyway).

On Mon, 02 Dec 2013 16:00:13 -0800, Oren wrote:

Your gopher is not a tortoise

Let's hope it's not a fish because I was shocked that the two little
20x20 foot areas that I flooded each absorbed about 5,000 gallons of
water without even showing a drop at the surface!

The ground has an amazing capacity to soak up water! (Of course, it
has only rained once since about May.)

In California, when it rains, it pours; so I wonder how the gopher
keeps dry when it rains for a week?

On 12/2/2013 3:10 PM, Danny D'Amico wrote:
On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 01:41:57 +0000, Danny D'Amico wrote:




4. My fourth lesson seems to be that the cheapest effective
way to get rid of the gopher will either be this rat poison
or that Mcabee gopher trap!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/1...a5a510a1_o.gif

Trouble is, addlepated gopher wanders out of burrow, is eaten by family
dog or neighbor's cat, and now you have a situation on your hands.
Learn to trap. Use Macabees, and trust me, you will get them, and catch
new ones before they make too much of a mess. Just put the trap at the
freshest dirt, and like you said, rake off the dirt so you can see the
fresh stuff, and that identifies the active tunnel. They will make
several, one for food storage, one for breeding and raising young, and
alternatives for escape routes, and further food gathering when the
roots are ready to be eaten.

It's a pain, but once you learn how to trap, you will get them in a day
or three, they don't make a mess all over, and for some reason, other
ones stay out of the yard, and it's a long time inbetween. Maybe they
smell the tunnels of the removed gopher, and think there's one there,
and respect its territory?

Watch it with the poison. You might have more than a dead gopher in
your yard in the morning.

Steve, King of SW Utah pocket gopher stalkers, Great Poohbah and
Mucketymuck of Gopher Assassins of Utah Lodge #1847.

On 12/2/2013 3:14 PM, Danny D'Amico wrote:
On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 07:03:30 -0500, dadiOH wrote:

I tried that once. Shoved the hose in as far as possible (6-8 feet) and let
it run. Our soil is sand and all the water did was soak in, burrow never
flooded.

I'm giving up on the water flooding gopher solution method!

I don't know if it worked yet, but, after 10,000 gallons was poured
into two gopher holes, I noticed *all* the concrete cracks weeping.

For example, here's a shot of the steps below the gopher hole:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3715/1...a0c03165_o.jpg

And, here's a shot of the retaining wall at the bottom of the steps:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5496/1...a201a50c_o.jpg

Seems to me the water might be damaging things, so, if it didn't
already work on getting rid of my first couple of gophers, I'm
giving up on it and moving on to something else!

Very logical and very smart. That would cost a lot to fix or replace.

On 12/2/2013 3:17 PM, Danny D'Amico wrote:
On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 08:11:51 -0500, Stormin Mormon wrote:

At a hardware store, I did see a gadget, that allows
you to park a vehicle near the hole, and run exhaust
into the gopher hole. I figure it would either bug out
the other hole, or die in place and stink.

I couldn't find *that* gadget, but, I did find these
gopher gassers today at the hardware sto
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7388/1...c9c2fa07_o.gif

Looks like a railroad flare to me, just shorter. I have also used the
cheap smoke bombs sold at 4th of July and New Years. Those work, too.
Just use them on the freshest dirt mound, and seal afterward. The
chemicals in them create their own oxygen, and they won't go out
underground. They will leave a stain on the grass, tho.

Steve

On 12/2/2013 3:22 PM, Danny D'Amico wrote:
On Sun, 01 Dec 2013 08:30:34 -0700, SteveB wrote:

Look to see them start sinking, cracking, and
otherwise rapidy deteriorating here shortly.

Actually, you're right!

After 10,000 gallons of water, every crack was seeping.

Here's a shot of the water pouring out of the bottom of
the retaining wall.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2880/1...27ea42a7_o.jpg

I give up on giving the gopher a bath method!


Damn, Bubba! I hope that "retaining" wall still "retains". You had to
do some damage or weakening.

Steve

On 12/2/2013 3:25 PM, Danny D'Amico wrote:
On Fri, 29 Nov 2013 18:33:42 -0800, bob haller wrote:

use a live trap and relocate whatever is bothering you.
but seriously how bad are some chipmunk holes?

I don't know what caused all these holes, but, they are
scattered every two feet on my lawn in all directions!
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5513/1...363dba2e_o.gif



Google pocket gopher. That is what you got, and you got more than one.

On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 12:24:34 -0700, SteveB
wrote:

On 12/2/2013 3:22 PM, Danny D'Amico wrote:
On Sun, 01 Dec 2013 08:30:34 -0700, SteveB wrote:

Look to see them start sinking, cracking, and
otherwise rapidy deteriorating here shortly.

Actually, you're right!

After 10,000 gallons of water, every crack was seeping.

Here's a shot of the water pouring out of the bottom of
the retaining wall.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2880/1...27ea42a7_o.jpg

I give up on giving the gopher a bath method!


Damn, Bubba! I hope that "retaining" wall still "retains". You had to
do some damage or weakening.

Steve

I'd hope the "retaining walls" have some rebar. You know that from
your steel days.

Aside, I saw a wall in or near Summerlin (you know) area. The dang
wind blew it over. It was a sound wall along the highway.

P.S. Do you think they will demolish the unit on the Strip, meant for
42 stories, capped at 26, for bad installation of rebar?

On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 12:20:35 -0700, SteveB wrote:

Seems to me the water might be damaging things

Very logical and very smart.
That would cost a lot to fix or replace.

Yea. Flooding them out isn't such a hot idea after all.

Turns out just *buying* the Mcabee trap scared them away!
I checked the two 20'x20' "lawns" today (separated by a
walkway) and there were *no new gopher holes*.

Wow. All I did was buy a trap, and the gophers went away.

Maybe the water trick *does work*; but still, it's not all
that efficient, in that you're risking far more damage, and
you're consuming 10,000 gallons of water & electricity to
pump it all out of the ground.

Anyway, I have other "lawns" (separated by a driveway), so,
I will still get a chance to use that trap after all.

The one good thing about the trap, especially since gophers
tend to be solitary creatures (when not breeding), is that
it would be concrete when they're caught.

At the moment, I'm *thinking* that the water made them go
away, but, I won't know for another couple of days.

Meanwhile, I'll put the trap in use on another "lawn".

On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 12:23:00 -0700, SteveB wrote:

Just use them on the freshest dirt mound, and seal afterward. The
chemicals in them create their own oxygen, and they won't go out
underground. They will leave a stain on the grass, tho.

Not worried about the "grass" as I haven't watered these lawns
since about May when the last good rains came through from the
Pacific Ocean!

My plan is to get rid of the gopher, and then cover the "lawn" with
wood chips. Seems to me that the gopher should go away if I take
all the roots from the plants away; but I don't know my enemy all
that well yet, so, I can't say that for sure.

On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 12:24:34 -0700, SteveB wrote:

Damn, Bubba! I hope that "retaining" wall still "retains".
You had to do some damage or weakening.

Yeah. It was literally flowing out of the base of the retaining wall,
where there was concrete on concrete.

I wonder if it's good (or bad) for the roots to flood things like
that; but, more intriguing is how the gopher manages to stay dry
in the winter when it rains for weeks on end here in California.

The ground must be sopping wet three feet deep from the rains.

On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 13:04:06 -0800, Oren wrote:

I'd hope the "retaining walls" have some rebar.

Dunno. But, I've belated learned the way to go is either to
put rodenticide in there (no more hugging 'dem critters); or,
to put the Mcabee trap (it hugs them for you).

Once I'm sure the rodent is gone, I can then continue on
with covering all my "lawns" with wood chips:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/1...ed786c90_o.gif

On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 12:19:40 -0700, SteveB wrote:

Watch it with the poison.
You might have more than a dead gopher in your yard in the morning.

This is a good point.

Especially since the rodenticide I bought is the type that kills on first
eating, but takes a while, so they eat a super-lethal dose.

On Tue, 3 Dec 2013 21:22:51 +0000 (UTC), Danny D'Amico
wrote:

On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 13:04:06 -0800, Oren wrote:

I'd hope the "retaining walls" have some rebar.

Dunno. But, I've belated learned the way to go is either to
put rodenticide in there (no more hugging 'dem critters); or,
to put the Mcabee trap (it hugs them for you).

Once I'm sure the rodent is gone, I can then continue on
with covering all my "lawns" with wood chips:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/1...ed786c90_o.gif

Just when you think they are gone, they come back to see you.

Buy a .22 caliber revolver - use snake shot for the round. If you do
try to trap them, paint a scarlet letter on them, so you know what is
going on

On 12/3/2013 2:04 PM, Oren wrote:

Aside, I saw a wall in or near Summerlin (you know) area. The dang
wind blew it over. It was a sound wall along the highway.

P.S. Do you think they will demolish the unit on the Strip, meant for
42 stories, capped at 26, for bad installation of rebar?

Not familiar with that, Oren. I'm going Friday. Where is it? It was
weird in Mexico, going along, and seeing how they would do a floor at a
time, leaving the rebar sticking up for the next floor, IF they got the
money ever to do another floor. And it was very common to see. You can
see all sorts of improvised construction methods in Mexico, some
hilarious, some ingenious.

Steve

On 12/3/2013 2:14 PM, Danny D'Amico wrote:


Wow. All I did was buy a trap, and the gophers went away.

I told you they were good.


Maybe the water trick *does work*; but still, it's not all
that efficient, in that you're risking far more damage, and
you're consuming 10,000 gallons of water & electricity to
pump it all out of the ground.

Anyway, I have other "lawns" (separated by a driveway), so,
I will still get a chance to use that trap after all.
I have had them vacate after running a huge amount of water into them.
Seems like I either killed them, or just made it inconvenient for them
so they moved. Then I had to fill in all the holes the water made, and
found places where it washed out a lot of fill, and that concerned me.

Believe me, if you learn how to use that trap, it works very well. Just
make the hole wide enough and tall enough. It has to be wide enough for
the springs to extend, and tall enough so you can push it down the
tunnel a ways with your finger on the back of the trigger so that you
don't set it off setting it. I haven't got caught by one, but by the
look of some of the gophers I have caught, it looks like it hurts big time.

Steve

On 12/3/2013 11:43 PM, SteveB wrote:
On 12/3/2013 2:14 PM, Danny D'Amico wrote:


Wow. All I did was buy a trap, and the gophers went away.

I told you they were good.

Seems to work for moles, too. $20. Probably scared them away...it is a
nasty looking machine. ;o)

On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 21:40:00 -0700, SteveB
wrote:

On 12/3/2013 2:04 PM, Oren wrote:

Aside, I saw a wall in or near Summerlin (you know) area. The dang
wind blew it over. It was a sound wall along the highway.

P.S. Do you think they will demolish the unit on the Strip, meant for
42 stories, capped at 26, for bad installation of rebar?

Not familiar with that, Oren. I'm going Friday. Where is it? It was
weird in Mexico, going along, and seeing how they would do a floor at a
time, leaving the rebar sticking up for the next floor, IF they got the
money ever to do another floor. And it was very common to see. You can
see all sorts of improvised construction methods in Mexico, some
hilarious, some ingenious.

Steve

http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/insurance-questions-stall-plans-demolish-harmon-hotel

http://www.reviewjournal.com/celebrity-news/mgm-resorts-says-it-will-demolish-harmon-tower

In Mexico, people build as they go and can afford. Unlike us, they do
not borrow money of have a mortgage. It may take years to finish an
small home.

On 12/4/2013 12:19 PM, Danny D. wrote:

I only bought one trap, but, the illustrations show using two,
back to back.

Do you use two? Or just one?

Do you bait with a carrot or something?

No, the trap is trigger activated. They are very sensitive, and tricky.
It works when the gopher pushes against the trigger that is standing
vertical. The two hooks come together across their chest. No bait at
all. I have seen lots of variations, even some that act like a
guillotine. The Macabee is simple, lasts forever, and works once you
learn how to set it properly. They work best at the end of a tunnel,
rather than in the middle of one. Hence, look for the freshest dirt
dome, or damp dirt in the middle of a cone that has just been pushed
out. That means an active tunnel.

Steve

On 12/4/2013 12:24 PM, Danny D. wrote:

BTW, what do you call it when you have patches of "lawn"
separated by "stuff" (like driveways, the house, the pool,
etc.). Are they lawnlets? They're about 20' by 20' (or so)
and are built into the landscaping (the house is on a hill).

Having yet to set the traps, my main question is:

1. Do people bother covering their scent on the trap?
2. Do people use two, back to back, like in the illustrations?
3. Do people bait the traps (carrots? lettuce? celery?)

No, no, and no. Gophers are gardeners. They dig tunnels under
vegetation, then cruise along, eating the roots of the plants. They may
tunnel under concrete, but not a lot, and not far. There is no food there.

Steve

On Wed, 04 Dec 2013 21:28:46 -0700, SteveB wrote:

1. Do people bother covering their scent on the trap?
2. Do people use two, back to back, like in the illustrations?
3. Do people bait the traps (carrots? lettuce? celery?)

No, no, and no.

Thanks. I find it interesting that gopher burrows are up to
about 6 feet deep. I know *tree* roots go deeper than that,
but, my intuition tells me most of the roots must be in the
first two feet of soil.

On 12/5/2013 2:57 PM, Danny D. wrote:
On Wed, 04 Dec 2013 21:25:55 -0700, SteveB wrote:

They work best at the end of a tunnel,
rather than in the middle of one.

That's interesting!

It makes sense then, that I would face it
toward the tunnel and, that there would only
need to be one macabee at that location.

Thanks.
Think about this: Look at the Macabee. It can only be tripped by a
gopher going in ONE direction. Hence, you want it where they will be
coming head first, and that is at the END of the tunnel. There are some
that work in tunnels, but you have to dig down, and clear a lot of dirt,
and have them set just right. AND, gophers have been known to nip
fingers of intruders.

Steve

On Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:06:19 -0700, SteveB wrote:

AND, gophers have been known to nip
fingers of intruders.

Wow. That, I'd be surprised to see!

On Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:06:19 -0700, SteveB wrote:

you want it where they will be
coming head first, and that is at the END of the tunnel.

OK. It's easier near the gopher mounds anyway.
Saves me the trouble of locating a main runway.

Thanks for the advice.