Pocket Gophers Trapping How ToTrap Gophers

South Eastern Pocket Gopher, By Dr. William H. Kern, Jr. University of
Florida

Note: Although the article is written about Florida pocket gophers the information applies to other pocket gopher species
throughout North
America.)

Description

The southeastern pocket gopher, Geomys pinetis , is also known as the sandy-mounder or salamander. The pocket gopher is
a rodent that is well adapted for its life underground. It has very small eyes and ears and large claws on its powerful front
legs. The term pocket refers to the fur-lined cheek pouches that the gopher uses to carry food (Figure 1 ). The old wives' tale
that it carries soil from the burrow in these pouches is false. The lips close behind the protruding chisel-like front teeth so
the gopher can chew through dense soil or large roots without getting dirt in its mouth. The southeastern pocket gopher is
tan to gray-brown in color. The feet and naked tail are light colored. The average total length (tip of nose to tip of tail) for an
adult gopher is about 10 inches (25 cm), with a range of 9-12 inches (23-30 cm). Its tail averages about 3 inches (7.6 cm) in
length.

Habitat and Food The southeastern pocket gopher requires deep, well-drained sandy soils. It is most abundant in longleaf
pine/turkey oak sandhill habitats, but it is also found in coastal strand, sand pine scrub, and upland hammock habitats.
Gophers dig extensive tunnel systems and are rarely seen on the surface. The average tunnel length is 145 feet (44 m) and at
least one tunnel was followed for 525 feet (159 m). The soil gophers remove while digging their tunnels is pushed to the
surface to form the characteristic rows of sand mounds. Mound building seems to be more intense during the cooler months,
especially spring and fall, and slower in the summer. In the spring, pocket gophers push up 1-3 mounds per day. Based on
mound construction, gophers seem to be more active at night and around dusk and dawn, but they may be active at any time
of day. The primary tunnels run parallel to the surface and most are 2 inches (5 cm) to 2 feet (0.6 m) below the surface, but
some tunnels may extend downward as far as 5 feet (1.5 m).

Nests and food storage chambers are located in these deeper tunnels. As the gopher digs, it pushes the excavated dirt
behind itself. It then turns around in the tunnel and pushes the dirt up a tunnel that ends at the surface, producing a mound.
As the main tunnel progresses beyond the first tunnel, a new lateral tunnel is dug to the surface. Then the first lateral tunnel
is backfilled to block it off from the surface. This behavior is a defense against the gopher's main predator, the Florida pine
snake, which goes down the tunnel after its prey. The pine snake kills the gopher by pressing it against the wall of the tunnel,
rather than wrapping it in constricting coils. The pocket gopher feeds on the tap roots, crown roots, fleshy rhizomes, bulbs,
and tubers of a wide variety of plants in its natural environment. Bahiagrass tubers appear to be a preferred food based on the
contents of food caches. Gophers also have an unfortunate fondness for sweet potatoes, peanuts, sugarcane, alfalfa, and
peas. Reproduction Gophers reach sexual maturity at about 6 months of age. The southeastern pocket gopher usually has one
or two litters per year. The average number of young per litter is 1.5 (one to three young). Although gophers breed year round,
breeding is most common in March and in July or August. They build nests of shredded grass in the deepest part of the
tunnel system, 2-5 feet (0.6-1.5 m) below the surface. The low reproductive rate can sustain gopher populations because the
gopher has few natural predators, owing to its underground lifestyle. Damage and Control The most common problem
associated with gophers is the numerous large, sandy mounds they deposit on the surface. Occasionally, gophers will feed
on the roots or tubers of garden, ornamental, or crop plants. In natural settings, gopher tunneling activities are beneficial. The
soil gophers bring to the surface contains nutrients leached from surface soils. This natural fertilizer helps to maintain the
sandhill ecosystem. The mounds of loose soil provide needed germination sites for some native plant seeds. Many
amphibians and reptiles use gopher mounds as homes, including Florida's unique mole skinks. The gopher tunnels
themselves serve as habitat for many unique invertebrates that are found nowhere else. When pocket gophers are damaging
lawns, golf courses, or gardens, it is legal for the property owners, tenants, or employees to trap them without a permit.
Because the southeastern pocket gopher is a native nongame wildlife species, it is illegal to use any type of poison (bait or
fumigant) to kill it without a Poison Permit issued by the Florida Game & Fresh Water Fish Commission (GFC). If a lawn service
or pest control technician is hired to remove a pocket gopher, that technician must possess a Nuisance Wildlife Permit issued
by the GFC. Trapping is the most effective method for controlling the few gophers that invade yards, gardens, golf courses, or
crop fields. Gophers should be maintained in natural areas and can usually be tolerated along rights-of-way for roads and
power lines. Traditional gopher traps are very effective but are less humane than choker-loop gopher traps (Figure 2).

Because they do not always kill trapped animals quickly, traditional gopher traps should always be attached by a wire to a
stake on the surface. In the morning, the trap can be gently pulled to the surface and the gopher killed quickly with a sharp
blow to the head. Gophers are killed quickly when caught in a choker-loop trap. Regardless of which trap is used, the most
important part of the trapping process is findingthe tunnel. This is also the most difficult part of the process. One method
depends on finding a mound in the process of being formed. This may require looking at night or around dusk. Push the
mound of sand to one side and probe in that location with a trowel or stiff wire. When the tunnel is found and opened, insert
the trap into the lateral tunnel (Figure 3).

Cover the opening with a board or piece of cardboard and seal the edges with soil fromthe mound. This will block the light and
prevent air movement that might alert the gopher to the trap. The next load of soil the gopher brings to the surface will place it
in the trap. The other method of placing traps involves digging a hole down to the main tunnel and setting the traps in the
exposed openings of the tunnel. The location of the main tunnel can be estimated to be under the line of mounds on the
surface. When digging the hole down to the tunnel, put the excavated soil in a wheelbarrow or on a sheet of heavy plastic so it
can be replaced after the gopher is captured. Again, cover the ends of the tunnels with soil after the traps are set to avoid
alerting the gopher to the traps. As a general rule of thumb, the larger the mounds, the larger the gopher. A larger gopher
requires a larger tunnel, meaning that more soil must be excavated and moved to the surface. Choker-loop gopher traps were
generally designed for western pocket gophers, which are smaller than our southeastern pocket gopher. These traps will
work on smaller individuals, but traditional gopher traps may be required to capture large adult gophers. Gophers can be
excluded from small areas such as gardens, flower beds, and even small backyards through the use of underground fences
made of ½-inch galvanized hardware cloth. The barrier should extend at least 2 feet (0.6 m) under the ground and at least 6
inches (15 cm) above the ground. Since gophers can burrow down to 5 feet (1.5 m), some may get under the fence, but this
barrier will keep out the majority. Planting unpalatable plants such as oleanders around the edge of your property may deter
gophers from entering. Unfortunately, there are no chemical repellents known to be effective against gophers. Vibrating
devices have not been proven to repel gophers. Reports that Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum kills gophers by blocking their
digestive tracts have been proven to be false. Finally, tunnel flooding has been used successfully in other parts of the country.

However, this method usually does not work here since the southeastern pocket gopher is restricted to deep, well-drained
sandy soils in Florida.

Selected References

Brown, L.N. and G. C. Hickman. 1979. Tunnel system structure of the southeastern pocket gopher. Florida Sci. 36:97-103.
Case, Ronald M. 1983. Pocket Gophers. Prevention and control of wildlife damage. Coop. Exten. Serv., Univ. Nebraska, Lincoln.
Pp. B.13-B.26. Daar, Sheila, and William Olkowski. 1985. Tips on gopher control. Common Sense Pest Control 1(3):18-19.
Wing, E. S. 1960. Reproduction in the pocket gopher in north-central Florida. J. Mammal. 41:35-43.
Footnotes

1. This document is WEC-67, one of a series of the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation department], Florida Cooperative
Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First published as FRC-35, "Controlling
Pocket Gophers," May, 1991. Published as SS-WIS-67, May, 1994. Reviewed: September, 1998. Please visit the EDIS Web site at
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/

2. William H. Kern, Jr., Ph.D., assistant extension scientist, Largo, FL, 33774, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.