We use smoke cartridges as one of our strategies to control pocket gophers on our hobby farm, but there are a couple of tricks to make them REALLY effective!

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We have an ongoing problem with gophers. They are relentless, so we need to be. We use different methods to control them, including bait, traps, and gas cartridges.

In a previous episode, we showed how to locate pocket gopher runs and where to insert gas cartridges for maximum effectiveness. Some of you in our Viewer Family had some great ideas on enhancing these cartridges' effectiveness.

No single method is guaranteed success, so you must continue your elimination efforts if there are signs of continued activity. The network of tunnels pocket gophers is complex with an upper level that is used for the excavation of soil and surface foraging. A lower level includes defecation pits, food storage caches, burrows, and sump pits to catch water. They are very industrious in their digging activity, which generally leads to a lot of damage.

Two approaches that help make the use of smoke cartridges easier and more effective is the use of a long narrow probe to locate deeper tunnels and a leaf blower to drive the toxic smoke deeper into the tunnel network. This greatly enhances the probability of the gas reaching where the pocket gopher is.

The most obvious sign of pocket gopher activity is the fan-shaped mounds they leave when evacuating soil. The soil plug at the base of the fan is generally about 10” to 12” away from the tunnel. The fan arc indicates the location of the tunnel as the fan is perpendicular to the tunnel. So, try to locate the tunnel straight “across” from the soil plug. The fresher the pile of soil, the likelier you are to locate the tunnel system.

Once you locate it, it will generally run both ways. If it does, you won’t know what direction the gopher is located in. You have a couple of choices. You can guess on a side, treat it, and monitor for more activity. Or, you can wait. Put a divider of some type (we use a small board) so that when the gopher brings up more soil to plug the hole, you can see what side it came from. Then uncover that side and treat it. Or, you can put a cartridge in one side, then the other.
The probe really comes in handy to see if you can locate the deeper level of the tunnel system. When you dig out across from an excavation mound, use the probe at the bottom and all around the bottom edges to see if the probe punches through to the lower level. If it does, see if you can access that tunnel.

Now comes the fun part. Once you’ve created entrances to the tunnel, test the insertion of the cartridge to ensure it will go back into the run you’ve uncovered. If it does, you are ready to go. Light the cartridge, insert it, and then put the tip of your leaf blower near the entrance and run it on low to move the smoke deep into the tunnel system. Don’t be surprised if you see smoke appear in several places. Don’t continue to run the blower for a long time, as you want the smoke to stay in the tunnels to do its work!

Remove the blower, cap the tunnel entrance with soil, and check back a couple of days later to retreat if needed. Don’t give up!

If this method doesn’t work, consider baits or traps. Did we mention, “don’t give up?” That’s because they won’t.

JUST DO IT YOURSELF!

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