In the San Francisco Bay Area, pocket gophers are a serious threat. You wouldn’t think so to look at one. They’re only 6 to 10 inches in length. And some people consider them to be cute. But there is nothing cute about what they do when they come into our yards—nothing cute at all. Here are 3 reasons why you should consider doing something about those gophers, along with a few tips on what you can do about these furry invaders.Â
1. Gophers Do a Lot of Damage
There are many ways gophers can do damage. Some of the ways gophers cause damage might surprise you.
- Gophers create holes in lawns and landscaping and create unsightly dirt mounds. If you like having a beautiful lawn, these can be frustrating pests. It can also cost quite a bit to have a professional restore your lawn to its former beauty. It is best to deal with gophers as soon as you detect them.
- The dirt mounds created by gophers cover turfgrass and kills it. When these mounds are run over with a lawnmower, the damage to a lawn can be significant. It can also damage your lawnmower.
- Gophers can move along the rows in a garden and pull plants down into their tunnels in a short period of time. While this might not cost you a lot financially, it will destroy hours of labor.
- Gophers can feed on the bulbs of plants in landscaping and cause them to collapse. Some landscaping plants are very expensive.
- When gophers tunnel under concrete slabs, it can cause the concrete to crack. This can be difficult or impossible to repair.
- Gophers can damage irrigation systems when they gnaw on plastic water lines. It can cost quite a bit to have the lines dug up and repaired.
- Gophers sometimes chew on the bark at the base of trees. This is called girdling. Though it is important to keep in mind that the yard pest that most commonly chews bark and damages trees is the meadow vole.
When signs of gopher activity appear, take measures to get rid of those gophers quickly.
2. Gopher Problems Can Grow Out of Control
While we can’t predict how quickly gophers will reproduce on your property, we can tell that as they reproduce, your problems will increase. Don’t wait to deal with these pests. Before you know it, your yard could start looking like a battlefield, and it is hard to get things back to what they used to look like before your gopher problem started. It just isn’t worth it.
3. Gopher Holes Can Be a Threat
If you don’t have your gopher problem taken care of, the holes created by gophers could create secondary issues. Children running around in a yard that has gopher holes can role and ankle or seriously injure a leg. A gopher hole can be large enough and deep enough for a child’s foot and leg to go right down inside.
Another threat to consider is that yellow jackets create nests in ground holes. If you have lots of holes in your yard, your chances of having a yellow jacket infestation will increase. When a yellow jacket nest is established in a ground hole, all it takes is the vibration of a lawnmower to cause the wasps to swarm and sting multiple times.
How to Get Rid of Gophers in the San Francisco Bay Area
The only way to effectively get rid of pocket gophers is through the systematic use of traps. This is best done by an experienced and trained trapper. Pocket gophers are very difficult to control and can cause quite a bit of frustration.
For help removing and controlling pocket gophers in the San Francisco Bay Area, get help from the gopher experts. At Smith’s Pest Management, we don’t just trap gophers. Our team of expertly trained wildlife control professionals knows how to get control of gopher problems. We have protected over 5,500 homes and more than 750 schools, parks, and commercial facilities from the destructive impact of pocket gophers and other wildlife pest problems. Get control of gophers. Reach out to Smith’s Pest Management today.
