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General Gopher Questions
Q. Why did the Creator of Heaven and Earth make gophers, anyway?
Q. Why did the gophers pick my yard?
Q. Why do gophers want to live in my yard?
Q. Why do I need to get rid of gophers?
Q. When are gophers a problem?
Q. When do gophers come into houses?
Q. When is the best time to get rid of gophers?
Q. How do I know if I have gophers in my yard?
Q. Where can I get help with my gopher problem?
Health & Safety
Q. What are the health risks of having gophers on my property?
Q. Will the gophers attack me?
Q. Who is responsible for this gopher problem?
Animal Control Products and Methods
Q. What are the most common gopher complaints you receive?
Q. Which poisons do you recommend to kill gophers?
Q. Which gopher repellents are the best?
Q. Which methods do you use to exterminate gophers?
Q. Who should I call for help?
Q. Why should I hire a professional to get rid of gophers?
Property Damage
Q. What damage can gophers cause?
Q. What is this going to do to my property value?
Q. What will a wildlife removal technician do about the gophers in my yard?
Q. How can I get the gophers out?
Q. How can a wildlife removal technician help me get rid of the gophers?
Costs
Q. What does it cost for an initial on-site gopher inspection?
Q. What does it cost for an initial over-the-phone gopher control consultation?
Q. Who pays for my gopher problem?
Q. What FREE gopher control services does your company offer to the public?
Q. How much will it cost to get rid of the gophers?
General Gopher Questions
Q. Why did the Creator of Heaven and Earth make gophers, anyway?
Gophers are very important animals. They till the earth, aerating the soil. They are also an important food source for other animals like foxes, weasels and snakes.
Q. Why did the gophers pick my yard?
A. Gophers picked your yard because you have delicious landscaping. These dedicated vegetarians love plants, vegetables, roots, stems, and all. And, on top of all that, you have beautiful grass and plenty of water to offer. What more could a gopher want?
Q. Why do gophers want to live in my yard?
A. Gophers want to live in your yard because the dirt is easy to dig and there is plenty of food. As they tunnel under your yard they create a sort of root cellar where tasty food hangs from the ceiling like edible stalactites, or root-cicles.
Q. Why do I need to get rid of gophers?
A. Gophers are so cute and there aren't really all that many of them, surely they can't be all that bad. Right! These little creatures are amazing diggers and tunnelers. All those dirt mounds you find in your yard are probably created by ONE gopher. Each gopher produces 10-30 mounds a month ranging in volume from a glass full to a gallon. When digging, they find stuff. If it is edible, they eat it. If not, they chew right through many things they encounter underground. This includes phone or other utility lines and irrigation lines. Small rocks they carry out and add to the dirt pile (Hope you don't hit one with the mower). If large rocks or other un-chewable objects get it the way, they just dig around them.
Gophers aggressively consume tree roots, even to the point the tree is no longer supported and falls over-landing where it may.
Weasels, skunks, snakes and other animals prey on gophers and frequent the same areas, causing their own special forms of damage in the process.
Q. When are gophers a problem?
A. Gophers are a problem when they occupy expensive landscaped or cultivated areas-lawns, fields or golf courses. Gophers seek roots, and destroy the plants or trees in the process. As they move about underground, they throw up mounds of dirt that are very unattractive. Their tunnels create holes and other weak spots in the ground that can twist or even break ankles and legs of humans and large animals, such as horses.
Gophers give dogs and foxes a seemingly irresistible urge to dig. Your dog, or the neighbor's dog, will add to your landscaping damage as they dig furiously, and usually futilely, after that sneaky little gopher.
Q. When do gophers come into houses?
A. Gophers rarely, if ever, come into houses. If they do it is by mistake because they accidently dug themselves there or fell into a window well or something similar.
Q. When is the best time to get rid of gophers?
A. As soon as you notice gopher activity-fresh fan-shaped mounds of fine dirt-it is time to get rid of them. The damage adds up quickly and they will not leave on their own. Get them out quickly before they have young and your cost multiplies along with the number of gophers.
A. Gophers, also called pocket gophers, are found in much of the Western Hemisphere. They are nature's rototiller, and environmentally significant. They live underground in open areas with grass or other cover and soil that is easy-to-dig. For example, if a soil is more than about 10% rock, it is highly unlikely that a gopher will live there because it is too hard to dig and tunnel. Gophers are highly territorial and rarely appear in a concentration greater than one gopher per quarter acre. That may not sound too bad, but in this case it isn't the quantity of problem, it's the quality of problem. That one little gopher can do a staggering amount of damage. Expect to find between 10 and 30 new mounds of dirt in your yard each month, as the gopher forages his way through your expensive and tasty plants.
Q. How do I know if I have gophers in my yard?
A. You will see piles of dirt or sand in your yard, as though a child were emptying a pail at random. In fact, people often accuse neighbors or local children of harassment before they figure out they have gophers because the animals themselves are so rarely seen. In addition to the dirt piles, which resemble a fan in shape, you will occasionally see holes or find an area of weakness in your turf, because of the void underneath. Gophers feed on grass, roots, bulbs, tubers (like potatoes) and some seeds. Their vegetarian habits give them away as landscaping features begin to die, seemingly for no reason. The trees will act like they are dying of thirst, because they are. Their roots have been destroyed and the trees are getting no moisture or nutrients. They have been destroyed from the roots up.
Q. Where can I get help with my gopher problem?
A. Allstate Gopher Control can help you. No government agency exists for gopher removal and control. Exterminators are frequently unprepared for gophers. Get a professional wild pest animal removal company like us.
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Health & Safety
Q. What are the health risks of having gophers on my property?
A. Gophers are known carriers of rabies and monkeypox, a virus that attacks lymph nodes. Be particularly careful if the animal is out of its burrow and does not show fear. Given the shy, reclusive nature of gophers, this is a big clue the animal may be sick.
Gophers are commonly infested with lice, fleas, ticks and mites, as is common with all rodents. Domestic pets often encounter gophers. They might dig one up, or catch an unwary one making a rare trip above ground. Now your dog or cat has fleas and will bring them inside. These parasites like people almost as well as they like gophers.
A less commonly recognized health risk is injury from stepping into holes, tunnels or voids created by their digging and tunneling habits. Twisted or sprained ankles and even broken legs are common. Be particularly careful riding a horse in gopher country as both horse and rider and be injured or even killed.
Q. Will the gophers attack me?
A. Gophers eat plants, not people, but any wild animal will defend itself if cornered or picked up. Gophers will most commonly try to dig themselves out of a problem rather than attack.
Q. Who is responsible for this gopher problem?
A. The very tasty flavor of your plants is responsible for bringing the gophers, but now you are responsible for getting rid of them. You don't have to do it alone though. (Have you ever seen the movie CaddyShack?) Call Allstate Gopher Control and we will take care of it for you.
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Animal Control Products and Methods
Q. What are the most common gopher complaints you receive?
A. People are very unhappy when a destructive little gopher decides to consume and kill their garden and ornamental landscaping and leave mounds of dirt all over their lawn. For example, gophers particularly like rosebushes and are known to kill an entire prize flower garden. The fan shaped dirt mounds sometimes conceal rocks. The dirt and rocks damage mowers and lawn care equipment. Damaged irrigation systems and, less often, flooding, is another common complaint.
Q. Which poisons do you recommend to kill gophers?
A. There are no poisons generally available that I would recommend because of their low success rate.
Q. Which gopher repellents are the best?
A. There are no known effective chemical or sonic repellents available. The benefits of these products have not been proven and they come with considerable risk and expense for limited results, at best.
Q. Which methods do you use to exterminate gophers?
A. We use kill traps, poisons (requiring license), smoke and concussion gas bombs. We vary and combine methods to fit your unique situation and produce consistently effective results.
Q. Who should I call for help?
A. Call Allstate Gopher Control . We have helped many people get rid of gophers from lawns, golf courses and farms. We are effective and have the experience and expertise you need.
Q. Why should I hire a professional to get rid of gophers?
A. You need to get rid of gophers or face massive landscape damage, erosion, flooding and broken ankles. The big question is HOW to get rid of an animal you rarely even see. Many amateur attempts at gopher removal end in disaster. Gasoline bombs explode. Attempts to flood the creatures out flood homes instead. Poisoning with automobile exhaust results in carbon monoxide poisoning of people in the basement of the adjacent home. While digging for gophers, water and electrical lines are cut. Hire a professional and get rid of the gophers while preserving your own health and safety.
Back to TopProperty Damage
Q. What damage can gophers cause?
A. Gophers use a combination of teeth and claws to dig elaborate tunnel systems underground. The tunnels provide housing, shelter and access to food. In the process of building the tunnels and searching for food, gophers damage landscaping, chew through cables, water lines, man-made pond or lake liners and create dangerous voids in the turf.
Q. What is this going to do to my property value?
A. Most gopher damage is aesthetic and restricted to landscaping. There are instances of flooding or damage from falling trees that were themselves damaged by the gophers, but even if it is only superficial and makes your property less attractive, it brings value and salability down.
Q. What will a wildlife removal technician do about the gophers in my yard?
A. An Allstate Gopher Control network technician will perform an on-site inspection to determine the number and location of gophers. He or she will create a complete control program that will get rid of the gophers, clean up the mess and prevent their return. A removal plan generally involves a combination of trapping, poisons, smoke and concussion. Traps are deliberately and carefully set to target gophers and not cause harm to others. The gophers usually die underground and you never see them or any evidence of them again.
Q. How can I get the gophers out?
A. You can try gopher removal yourself but this is not recommended. Keep in mind that the tunnel systems of gophers are extensive and usually have more than one entrance. Be very cautious of "homegrown" methods: flooding, carbon monoxide poisoning, electrocution and fire are all common side effects of do-it-yourself gopher removal.
Q. How can a wildlife removal technician help me get rid of the gophers?
A. We will inspect your property, create a customized removal plan and exterminate the gophers as necessary. We will also determine if there is an additional infestation-such as snakes, which love to use gopher tunnels and don't mind a snack of gopher if one is available. We can safeguard against future infestations and continued damage by installing products such as steel mesh or slick sheets, which the gophers can't dig or chew through, to protect specific plantings.
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Costs
Q. What does it cost for an initial on-site gopher inspection?
A. Inspections start at $150-250, depending on your location. For specific information, see our Gopher Removal Pricing.
Q. What does it cost for an initial over-the-phone gopher control consultation?
A. FREE! Send 5-10 pictures via e-mail and we will review them and call you to recommend a solution and give you an estimate. Pictures should include suspected gopher mounds, damage caused by the gophers, and any related item you think might be important.
Q. Who pays for my gopher problem?
A. Gopher infestations are the responsibility of the property owner. Typically gopher removal starts with an inspection and evaluation which costs $150-250, depending on your location. You may want to contact your property insurance carrier; your policy may include coverage for removal and clean up of pest animals. For specific information, see our Pricing Page.
Q. What FREE gopher control services does your company offer to the public?
A. If you find a suspected gopher problem on your property, take 5-10 digital pictures and e-mail them to us. We will call you on the phone and discuss your situation for a few minutes and suggest a plan of action, as time allows.
Q. How much will it cost to get rid of the gophers?
A. Prices vary depending on your location, number of animals and severity of the problem. I can give you a FREE estimate over the phone using digital pictures you e-mail me. For additional information, see our Gopher Pricing Page.
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