FAQ

What Does a Gopher Mound Look Like?

Gophers mounds are pushed up piles of dirt that are left behind by gophers when they create their tunnels and look for food. Their mounds will usually be slightly lopsided or “crescent shaped” due to how they push the dirt out. The dirt will typically be finer in texture and more spread out than a mole mound. There may be a visible “plug” where the gopher plugged up the hole they created with dirt. You may sometimes see an open hole for a brief time but gophers will always want to block off any entrance to their tunnels.

What if I have 8, 80, or 800 Gophers?

The great news is that gophers are actually quite territorial! They only cohabitate during breeding season (spring to early summer). Most of the time we only find between one to three on most properties. If you think you have a bunch, contact us! Our expert technicians will be able to let you know how many critters they think are damaging your landscape!

How to Handle Gopher Infestations of All Sizes

As mentioned above gophers are very territorial animals so they only cohabitate during breeding season. This means you are not likely to have a large number of them on your property at any given time. If you are only seeing activity in one area you most likely just have one gopher. If you are seeing a few spots of activity spread across your property then you may have 2 or 3! Having a large landscape or living near open space does increase the chances of having more activity but the only places we have found an excessive amount (like dozens or more) have been at parks or school yards that have been left untreated.

Our one time trapping service is ideal if you just have a few gophers but if we determine there to be a large number of them when we come out we’ll give you a custom estimate for a service called a gopher clean up. It is a more intensive services that offers weekly visits where we’ll do a combination of baiting and trapping to gain better control.

When will the activity stop?

Whether you are utilizing our “one time” removal service or our ongoing program, we are going to be hunting wild animals so there is no guaranteed time period to control the activity on your property. This means that it is extremely common and expected to see new activity in between our visits. If you are using our one time service please mark any new activity with the yellow flags we leave behind for you and we will be sure to check these areas out on our follow up visit. If you are on our ongoing program please be sure to reach out to us whenever you see anything new and utilize your unlimited service calls!

How do you set the traps? Will it ruin my grass?

We set traps completely underground. Our ultimate goal is to protect your plants and landscape so we do everything we can to avoid damage. We do this by removing the soil we need in a plug or cork-like manner so as to not break the roots of the lawn or plants. We can then set our traps and put the plug right back into place. We are so good at this that we even have a hard time finding our traps without a map or our flags left to mark their location!

What to Expect During the Gopher/Mole Removal Process

During our trapping service for gophers and moles, we will come out and set the traps within 2 business of you placing the request. The technician will walk the entire property and find the areas with the most consistent and newest activity to set their traps in. The traps will be set completely underground but you will see white flags left in the areas where our traps have been set. A single flag will typically indicate more than one trap.

Our technicians will knock over mounds as they go to help you and them better identify new activity. You will be given a set of yellow flags to mark areas that you see in between our visits. We will come out within 10 business days of each previous visit to check and reset the traps until there is no more new activity on appearing.

Once the activity stops we remove our traps from your property and your 30 day guarantee period begins. We offer this guarantee in case we don’t have a successful catch the first time around and to help you if another critter moves onto your property.

Are the traps/bait safe for my pets?

The traps are completely underground and are not baited so there is nothing that would attract your pet to the traps. Bait can pose a risk to pets but you will always be notified of when bait is used on your property and any special instructions for after our treatment! Most bait we use will be injected underground or placed within special stations so it will not be thrown out on the surface for pets or other animals to easily consume.

Is the program right for me?

Our ongoing Gopher, Mole, and Vole Control Program may be right for you if those pests keep appearing in your yard! We find that properties that back up to open space, a golf course, a creek, or a park will usually benefit from an ongoing program. This is because any place that critter activity goes unchecked will be a breeding ground for these pests. As the population increases and the un-landscaped soil dries out the gophers, moles, and voles will seek out your beautiful and desirable irrigated landscape for food and soft soil. We will need to clear up the initial critter activity using one our “one time” removal services before starting our ongoing program.

What about protecting other wildlife?

We started as a horticulture business so we do everything we can to protect the environment – including other wildlife and pets. For services that do require the use of poison we use all products as directed by the California EPA and DPR regulations. We also primarily control ground burrowing critters and therefore most of the action happens underground so it won’t be exposed to other predatory animals.

How do I prevent Gophers and Moles from coming back?

There is unfortunately no 100% guaranteed method for the prevention of gophers, moles, and voles. They are native to this area so we are living in their natural habitats. Sometimes a wire netting is installed under lawns, around plants, or as underground fences to work as a prevention method, however, even this is not completely effective. Read more about our thoughts on gopher netting here. Unfortunately as long as there is soil and a desirable food source on your property you are likely to get activity again at some point. If you live near any open space you are far more likely to get continued activity as well.