Question 1

How are gophers different from other burrowing animals?

Accepted Answer

When you see mounds of earth on your property at first, you might think you are suffering from a mole problem. So how do you differentiate gophers from other burrowing rodents?

Gophers look more like squirrels than rats, while in moles, the reverse is the case. Gophers have small, visible ears, and have a brown coat, which could vary in lightness. Moles won’t eat up any of your garden plants, while gophers would devour as many plants as they can because they are not carnivorous like moles.

While gophers have a short snout, prairie dogs have slightly longer, rounder noses.

Also, prairie dogs stand with all four legs on the ground and walk like dogs. Gophers on the other hand on my stand with two legs, as the other legs function as ‘hands’ to hold or pick up things.

Question 2

What is a pocket gopher?

Accepted Answer

Pocket gophers are the most common type of shoppers in the US, especially in North America.

Pocket gophers can grow up to 14 inches in length. A pocket gopher eats vegetation like other gophers but prefers bulbs and stems of seedlings or young plants.

Question 3

What does a gopher tunnel look like?

Accepted Answer

Gophers, like moles, live most of their lives underground so it’s hard to see them on your lawn except they want to get food. They live in extensive tunnels below the surface of your lawn, which could be as deep as 12 inches.

Gophers mainly use their tunnels for feeding and storage, although food storage tunnels can be 4-6 feet deep. They nest in these and mate in these tunnels too. Waste holes can be found in a gopher hole, where the rodents dispose of their waste, like a lavatory.

A tunnel or burrow system can cover a length of almost 1000 sq. feet on your lawn because their burrow systems are made up of smaller tunnels that connect the surface to a main, bigger tunnel underground.

You might not get to see the extensive tunnel network on your lawn, but you can see mounds. These mounds are entry points into the tunnels. Does the mound look like a horseshoe? If yes, then you can be sure you are dealing with a gopher problem.

Gophers use their claws and teeth to dig backwards while they make their tunnels, forming the mounds you see. They also use plug holes to keep away unwanted guests like snakes and other rodents.

Question 4

Can gophers destroy my garden plants?

Accepted Answer

Yes, gophers can destroy your garden plants, especially edible crops like carrots and celery.

Gophers would naturally go for underground crops as these are closer to their tunnels.

When they are unable to get any more underground crops to feed on, they resort to eating anything they see on your lawn including perfectly mowed lawn grass.

Gophers can eat free roots too, provided they are succulent enough to be chewed on. Big plants are not spared from these pesky creatures as their underground stems and roots can be severely dealt with by gophers.

Question 5

Can gophers eat seeds too?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

Gophers eat seeds too, so if you notice you have dirt mounds on your lawn, you might have to wait till you get rid of the gophers first before you plant.

If not, you might just be wasting your seeds as gophers would not hesitate to eat up your seeds, as they keep gophers attracted to your garden.

Question 6

Do coffee grounds keep critters away?

Accepted Answer

Now, you might be wondering if the coffee grounds you easily throw away can help reduce or eliminate a gopher infestation.

Yes, coffee grounds can be used on gophers, but not just gophers, other burrowing animals too. Fresh coffee grounds instantly repel garden moles as well.

Question 7

Why should you use coffee grounds?

Accepted Answer

Because they have a strong smell! Brewed coffee already smells so strong, talk less of coffee grounds, where your cup of coffee came from. A gopher hates strong smells and will hate coffee grounds too.

Now, it’s not hard to use coffee grounds. You just need to sprinkle them in your garden, yard, or any other area giving you gopher trouble.

In order to make the coffee grounds even more effective, you can integrate them with your soil. Spray some grounds in your garden and mix the coffee grounds with the soil, using your hand or a small trowel.

This procedure ensures that the coffee grounds permeate everywhere, making it even harder for the gophers to resist. Don’t worry, coffee grounds are not going to harm your plants: they are actually a kind of natural fertiliser.

Question 8

Do moles like coffee grounds?

Accepted Answer

If you have a mole problem or suspect you are dealing with moles, you want to know if coffee grounds can repel moles too. After all, they are burrowing animals like gophers, right?

There is good news for you.

Moles, like gophers, hate coffee grounds and would flee any area that contains this strong smelling substance. Moles and gophers hate strong smelling things, probably due to their acute sense of smell.

Question 9

Can Dawn dish soap get rid of gophers?

Accepted Answer

If you use home remedies or make homemade DIY ingredients to deal with pests, you would know that dish soap is effective in dealing with a wide variety of pests. You can use dish soap to repel gophers and other burrowing animals.

To use dish soap, you need to get castor oil.

Castor oil will make your homemade recipe more effective as the smell is offensive to pests. Castor oil instantly repels garden moles. Some commercial pest repellants include castor oil in their formulas because it works!

Question 10

How can I eliminate burrowing animals?

Accepted Answer

Gophers may not be the only burrowing animals you are dealing with. You can be facing moles, squirrels, or even all three. To get rid of burrowing pests, here are some general steps you can take:
Remove the food source:

Burrowing animals, like most other pests, only come to stay in your yard when they are sure they would get something to eat.

What do these animals eat? Grubs? Smaller rodents? Kill or remove them from your property in order not to attract burrowing rodents.

For animals that feast on plants, you need to use protective techniques like wire mesh so they can’t eat your plants. By the time they realize there is really no food on your lawn, they would go.
Keep your space clean:

Your garden and lawn need to be clean and tidy, not just for aesthetics, but because a dirty or unkempt garden makes it very easy for pests to dwell with you; there is always where to hide or materials that can cover them.

Declutter your property as much as possible and remove items you no longer use like broken flower pots and old rubber containers.

Question 11

How else can I get rid of gophers?

Accepted Answer

You also can use other methods to get rid of gophers, although the method we are going to talk about in this next section is harder to execute than sprinkling coffee grounds.
Baits:

So maybe you have used a lot of coffee grounds on your garden, and the gophers still make your garden their home. In that case, you can use a commercial bait like Sweeney’s Gopher poison peanuts.

This repellent functions better because it is made to look exactly like peanuts. The peanuts are laced with zinc phosphide which is deadly to gophers. Alternatively, you can use Kaput Pocket gopher bait. This bait uses red grains to kill gophers, through an ingredient called Diphacinone.

One teaspoon of Moletox Gopher Killer Granules is also effective, as it will kill gophers. However, with this particular bait, you have to actually dip it into the gopher tunnels.
Urine and litter:

Did you know you could use pet urine or litter to keep gophers away from your yard? Yes, poo from your dog and cat can chase gophers away, primarily because of their strong smell.

You can choose to empty your cat’s litter box into a gopher tunnel or spread dog poop around the entrance of their tunnels. You can use your urine too, as the smell will equally be repulsive to gophers.
Carrot and celery sticks:

You can use either of these vegetables to bait gophers by adding a bit of peanut butter to them.

There is nothing more attractive to a gopher than a juicy vegetable smothered with peanut butter. This type of bait is very useful for traps, especially those with a vertical orientation. Such traps focus mainly on killing the gopher by crushing its neck.
Gopher spurge:

Some particular plants can be used to chase away gophers.

One particular plant that always works is a plant named Plant “gopher spurge,” or gopher plant, whose botanical name is Euphorbia lathyris.

The plant is toxic to humans and pets if ingested. If it touches you or your pet, it can cause skin irritation and blisters.

In gophers, contact causes these same symptoms and this is why they avoid the plant. Gopher plants can be purchased from a nursery around you. You should plant this gopher repellent in areas where the gophers are causing havoc.
Snakes:

This might sound scary, but snakes are effective gopher repellents too.

Just that in this case, you have to buy non-venomous snakes so even if you or your pet is bitten, you won’t be worried about venom poisoning.

Get a few snakes and allow them to do their job in your yard. Snakes find gophers a yummy treat and will gladly eat as many others as they can.

If you have a small pet, you might want to avoid gopher snakes as they can eat up your little pets. If you’re scared of snakes, it is best to avoid this method.

Question 12

Can I put juicy fruit gum in a gopher hole?

Accepted Answer

Using fruit gum to eliminate gophers is another technique that has been passed down from generation to generation. Well, there isn’t sufficient evidence to state if this method works or not, but you can go ahead to try it.

Take a fruit gum like Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Gum and remove the paper wrapping. Now, people put the gum in gopher homes using different ways.

While some people believe that you should not tamper with the gum inside the aluminium foil, others believe you should chew the gum till it has no sugar left in it. If you want to use the first method, simply put the gum into the hole and let it be. The fruity scent and taste will attract the gopher.

You can decide to chew the gum first too, like in the second method. Instead of throwing your gum in the trash, throw it down a gopher hole instead. The gopher would eat either the chewed or unchewed gum, and die because it won’t be able to digest the gum, causing fatal digestive issues.

Do coffee grounds repel gophers?

Why you can trust us

Understanding Gophers: The Garden’s Hidden Menace

What Are Gophers?

Why Are Gophers a Problem for Gardeners?

Identifying Gopher Activity

The Coffee Grounds Controversy

The Hypothesis: Do Coffee Grounds Repel Gophers?

Investigating the Science Behind Coffee Grounds

What Do Coffee Grounds Contain?

Are There Any Studies?

Practical Uses of Coffee Grounds in the Garden

Beyond Repelling Gophers: Other Benefits of Coffee Grounds

How to Use Coffee Grounds in Your Garden

Effective Gopher Control Methods

Natural Solutions to Manage Gopher Populations

1. Physical Barriers

2. Plant Selection

3. Natural Repellents

4. Trapping

Conclusion: The Truth About Coffee Grounds and Gopher Control

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