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Gopher Removal
Gophers are burrowing rodents distinguished by their unique fur-lined cheek pouches, which they use to carry plant materials collected during their underground foraging. These creatures are perfectly adapted to a subterranean lifestyle, with features like clawed front paws for digging, small eyes and ears, and sensitive whiskers and tails for navigating in the dark. Remarkably, gophers can close their lips behind their prominent incisors, allowing them to dig with their teeth without swallowing dirt. Gophers typically measure between 5 and 14 inches in length.
The Botta's Pocket Gopher, also known as the Valley Pocket Gopher, is the most common species. These gophers are widespread across the United States, thriving in diverse habitats where tuberous roots and other plant matter are abundant, and the soil is suitable for tunnel construction.
Gophers are especially active during the spring and fall seasons, creating tunnels that run 4 to 18 inches below the surface.
Protect Your Yard from Gopher Damage with our Gopher Removal Services
Gophers, also known as pocket gophers, can wreak havoc on your lawn or garden, leaving behind extensive damage. These burrowing rodents create intricate tunnel systems that can stretch for hundreds of feet underground, causing costly repairs and unsightly damage. To safeguard your property, it’s crucial to act quickly and contact gopher removal specialists as soon as you spot any signs of an infestation.
4 Signs You Might Have a Gopher Problem
Gophers are nocturnal creatures that resemble large rats. Although they are seldom seen above ground, the destruction they cause is hard to miss. Here are four common indicators of a gopher infestation:
- Horseshoe-shaped mounds appearing in your lawn or garden.
- Patches of barren grass and plants near holes or burrows.
- Wilting or dying plants and trees due to gophers feeding on roots and tubers.
- Pets that appear unusually agitated or restless.
Why Professional Gopher Removal is Essential
Gophers are relentless diggers, capable of causing significant and expensive damage to your property. They can disrupt underground utilities, such as cables, wires, and irrigation systems. If you observe any of the signs of gopher activity, it’s imperative to contact gopher removal experts immediately to prevent further destruction.
What is the Gopher's Habitat?
Gophers thrive in environments with sandy soil and abundant edible vegetation. They particularly favor lawns and crop fields, where they can often create unsightly dirt mounds while feeding on ornamental garden plants. Despite their reputation as pests in residential areas, gophers play a crucial role in their natural habitats, such as the Great Plains region. By moving large amounts of soil annually, they help aerate the ground, which improves soil health. Their tunnels are essential for capturing snowmelt and rainwater, reducing surface runoff and erosion. Additionally, abandoned gopher tunnels become shelters for other species, and the organic waste left behind enriches the soil.
However, while your backyard might provide an ideal environment for gophers, their presence can lead to unwanted damage.
What is the Gopher's Diet?
Gophers are herbivores, relying on above-ground plants, roots, and tubers to meet their nutritional needs. Their teeth are perfectly adapted to their vegetarian diet, featuring flattened molars and premolars for grinding vegetation. Their incisors grow continuously to counteract the wear from chewing on tough, gritty materials.
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Gopher Pest Control
What Damages are caused by Gophers?
While gophers are generally solitary creatures, allowing even one to inhabit your yard can lead to significant damage.
A single gopher can create over 200 mounds in a year, which can lead to various forms of destruction, including damage to underground utilities, plants, and soil integrity.
Landscape Damage
The type of plant material that gophers consume varies with the seasons. During the growing seasons, when vegetation is lush, gophers feed on above-ground plants, using the dense foliage as cover from predators. However, their burrowing can severely damage trees by pruning roots, girdling stems, and exposing roots, especially during the fall and winter months when roots become a primary food source. Seedlings are particularly vulnerable, as gophers can clip their roots, causing them to fail to thrive due to severe root system damage.
Structural Damage
Gophers can cause substantial structural damage by gnawing through underground utility cables and irrigation pipes. Their tunneling activity, especially in the banks of ditches and earthen dams, can weaken these structures, leading to water loss, piping issues, and even the complete failure of a bank.
Habitat Alteration
Gophers alter habitats by directly consuming vegetation and smothering forage with their earthen mounds. These activities can change the species composition on rangelands, as the mounds create seedbeds for invasive plants. In irrigated areas, gopher tunnels can result in significant water loss, undermining surface irrigation efforts.
Gophers that feed on tap-rooted plants can kill or weaken them, whereas plants with multiple large roots are more resilient. Interestingly, some species of ponderosa pines have developed natural resistance to gopher damage, making them less susceptible to the harm caused by these persistent rodents.
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