When people think about the many pests that plague homeowners, the first ones that come to mind are typically ants, cockroaches, Bed Bugs, and mosquitoes. However, if you live in California, your first thought might just be gophers. The state is overrun with these pervasive rodents, and the damage they do is massive.

Watch Your Step

Gophers dig vast, honeycombed networks of tunnels and leave the landscape they inhabit riddled with unsightly holes and mounds. This activity is constant. The average one will create several new mounds every single day. They are voracious herbivores and eat 60% of their body weight in vegetation daily. They ruin your lawn, garden, crops, trees, flowers, and shrubbery. Additionally, they disrupt irrigation, chew through water and electrical lines, and weaken the ground's integrity. They have been known to cause cave-ins, damage concrete, driveways, and patios, and they may even jeopardize the foundation of your house. In addition to this destruction, they also carry vermin and spread disease. In California, they are a distressing and aggravating problem for homeowners that seems only to get worse each year.

Identification

There are about five different species found in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties. Botta's Pocket Gopher is by far the most common. They look a bit like a woodchuck or beaver but are smaller. They range from light to dark brown, with smallish ears and eyes, and a short tail. They also have four big, yellowish incisor teeth (which never stop growing) and a large, prominent cheek pouch, hence the name pocket. That pouch, which stretches from the side of their mouth to their shoulders, is literally a pocket that they can stash food in. They can even stretch the pouch over their teeth to keep dirt out of their mouth when they're digging. They average about 6-8 inches in body length and typically weigh about half a pound, although some can get as big as 2-3 pounds. Males are about twice the size of females.

Description aside, they can still be a bit tricky to distinguish, not only because they look similar to other rodents, but also because they are fossorial, meaning that they spend virtually all their time beneath the soil. You might, however, catch a glimpse of their head popping out of the ground. They can be identified by the distinctive shape of the mounds, which are crescent shaped instead of round. Additionally, they typically "plug" the top of their mound openings with soil, unlike other burrowing rodents.

The Ongoing Battle

Gophers are prolific breeders, having up to three litters of 5-6 pups each year. They are also non-social animals and do not live together in large groups like many other rodents. Once the young reach maturity, they branch out to establish their own adjacent territories and begin constructing a new network of burrows. Furthermore, gophers are industrious, intelligent, and even cunning in their ability to thwart our efforts to remove them. Their tunnels are far-reaching, interconnected, and range from just a few inches to as much as six feet deep—making escape all too easy. It might call to mind the classic comedy Caddyshack, in which Carl the groundskeeper goes to war against a gopher who is wreaking havoc on the grounds of a swanky golf course. The cinematic gopher may have been cute, but the truth is, if you are dealing with a problem in real life, your war with this rodent is far from a comedy. It's a lesson in frustration that requires professional assistance.

#1 Rated Professional Help

If you've seen a gopher or the signs of one on your property, it’s time to get expert help. A professional with experience can effectively eradicate the problem. DIY efforts typically don't work, can be dangerous, and may even make the problem worse.

In Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, the leading expert is 101 Gopher & Pest Control. We have the knowledge, the experience, and the tools to get the job done right. We can eliminate your gopher problem and provide you with an exclusion plan to keep them from coming back. It's why we're the top-rated, best-reviewed pest exterminator in the area—where others fail, we succeed. Give us a call. We'll end the war and give you your lawn back.