Moles, Snakes, and Gophers... O my!

Last fall there were moles in our yard. This means there were trails of elevated grass and dirt in the front and back yards. In response to this we bought a vibrating thing that warns them and makes them go away. We've not seen any since the winter started back in December or so.

At the end of May I was coming home from a going away party around 11:30 at night when I saw a snake in the middle of the road. I ran over it a few times, hoped it was dead, and came in to awake Brent about my find. The next morning we took Wilson on a walk when he jumped over it in the front yard. I took Wilson inside, Brent killed the snake, and we lived happily ever after.

UNTIL a few weeks ago we started noticing piles of dirt in our back yard. After some internet research, I discovered that they were pocket gophers. Holes like these pictured were showing up all over the place, maybe 2-3 at a time. There are now about 10 of them.

Strategies for getting rid of them (according to various internet websites):

• Dig up where the pile is until you find their trail, put in traps, and wait about 30 minutes. When the trap goes off pull the gopher out and hit it in the head with a shovel. Dead.
• Dig up the pile until you find the trail, drown the gopher's home. He'll come out within the next 30 minutes. Hit it in the head with a shovel. Dead.
• Use the vibrating devices used for moles by placing it in the hole. Hopefully the gopher will leave your yard, but there is always the possibility of it going into the neighbors yard.

Which is what happened when we used our device. We knew this because "Dale" (I'll tell about him later in another post) had 2 new gopher holes in his yard yesterday.

Unfortunately, we had 2 new holes TODAY. I guess the vibrating device is not working. Anyone up for some gopher killing?