How to Catch a Gopher the Easy Way

If you've ever seen those ugly round mounds of dirt on your beautiful, lush green lawns, you know you probably have the most common critter notorious for tearing apart any well-manicured yard. If you're thinking gopher, you're right.

People who have dealt with gophers know that it can cost lots of money over time to hire someone to poke holes down into the ground and, in most cases, put poison down into their tunnels. The problem with this is that you don't know if you've actually caught the gopher or not.

Instead of hiring someone to put toxic pellets down into the ground, why not spend less than $15 and take care of the gopher problem yourself? Having moved into a new home with no experience whatsoever about catching gophers, I researched on how to catch gophers and found very little on the actual "how to" of catching gophers - besides the fact that traps were the most efficient way to get rid of them. For someone with no experience on this kind of stuff, how was I supposed to know what to do with the traps and where to set them? So I decided to write an article on helping those who are a little intimidated by those sharp-looking traps.

First, go down to the home improvement store and buy a set of gopher traps (usually around $11-15 for a set of two) and ask any helpful associate how to set them. They look a little scary to set, but they're actually very easy. You'll also need a thin metal stick that's around 2 feet tall to push into the ground and some rope to tie the traps onto the stick. Along with a shovel and a little peanut butter, you're set to go. The peanut butter is totally optional, but I've found when I set two traps underground, the one with the peanut butter almost always has caught a gopher.

Go to the most recent mound in the yard and poke into the ground with the stick about 4-8 inches away from it, poking a larger circle around the mound. You will actually feel the stick drop easily about 2-3 inches down into the ground. This is where the gopher tunnel is underneath. Keep poking until you can find a bit of a pathway of a tunnel. Now using the shovel, dig a circle about 4 inches in diameter and deep enough to reach the tunnel below. Lift and pull away the grass. You should have found a gopher tunnel going in two directions. Tie the traps to the stick and push the stick into the ground close to the hole you just dug up. Set the traps (remember, the peanut butter is optional) and carefully put them facing away from each other in the tunnel. The reason for this is that you don't know which way the gopher is coming from so it's better to set them in opposite directions. Carefully set the circle top of grass you dug up on top. Place any extra dirt lightly on top - so no light shows through into the tunnel. Now all you have to do is wait a day or two.

This is the most efficient way to catch a gopher. Each time I've had a new mound in my yard, the traps go down, and usually by the next day I've caught a gopher. When checking the traps, be careful in case they're still set and you haven't caught anything. I usually use the metal stick to pull the traps out. Catching gophers has inspired neighbors to save money and get rid of gophers themselves. There's nothing more satisfying than catching the critters yourself after they've torn apart your yard - and it's so easy!