This is a question I would love answers to.  Property we seek will have gophers, cougars, coyoties, hawks all over it, and rattlesnakes!!  So what is your organic solution?

Suzi

I have my solution.  It's pink and has a trigger.

Hot lead. :)

Ha!  That is so organic!!  Love it!!

Suzi

In one of the videos, I saw that they dig a hole for planting and put a wire mesh and jump in it to  push it in the hole like a basket, then fill with soil and plant  the tree is the basket.  that keeps the creatures away from the roots, until the tree establish itself...I guess traping would be the way to do it. or let the snakes do their job. 

Some of the mammal species can be discouraged by the urine of a larger animal. If a predaor is marking, they tend to avoid the area. You can usually buy this from a store that has hunting gear.

An organic solution would be to take it out from the trap and bury it under a fig tree. The decomposed gopher will provide many necessary minerals and micro elements for the tree :)

And this will get rid of gophers?  Like which urine should I buy?

Suzi

I'll just say this.  Gophers will take over the earth!  They fear nobody.  You can't put an electric fence over your entire yard!  I'm going with poison.  Sorry... There is no organic thing to deal with these varmints, and that they are.  I'll be happy to pee in their holes, but I don't have enough pee!

And I think they know, my pee is not a deterent, but my gun is!  Not exactly organic, but you guys have not convinced me.

Suzi

Suzi,
You already have the natural organic solutions posted. The gopher's natural predators :)
Good Luck.

.22 lr subsonic so as not to disturb the neighborhood. it's very organic. mined directly from earth.. just been reshaped :)

Which brand of 22 should I buy?

Suzi

We have the same here in Florida. Except we call the cougars panthers. Rattlesnakes the size you could only imagine.Coyotes that have eaten most of the outside cats. Many different hawks. Some really huge.But the gophers we have make some of the best soup. Really, during the Great Depression, Gopher tortoise was known as the “Hoover Chicken” because they were eaten by poor people out of work. Some people see gopher tortoise meat as a delicacy, or as simply a free source of meat.

I hereby promise never to eat a gopher!  But I like the other organic solutions... like that 22!

Suzi

eley subsonic .22 lr hollow point. i heard good things about these.

Bullet08!  You Rock!  This is the most organic I can even imagine!

Suzi

Suzi, there is one solution. Macabee Ol' Reliable traps. They work, are easy to use, give proof of kill, and you don't have to sit by the hole all day waiting to take a shot. The second secret is to dig up as much tunnel as you can, so that the next gopher doesn't move into a ready made house. You have to be religious about this and check and set traps every day until you have a handle on the situation. New ones will always migrate in from surrounding territory, so after you get yours, offer to catch your neighbors, as well, and keep them further away from your place. I have been catching gophers since I was in diapers. Traps are the ticket.

Hmmm, maybe an outdoor dog for the coyotes and gophers.  Don't know what you're gonna do about the cougar except a bigger cat and a mongoose for the rattlesnakes.  All organic solutions.  ; )

Irish wolf hound. Sight hound, and size of a small cow.

My Princess wouldn't leave a gopher uneaten. 



A pair of newfs should even give a cougar pause.



(This is a 4-5' wide pool Tank can't stretch out in)

Best would be if you move to Georgia Suzi. LoL

Here's what you need for whatever the predators don't get:
http://www.rodenator.com/pests-controls-videos-rodenators

Quick, easy, no toxins left for other critters to ingest, and acceptable for organic growing. Boom.

The problem with all "organic, natural" animal solutions (dogs, cats, hawks, and whatever) is that their response time is not good and they are often not on the job. Gophers can eat a fig tree before a predator takes on the job.

Suzi - I think Jon has it right. Everyone I know who has had significant gopher problems had to resort to trapping to get them under control. This link has all the information you need to deal with your problem:
http://www.gopherslimited.com/

Thanks for all your responses!  I have copied them into my fig spreadsheet!  Thanks for the links too!

Suzi

Do you have neighbors? How close are they? Would you consider yourself as living out in the country? I ask because you could live on the edge of a town and still have these animals around.

It sounds like you would enjoy shooting, if you don't have any neighbors for a good long distance, then the .22 is the way to go. If you do have neighbors but with pretty good spacing between lots(similar to a city block), something like a high quality Beeman air rifle(using lead pellets) will do the job as well. Keeping  shot placement in mind and as always being aware of what is beyond the target(slugs, pellets, and BB's can ricochet and/or skip along the ground for some distance before finding a place to rest).

The down side to traps is that you have to take the little diggers out of the trap, exposing you to possibly disease carrying fleas. Often times trapped diggers are still alive when you discover them, which may or may not be a problem for you. If you have pets, traps can be a risk depending on the style of trap. Sometimes traps are the only option.

If the holes are within distance of a garden hose, then get yourself a shovel in hand, put the hose in the hole and flood'em out. Ever play whack-a-mole?

Poison? Never.

To me, shooting when possible is the way to go. Find a good place to sit and shoot for awhile(if your lucky that might just be on the patio under some shade), then go out with the shovel and push them into the hole a bit, if there is a mound then you use that to fill the entrance to the hole. A digging fork also works well to colapse the entrance to the hole, and bury the digger..now fertilizer. I could also make comments about the hours of entertainment, but I'm sure that would offend someone ;)