Pocket gophers are medium size burrowing rodents which spend 99% of their lives living in underground tunnels and nests. Gophers have external fur-lined cheek pouches located on the outside of their mouths. The pouches are used to store food which is carried back to its nest. There are 35 species of pocket gophers in the Americas. This mammal is powerfully built in the forequarters and has a short neck. They are powerful diggers and have front paws with large claws. The external ears and eyes are quite small. The incisors are perhaps the largest in relation to body size of all mammals. The pocket gopher is simply adapted for digging, and when overpopulated, one of the most difficult animals to control. 

Pocket gophers occupy a variety of habitats which range in elevation from above 12,000 ft to sea level. Soil type, texture, and moisture determine whether or not gophers will occupy a given area. The tunnels excavated by the mammal range from 0.5-1 ft below the surface. Deeper tunnels, as deep as 6 ft, are common with most species. The sub-surface tunnels are used mostly for feeding and the deeper ones are used to escape extremes in climate, nest-building, and raising litters. 

Pocket gophers eat the roots of grasses, forbs, shrubs, and even small trees. They can be quite destructive in forest plantations. In fact, each year the US Forest Service contract work to control pocket gopher in order to protect newly planted tree seedlings. Pocket gophers are herbivores and raise havoc in yards, damaging lawns, gardens, and flowerbeds. The burrow system is multi-branched and individuals tend to be territorial. In studies in California with radio collars on gophers, some animals were observed to move 200-300 ft per night. A single pocket gopher may construct as many as 300 soil mounds in a year while moving over 4 tons of soil within a few weeks of work. Burrows are continually changing, with old tunnels being sealed off and new ones excavated. No one really knows how many linear feet of tunnels a single pocket gopher can construct in a lifetime, but it is undoubtedly in the thousands of feet. 

Pocket gophers are active all year, even when snow is present. In alfalfa fields, the mammals are often observed feeding above ground. Typically, the mammal cruises along its tunnel system and nips the roots of plants growing above the tunnel found dangling within the corridors. An easy method to determine if a pocket gopher occupies a tunnel system is to simply dig open the tunnel. If a gopher lives in the tunnel, the hole will be plugged within a day or two. 

These animals are one of the toughest to control in the U.S. EPA approved bait poison baits and traps are often used to reduce damage. Poison Bait may include active ingredients such as strychnine, diphacinone, chlorophacinone, and zinc phosphide. Fumigants in the form of tablets or ignited cartridges can be used to control pocket gophers. Because of the length of the tunnel systems, such fumigants may not be very effective.

Poison Bait can be applied directly into the subsoil tunnel system by use of a hand probe, control bait release probe, or artificial burrow builder. Scimetrics offers the Gopher Bait Applicator Tool , which is an excellent tool for delivering the Poison Bait into their tunnels. Poison Bait is dispensed into the gopher tunnels via a hollow tube which you extend into the ground by probing until you feel the tunnels. Once you locate a tunnel you simply rotate the crank wheel on top of the tool to release your payload of Poison Bait. Gophers will consume the bait within a day or two and transport it to their nest. Continue to provide more Poison Bait until the gopher is eliminated. If you chose not to use a Gopher Bait Applicator Tool simply probe a hole to intersect the pocket gopher tunnel. Then, slowly pour one half cup of bait into the tunnel and close the hole carefully. The pocket gopher should be eliminated within a week.

The Kaput® Gopher Poison Bait Applicator Tool is a unique device for delivering the Poison Bait to the underground subsoil tunnels . Once the Poison Bait is in place, it is an effective cure for pocket gophers, moles, and mice. Get them where they live with the applicator tool.

Kaput®-D Pocket Gopher Poison Bait is a grain based product, with an EPA general use label for use against pocket gophers. Our Poison Bait is proven effective in laboratory and field tests in controlling damage caused by pocket gopher infestations. Available in 10 and 30 pound buckets and a 1lb. bottle for small problems.

Kaput®-D Pocket Gopher Poison Bait MSDS / Label

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