Gopher Identification & Prevention
(Geomyidae)
What are gophers?
Gophers are rodents that live most of their life underground. These animals have compact bodies, small ears and eyes, and a short snout. Their short, powerful front legs and claws help them to tunnel through the ground. A unique feature of gophers is their fur-lined external cheek pouches used to carry the food they have collected. The damage they cause to lawns, landscaping, and gardens makes these pests something that no homeowner wants to discover on their property.
Are gophers dangerous?
When living outside and away from our lawns and structures, gophers aren’t dangerous; in fact, they are quite helpful. Their digging and tunnels help to aerate the soil, their feeding habits prevent the overgrowth of vegetation, and they act as prey for many different predators.
On our properties, gophers are destructive and lead to the following problems:
- Dying or dead plants and grass
- Structural damage to cement slabs and foundations
- Damaged wires, cables, and pipes
- Dirt tunnels across your lawn
- Unsightly and dangerous mounds of dirt in your yard at their tunnels' entrance and exit holes
Why do I have a gopher problem?
Gophers are vegetarians and feed on roots, trees, landscaping plants, bulbs, and garden plants. These opportunistic pests will take advantage of any area that provides them with food. Unfortunately for us, our yards and gardens offer many places for gophers to feed, making our properties prime real estate for these destructive pests. Keeping gophers out of our yards is difficult because of the underground tunnels they create which provide them free access into and out of our yards.
Where will I find gophers?
Gophers live their entire lives in the soil; these rodents only leave the ground to occasionally feed, get around an obstacle, or move to a new area. Gophers prefer to live in wide-open spaces that offer them plenty of soil to tunnel through.
Gophers living in Arizona are active year-round, and their desire for open spaces and plants to snack on makes these pests regular visitors to our yards. Properties near fields, parks, golf courses, or other open areas are especially susceptible to gopher invasions.
How do I get rid of gophers?
Maintaining a healthy lawn and garden is difficult under the best conditions, but when gophers move onto your property, it becomes even more of a challenge! At Overson Pest Control, we can help you take back your outdoor space from gophers. We care about our customers and are committed to helping you solve your pest problems. With our services backed by a 100% guarantee and unlimited free re-services, you can trust that we'll rid your property of gophers and help keep them from returning.
To learn more about working together and implementing our quality pest control services to protect your Phoenix area residential or commercial property from gophers or other pests, reach out to us today!
How can I prevent gophers in the future?
In addition to our home pest control and commercial pest control services, protect your property from gophers using the following prevention tips:
- Use planting boxes in gardens to keep plants up off the ground and farther away from hungry gophers.
- Bury fencing at least 18 inches into the ground to protect gardens and flower beds from gopher damage.
- Protect plants above the ground by place leaving at least six inches of fencing around them.
Helpful Gopher Articles
