Why Gophers Dig

Gophers are prolific diggers. They can cause extensive damage to your lawn. If invasive gophers are not dealt with, they can continue to destroy the ground beneath your property, revealing itself in gopher holes and a weakened soil base to support your lawn.

The most common gopher in Arizona is the Botta’s Pocket Gopher. Also known as the valley pocket gopher, these rodents are known for burrowing through the ground and tearing up plants, lawns, irrigation and anything else below the surface. It is often very easy to spot a pocket gopher problem on your property by their signature mounds created & plugged while burrowing. Typically feeding on roots, grasses, and green plants, pocket gophers can easily leave your backyard looking like an old battlefield.

While the distinctive hole they dig may be the observable portion of the damage they cause, much is going on beneath that is unseen. When a gopher establishes their system of tunnels, they begin with gopher holes, which resemble a crescent fan shape, with a hole about the size of a golf ball. This opening can be covered to prevent intruders, or if dug deeper, can reveal a larger hole maybe up to the size of a softball. This tunnel is their home, and their highway around your yard to various food sources.

Gopher Damage

What you don’t see, at least initially, is the damage done beneath the surface. Gophers create an elaborate tunnel system that can zig zag across your lawn, destabilizing it’s support system & destroying roots. This can result in dead plants, trees, and grass, damage irrigation and electrical lines, as well as affect the integrity of any structures. If you don’t address the issue quickly, the damage will continue with more tunnels being built over the course of months and years. Not to mention the destruction of your beautiful lawn you have invested time, energy, and money.

In order to remove a gopher problem, you need to remove the gopher and prevent any from returning. Multiple gophers usually do not occupy the same tunnel system, except when one gives birth and its offspring are being raised. That is one positive about a gopher problem. However, removing the gopher is tricky. Often times DIY solutions do not work due to the nature of the tunneling system. Gophers can be very weary of intrusions and unfamiliar objects like traps. The best solution for eradicating a gopher problem and any potential damage they do to your lawn is to hire a professional pest control service. They are highly experienced in removing gophers from a variety of lawn and have developed the best courses of action over a period of years.

Repairing the damage caused by gophers will take a lot of hard work. The tunnels they have dug need to be backfilled with gravel and soil

If you need help with gopher removal in Phoenix, don’t hesitate to call the gopher experts at Bug Guardian Pest Prevention for a free quote.