Dan Curtin Agricultural Biologist/Standards Specialist Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office

1. Dan Curtin Agricultural Biologist/Standards SpecialistSonoma County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office

2. Pocket Gopher • Legal Status • Control Measures • Services and Products available through the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office and the U.C. Cooperative Extension

3. Legal Status • Pocket Gophers are classified as nongame mammals by the California Fish and Game Code. • Nongame animals which are found to be injuring growing crops or other property may be taken at any time in any legal manner by the owner or tenant of the property.

4. Control Measures • Strychnine • Hand Bait • Burrow Builder • Trapping • Wire Traps • Cinch Trap • Macabee • Box Traps • Guardian • Black Hole

5. Control Measures Continued • Exclusion • Barriers • Poisonous gases • Aluminum Phosphide • Propane Gun

6. Trap Types • Cinch • Macabee • Blackhole

7. Capture Efficiency Information courtesy of: Michael J. Pipas, George H Matscke, and Geraldine R. McCann USDA National Wildlife Research Center. Evaluation Of The Efficiency Of Three Types Of Traps For Capturing Pocket Gophers.

8. Trapping • Wire or Box Traps • Best to place two traps in opposite directions in main runways • Or place one trap in lateral runway • Or both

9. Strychnine Hand Bait • Good control for: • Small outbreaks • Garden areas

10. Procedure for Hand Baiting • Locate main runways between mounds with a rod or stick with pointed tip • Once runway is located, bore hole out with rod or stick • Insert the hand probe or use a teaspoon to drop bait through a funnel into runway • Cover opening with dirt or rock to eliminate light • Monitor area for activity (look for fresh mounds) • Readminister bait as necessary

11. Burrow Builder

12. Best time to use a Burrow Builder • When there is sufficient soil moisture to hold a tunnel because: • Too wet: • Take a chance of getting your machine stuck • Bait gets wet which makes it less effective • Mud sticks to torpedo and blocks bait • Too dry: • Difficult to get torpedo into the ground • Tunnels will collapse and bury the bait

13. Hints for a successful Burrow Builder application • Set the “torpedo” the same depth as the main runways of the gophers or a little deeper • Angle of “torpedo” should be parallel with the surface of the ground • Raise Burrow Builder out of ground before turning corners • Don’t backup with Burrow Builder in ground or roll backwards downhill (will plug torpedo with soil)

14. More Helpful Hints • If you have an overhead irrigation system you can create the soil moisture you need • Only treat the area where the infestation is occurring (may artificially spread gophers) • Adjust tractor speed to apply the required label amount of bait per acre (2 pounds per acre) • Use Caution to avoid dropping bait above ground where non target species can consume it

15. Interesting facts • Gophers are herbivores • forbs (broadleaf herbs) • grasses • shrubs • trees • Voles (meadow mice) are herbivores • clover • alfalfa • Moles are insectivores • primarily worms *Pictures taken from the University of California Integrated Pest Management Website

16. Know your opponent *Gopher Mound • Gopher mounds are generally crescent shaped and have the plug toward the flatter side of the crescent. • Moles make a mound which is more round in shape resembling a small volcano and the plug is more in the center. • Voles (meadow mice) make small holes in the ground with no mound and create runways in the vegetation. *Mole Mound *Vole Burrows *Pictures taken from the University of California Integrated Pest Management Website

17. Wild TurkeysMeleagrisgallopavo

18. Wild Turkey Legal Status • Classified as an uplandgamebird by the California Fish and Game Code • Can be harvested during regular hunting seasons and: • January 2005: Added to the list of animals forwhich one can request a depredation permit. • Depredation permits are issued through the California Department of Fish and Game.

19. Turkey Damage SuspectedTurkeyDamage

20. Good Sources of Information fromthe U.C. Cooperative Extension Wonderful Publications U.C. Cooperative Extension Website http://cesonoma.ucdavis.edu/ U.C. Integrated Pest Management Website http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/ UCCE Sonoma County 133 Aviation Blvd. Santa Rosa, CA 95403 (707) 565 - 2621

21. Services available through the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office • We carry Diphacinone Bait for vertebrate pest control. • Our Diphacinone Baits are listed for use on rats, mice, voles (meadow mice), ground squirrels, jack rabbits, and muskrats. • We sell Strychnine treated grain for gopher control. • We also have bait stations for rats and mice and helpful brochures about different vertebrate pests and control measures.

22. Words of Caution • Always read and follow label directions • Don’t use the product unless the pest you are attempting to control is on the label. • Pick up any strychnine bait that spills on the ground where non target species can find it. • (Above ground use has been illegal since 1989)

23. Thank You Durned gophers anyhow! Dan Curtin Agricultural Biologists/Standards Specialist