Title: Control of field rodents in California
Identifier: controloffieldro139stor (find matches)
Year: 1949 (1940s)
Authors: Storer, Tracy I. (Tracy Irwin), 1889-1973
Subjects: Rodents; Mammals; Rodents
Publisher: Berkeley, Calif. : College of Agriculture, University of California
Contributing Library: University of California, Davis Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: University of California, Davis Libraries

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?.â¢:â :⢠â¢â¢ sac Fig. 14. Methods of placing traps for pocket gophers. Left, single trap in lateral tunnel; right, hole dug with shovel and two traps set in opposite directions in main tunnel. Each trap should be fastened by wire or cord to a stake tall enough to be seen easily in the field. gophers is needed before planting. Then the land should be plowed with a subsoiler having the blades set for a depth of 18 to 24 inches to destroy all existing tunnels. Thereafter new invasions can be recog- nized by fresh mounds, and the animals destroyed promptly by traps or poison. The methods used against pocket go- phers are: (1) trapping; (2) poisoning; (3) gassing; (4) flooding; (5) exclu- sion; (6) encouragement of natural ene- mies. There is a common but mistaken idea that some kinds of plants are "gopher repellent." There is no reliable evidence that any kind of plant will keep gophers out of a garden. Trapping The traps used for rats, mice, and large mammals are not suitable for go- phers, which must be caught in their bur- rows where space is limited. Many special gopher traps have been designed (fig. 13). These are of two kinds: those de- signed to spring when a gopher pushes against the flat trigger pan of the trap, and those operated by a bait trigger, moved when the gopher seizes the special bait. Trapping is especially useful in gar- dens, orchards, small fields, and the banks of irrigation canals. It is probably as ef- fective as any other single method of con- (30

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