Gophers have been homeowners’ nemeses for as long as people have kept lawns and gardens. All that time and work devoted to seeding, watering, planting, mowing, and weeding can be undone by a few fresh mounds of dirt. Some homeowners embrace store-bought poisons in order to eliminate gophers; however, poisons can be problematic for the following reasons:
They Don’t Work
The poisons you might find at a hardware store probably have strychnine, a chemical compound used to kill small vertebrates. However, these poisons may only be .25 percent strychnine or less, and may not be strong enough to eliminate a gopher. For a comparison, a professional gopher control outfit should be licensed to use poison that’s almost 2 percent strychnine. No matter how much strychnine your poison has, it won’t be effective if you don’t know how much poison to apply or where to apply it. Many pest control professionals don’t use poison at all, and have more luck with gopher traps.
They Can Cause Illness
The poisons you might use to eliminate gophers aren’t just dangerous for gophers—they’re also dangerous for other mammals. For example, your dog or cat could catch and eat a poisoned gopher and unwittingly ingest the poison meant for the gopher. Your children could accidentally ingest the poison while playing in the yard and become very ill as a result. For these reasons and others, you’re best off avoiding store-bought poisons altogether.
They Can Harm Plants
The whole reason behind administering poisons is to eliminate gophers so they stop destroying your yard. Why, then, would you want a poison that causes harm to your yard? If you use the poison incorrectly, it could end up killing your plants, or worse, it could contaminate your vegetable garden.
The experts at Gopher Patrol of LA can administer gopher baits and poison in such a way that won’t harm you, your pets, or your yard. If you’d rather not use poison, we will use trapping techniques instead. Call (855) 460-0564 or visit our website to learn more about our gopher control services.