Monday, June 28, 2004

Gophers 15, Tom 1.

Gophers have been tearing up our lawn, back near Emma's swingset. Almost every day a new mound of dirt appears. (Gophers like to come to the surface but can't stand to have openings into their domain. They religiously fill in any openings when they're done with them.)

I tried a silly electronic repellant stake, even though people told me they don't work. Turns out they don't work.

Then, on Saturday, Meliisa noticed that the gopher(s) had left a hole open. Ed (her father,visiting for the week) and I pounced on the oppurtunity, bringing out the vicious little macabee traps I'd bought for just such an occasion. As we fumbled with the traps, I saw dirt moving--the gopher was trying to fill in the opening as we stood there! We redoubled our efforts, keeping the tunnel open with a garden spade as we frantically fiddled with the traps.

Once placed, the traps were triggered several times by dirt being pushed upward by the gopher. Twice it seemed we'd caught him, but each time he escaped. As night fell, I filled in all but one hole, and left only one trap active.

In the morning, that trap held one big, dead gopher. Though intellectually I know there are probably more, I choose to believe that we've solved the problem. Let me have my victory.

If you have a gopher problem and, like me, have lost all empathy for the little bastards, I can definitely recommend the macabee traps.

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