How To Get Rid Of Gophers On Your Salt Lake City Property
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Gophers are mid-sized rodents with soft fur and rounded bodies, but don't let their fuzziness fool you. These pests cause so much destruction for Salt Lake City property owners
Gophers are herbivores, meaning they only feed on grass, clover, root, and plant tubers. Their diet, coupled with their extensive burrowing habits, can destroy plants, gardens, yards, and farms—and often do so.
Read on to learn how to identify gophers, the problems gophers can cause for your Salt Lake City property, some tips for gopher prevention, and why you should invest in pest control in Salt Lake City to deal with these rodents.
How To Identify Gophers
Commonly referred to as "gophers," the full name of this rodent is the "pocket gopher," which describes the fur-lined cheek pouches that these gophers have on either side of their mouth to store and transport food. Native to Utah, gophers measure 5 to 14 inches long, with light to dark brown fur and a lighter underside. Gophers have a stout which helps with digging, flat heads, small ears and eyes, and short snouts.
Gophers are commonly mistaken for other mammals, such as squirrels, rats, moles, chipmunks, and voles. They all have unique features but can appear similar at a distance.
Gophers are most active during the spring and fall, and though females typically produce one litter of five to six offspring each year, they are pests that live solitary lives otherwise. They are also nocturnal, so they're most active at dusk or throughout the night.
What Problems Can Gophers Cause For Property Owners?
Gophers can cause extensive damage to your Salt Lake City property by destroying nearly all parts of your yard. Since these pests like to eat plant roots, they'll consume your outdoor vegetation, including plants, flowers, shrubbery, and trees, from the roots up. Since they destroy the root system of plants, smaller plants may virtually disappear, while larger bushes and trees will appear to die without cause.
In addition to damaging plants, gophers are burrowers, meaning they build extensive tunnels that can reach six feet below the surface; this can result in damage to the foundation of your home. In fact, due to their extensive burrowing, they're one of the most frustrating pests that Salt Lake City homeowners deal with.
Gophers can also pose a danger to the health and well-being of the people and pets who live on or frequent the infested property in the following ways:
- Gophers are known to carry rabies.
- Gophers can also carry leptospirosis, hantavirus, and plague. Much like other rodents.
- Gophers may introduce other pests that carry disease-causing bacteria, such as fleas and ticks, onto your property.
As you can see, gophers don't only cause property damage; they cause health risks to humans. Uinta Pest Solutions provides professional gopher control to protect your property and family. Call us Now!
Tips On Gopher Prevention
Since their burrowing is so problematic, one of the better defenses against gophers is to discourage them from coming onto your property in the first place. To accomplish this, consider the following suggestions for gopher prevention and control:
- Install gopher baskets around specific areas of your yard or individual plants you want to protect, such as vegetable gardens, fruit trees, rose bushes, and succulents. These baskets are made from galvanized gopher mesh or chicken wire and are available in multiple sizes.
- Build a gopher mesh barrier using chicken wire or galvanized gopher mesh to create a border around your yard or garden. The mesh barrier should extend one to two feet above and below the surface.
- Build an under-lawn barrier by laying galvanized gopher mesh four to six inches underneath the soil and adding flower beds, turf, or lawn overtop; this option requires considerable work, especially for larger properties.
These suggestions may help temporarily. If you are still battling gophers on your Salt Lake City property, Uinta Pest Solutions provides the best gopher control in Salt Lake City.
Get Rid Of Gophers On Your Property With Professional Help
Gophers' extensive burrowing, feeding habits, and nocturnal activity behaviors make it very challenging for homeowners to get rid of these pests independently. For professional help with gopher control in Salt Lake City, contact the pest control technicians at Uinta Pest Solutions.
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