If you think you’ve got more gophers than usual, you’re probably right. The gopher problem is particularly bad this year.
Gophers are a problem because of the damage that can be caused by their burrowing habit.
The animals can quickly turn your yard upside down. The numerous holes they create can leave your property a mess, and their digging can stunt the growth of your plants.
Gopher populations can vary greatly depending on the species. Some groups may swell only to six to eight gophers per acre, but others will soar to nearly 60 per acre. While this poses problems for homeowners and farmers, the population is controlled by natural predators like hawks, owls, badgers, coyotes, foxes and weasels.
Townspeople around Kipling were advised to keep their pets on leashes while the gopher control was being administered.
“With the gopher situation, I’ve been taking care of Mary Balogh Place, the Walking Trail, the cemetery alongside the highway, the airport, and the ball diamonds,” explains Terrence Stanley, maintenance/public works with the Town of Kipling.
“Almost everywhere in town it’s been really bad with gophers,” says Stanley. “How I deal with them…I either smoke bomb them with smoke sticks if we see them because the bombs are really expensive and you can’t just smoke every hole you see. If I see one, I smoke them out with it.”
“As soon as I light it, I put it down into the hole as far as I can and quickly cover the hole with dirt so the smoke doesn’t escape.”
The brown gophers will go for the Ratak but the striped gophers are a little smarter and tend not to eat the pellets.
“Last summer at Mary Balogh Place I counted and dealt with over 250 gopher holes on the east side of the bay whereas there were over 400 on the west side,” explains Stanley.
“This is when it’s at its peak and when it’s at its worst,” says Stacey Huzina, Town of Kipling maintenance. “Hopefully we can get control of it before it gets this bad.”
The Town of Kipling treats holes for the unwanted rodents every year but this year they are everywhere.
They’ve even started to get into the ball diamonds as well as into yards in town.
“I’ve been dealing with gophers for a couple of years now while working for the town,” says Stanley. “It’s been getting progressively worse every year.”
“Being that there is a field right next to the ball diamonds, it’s like an open invitation to the gophers,” says Huzina. “We’ve had to fill in all the holes and keep on it until the gophers find a different place to go.”
Hopefully next year there will be more hawks to take care of the gopher situation. Lots of birds are needed to make an impact on the rodents.
Gary Vargo, administrator for the RM of Hazelwood No. 94, explains:
“In the past has the RM sold the product for gopher control which is two per cent liquid strychnine, which we got through SARM. We would sell it to the ratepayer at cost.”
“The federal government has outlawed the making of two per cent liquid strychnine. They had to stop production of this product earlier this spring and once it was gone, it was gone.”
“As of next spring, a person isn’t supposed to even use it anymore.”
“We’re (RM) sold out and we can’t get anymore.”
Vargo says that farmers were purchasing more this year due to the influx of gophers.
“There’s just a crazy amount of gophers” is a comment made by many farmers.
“I sold a little bit at the start of the season and then within a week or more I was sold out.”
It’s hard to say what the reason is for so many gophers this year, whether it’s the fact that people weren’t treating for them for a few years or that it’s so dry or that there’s less birds of prey taking care of the problem.
They seem to multiply very quickly.
Some farmers have also made comments that they’re getting into their crops.
They may be running out of food in the pastures so they’ve migrated to the cropland.
The gopher population has really been causing some problems this year.
Depending on how many acres a person is treating will also depend on what type of product and the cost that is best to use.
“There is probably other product out there, but studies have shown that the two per cent strychnine is most effective so long as it was used properly,” explains Vargo.
“The federal government pulled the product because they worry about the non-targeted kills,” explains Vargo. “The coyote, family pet or bird that comes along and eats the dead gopher…that’s what they’re concerned about.”
It was taken off the market years ago and then reissued as an emergency registration for liquid strychnine when it was available once again.
“There was a point where we could use two per cent liquid strychnine but the farmer had to bring in their own grain and the pest control officer had to mix it up himself and sent it home with the farmer.”
Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) president Ray Orb explains:
“Rozol is supposed to be the next best thing other than two per cent liquid strychnine but we don't know what the cost is which could be variable. Sask. Ag has done extensive research on this and deems nothing else is as effective as strychnine since it kills rodents much quicker and doesn’t expose dead animals to predators such as raptors. That’s why SARM opposed the de-registration of strychnine, which is still being used and can be until the end of 2022, however the manufacturer has already stopped processing it.”
Orb goes on to say: “The southwest part of the province is probably the worst hit by the influx of gophers although wherever a drought persists, so do the gophers. If it remains dry next year the gopher problem will be even worse than this year.”
