One of the best (although expensive) ways to tackle with gophers is to use gas cartridges. Gas cartridges are available in the form of small cylinders that contain various forms of combustible gases. You just ignite the cylinder then place it in the burrow that the gopher has made. Once the cylinder burns, it releases a gas called carbon monoxide, which is lethal for gophers. In this article I will tell you how to use the gas cartridges in the best way possible.
1. Before you can use the gas cartridges, you need to identify the burrows properly. To locate/identify the burrows, locate mounds of excavated earth on your garden. Wherever you can locate a mound of excavated earth on your garden, you know that a gopher has made a burrow there. More often than not, a typical burrow made by a gopher should contain several entrances, along with the main entrance.
2. Take up a shovel or spade. Dig the burrow a little further so that the opening is large enough for you insert your hands into. Next, take a clump of earth and close all the sub entrances but keep the main entrance open. Then take one gas cartridge, making sure that you have read the instructions on the label properly, then ignite the cartridge by lighting the fuse, then put the cartridge (don’t throw it) as deep as possible in the burrow.
3. Ok, after you have placed the cartridge properly in the hole, your next step is to cover the main entrance with sod. While covering the entrance, make sure you place the grass on the sod upside down (in other words, the grass should face the hole). This will prevent the cartridges from getting smothered. Take a look at the burrow for five minutes and see if any smoke is coming out from the burrow, and cover or reseal any opening which is leaking. Watch it for 5 to 6 minutes more. Then do the same with the other openings.
Repeat these steps for all the burrows. For best results, you should use gas cartridges during spring time as that is the time when the gophers give birth to young ones.
If you need more information on how to eliminate gophers, [adrotate banner=”23″]