Like many others I decided I would try putting a layer of chicken wire down to prevent gophers from destroying plants (in my case trees) I tried two different ways and thank goodness I didn’t go whole hog and do a lot because I will never do it again.
What wire mesh does is protect the gophers. They’ve got a safe area that they can burrow under to their hearts content. Nothing can dig down and get them. Coyotes, other predators that might dig, can only reach the wire.
The chicken wire will not last more than 2 or 3 years. Gopher tunnels leading up to it allow oxygen and moisture to cause rust and deterioration even if its galvanized. Then they go right through it even if it is half inch mesh. But they’re still very much protected from any larger predator above. Ever tried to dig up old rusted wire?
Gopher baits are designed to fail in the long run because all the tunnels are still there. A new juvenile gopher moves in and has the run of the entire network which can be quite extensive. So you have to go out and use more bait, which has probably gone bad, so you have to buy some more, and the chemical companies profit.
This is the same problem with chicken wire it protects all the tunnels under the area it covers and if a gopher moves in – even after 5 years they have the entire nest/tunnel system. And digging the wire out! Oh my lord! What a freaking pain! It took me all morning to get it out of about a 10 foot by 10 foot patch!
Chicken wire just encourages you to use poison out of desperation. And think about a snake that eats a poisoned gopher this is a huge percentage meal for a snake I will bet you a _lot_ that the gopher baits have not been tested at this level on reptiles. And why should it be? The chemical companies would love to kill the Gopher predators as well.
It is not a long term solution.
The best thing I have done is to destroy many of the existing gopher runs. I was amazed at how networked such a small area was. I then added compost to my excavations and kaboom – fruit.
That is a long term solution.
Bob
http://www.PuraVidaAquatic.com
