DESTROYING GOPHERS 



589 



soon discover their new mounds. If there are many mounds, put the 

 poison in a number of places. 



Bisulphide of carbon is also successfully used in killing gophers, 

 while the ground is wet, using an injector which is furnished with 

 the poison to force the vapor through the long burrows. 



Trapping Gophers. Some are very successful in using gopher 

 traps, of which there are several styles sold. Gophers come to the 

 surface in the night, and generally close their holes soon after day- 

 break. They frequently emerge again about noon, and a third time 

 late in the afternoon. It is best to set the trap in an open hole ; still, 

 the holes may be opened if the dirt is still fresh, with a good pros- 

 pect of the gopher's return. Therefore, the trapper may make his 

 rounds three times a day, as above indicated. Care should be exer- 

 cised in preparing the hole for the insertion of the trap, a straight 

 hole for a distance of at least ten inches, with no lateral branches, 

 otherwise the gopher in pushing out the dirt will likely enough 

 thrust the trap to one side, cover it up, or spring it, without being 

 exposed to its grasp. The trapper should be supplied with at least 

 two varieties of traps one for the larger gophers, and the other 

 for the smaller ones. The common iron gopher trap, which springs 

 downward, is excellent for the former, and the small wire trap, which 

 springs upward, is generally successful with the later. The size of 

 the hole is indicative of the size of the gopher. Either trap should 

 be inserted nearly its full length into the hole, pressed down firmly, 

 and a little dirt piled at the outer end to prevent its being easily 

 pushed out. After the trap is set, it is well to cover the opening 

 with some grass or weeds. Sometimes the holes require a little 

 enlarging, but care should be taken to make the fit as close as pos- 

 sible, that the body of the gopher may be kept near the center, and 

 thus more exposed to the prongs of the trap. In the fourth place, 

 the trapper should have a small spade and a little gouge-shaped 

 instrument for trimming the hole. 



Gopher Pitfalls. If gophers are abundant, large numbers can 

 be captured in this way : Dig a trench around the orchard or vine- 

 yard about the width of a spade and from fourteen to sixteen inches 

 deep. In the bottom of the ditches, about a hundred feet apart, sink 

 five-gallon oil cans, leaving the tops level with the ditch bottom. 

 The gophers migrate in the night, and in attempting to come into 

 the inclosure will fall into the ditch and then run along the bottom 

 until they drop into the cans. Of course the ditch must not be 

 wider than the cans. As many as fifteen live gophers have been 

 found in one can. The cats soon learn to help themselves out of 

 the cans. The ditch must be kept clean, and if any roads cross 

 the tract, set up a board at night, to compel the gophers to tumble 

 in the ditch. This ditch should be constructed about the first of 



