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241 
PARK AND CEMETERY . 
DESTROYING MOLES AND POCKET GOPHERS 
Pocket gophers infest all the States 
and Territories west of the Mississippi, 
and parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Flor- 
ida, Georgia, and Alabama. They occur 
also in southwestern Canada and over 
the greater part of Mexico. All the 
species live underground in ramifying 
tunnels, and all bring to the surface 
quantities of earth, which is heaped up 
in the shape of mounds. The habits of 
these animals are everywhere much the 
same. Park .\nd Cemetery has had 
several requests from cemetery super- 
intendents as to the best methods of ex- 
terminating these pests. Circular 52, 
Bureau of Biological Survey, Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, gives several prac- 
tical methods that may be adapted to 
the use of park and cemetery officials. 
Throughout their range pocket goph- 
ers are very destructive to crops. They 
eat the roots of fruit trees and in this 
way sometimes ruin whole orchards. 
They eat both roots and tops of clover, 
alfalfa, grasses, grains, and vegetables, 
and are especially harmful to potatoes 
and other tuberous crops. Besides this, 
they throw up innumerable mounds of 
earth in meadows, pastures, and grain 
fields, which cover and destroy far more 
of the crop than is eaten by the animals 
or killed by having the roots cut off. 
These mounds also prevent close mow- 
ing, so that much of the hay crop is 
lost, and the pebbles they contain often 
break or injure farm machinery. The 
loss due to gopher mounds in the clover 
and alfalfa fields in some of the West- 
ern States has been conservatively esti- 
mated at one-tenth of the entire crop. 
In many of the fertile valleys where 
they abound the animals are by far the 
most formidable of the farmer’s mam- 
malian enemies. In addition to all this. 
Type of Gopher Trap Successfully Used 
In California and Other Parts of 
the West. 
in the far west they burrow in the 
banks of irrigation ditches and thus 
cause extensive breaks, the repair of 
which results in the expenditure of 
much time and money. 
Pocket gophers may be destroyed by 
poison, by traps, and by the use of car- 
bon bisulphid. 
Poisoning with strychnine is the most 
effective means known for killing pock- 
et gophers, and, as it involves the least 
expenditure of money and labor, the 
Biological Survey recommends it for 
general use. As a rodent poison to be 
used by farmers, strychnine has several 
advantages. Its action is sure, its 
deadly character is known to most per- 
sons, and its bitter taste is an addition- 
al safeguard against mistaking it for a 
harmless drug. Strychnia sulphate is 
the most convenient form of the poison, 
since it is freely soluble in hot water 
and in the natural juices of vegetables 
used as bait. To disguise its bitterness 
so that rodents may not be deterred 
from eating the baits, sugar is often 
employed, or the strychnine may be 
mixed with its own bulk of commercial 
saccharine. A sugar sirup poisoned 
with strychnine may be used with ex- 
cellent results. It is prepared as fol- 
lows ; 
Dissolve an ounce of strychnia sul- 
phate in a pint of boiling water. Add 
a pint of thick sugar sirup, and stir 
thoroughly. The sirup is usually scent- 
ed by adding a few drops of oil of anise, 
but this is not essential. If preserved 
in a closed vessel, the sirup will keep 
indefinitely. 
The above quantity is sufficient to 
poison a half bushel of shelled corn or 
other grain (corn recommended). The 
grain is steeped in hot water and al- 
lowed to soak over night. It is then 
drained and soaked for several hours 
in the poisoned sirup. Before using, 
corn meal may be added to take up the 
excess of moisture. 
Dry crystals of strychnine also may 
be used. They are introduced, by 
means of a knife, into small pieces of 
potato, carrot, or sweet potato, or into 
entire raisins or dried prunes. A single 
large crystal (or several small ones) is 
enough for each bait. Raisins are es- 
pecially recommended because they are 
easily handled and contain enough su- 
gar to disguise the bitterness of the 
poison. 
Pocket gophers in ditch banks may be 
pcfisoned in the following manner : Se- 
lect the freshest hill or mound and with 
a narrow .garden trowel follow the soft 
earth of the tunnel until the main run- 
way as illustrated is reached. By not- 
ing the direction from which the earth 
was pushed out and locating the closed 
entrance, the burrow may be readily 
followed and the main runway quickly 
found. The poisoned raisin, corn, or 
small potato should be placed well 
back in the main runway and the open- 
ing closed. It is usual for one gopher 
only to occupy the burrows connected 
with a group of hills, and when the bur- 
row remains open it indicates that the 
animal has been killed. 
Trapping is a successful method when 
followed intelligently and persistently. 
It is especially adapted to small fields, 
orchards, gardens, and irrigation em- 
bankments, where only a few gophers 
are present; but in the case of large 
areas that are badly infested, the meth- 
od involves too much labor. 
For trapping gophers an ordinary 
No. 0 steel trap may be employed with 
success, but there are on the market 
several special gopher traps which are 
better adapted for general use. 
In usin.g the ordinary steel trap, the 
first step is to make an opening into 
the main gopher tunnel. The trap 
should then be sunk so that the jaws 
are level with the bottom of the run- 
way and lightly covered with green 
clover, alfalfa grass or even loose soil, 
care being taken that these do not clog 
under the pan, or trigger. No bait is 
Simple and Eftective Type of Gopher or 
Mole Trap, easily set in a variety 
of positions. 
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