INTRODUCTION 
Previous pocket gopher control techniques have required 
hard manual labor whereby the operator generally has had to probe 
for underground runways and place bait, all by hand. The "burrow- 
builder" offers a mechanized method by which the operator constructs 
and baits an artificial gopher runway in one operation. This method 
allows the gopher to find the control agent. 
The purpose of this report is to describe the "burrow- 
builder," how it operates, the results that have been obtained so 
far in tests, and to list other possible applications. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife had previously 
designed machines for constructing artificial trails for control of 
mice in orchards. This led to the idea of using a similar technique 
for pocket gopher control. Dr. Walter E. Howard of the University 
of California has informed us that he also has experimented with a 
machine designed to bait pocket gophers underground. 
The "burrow-builder" has been developed as a part of the 
Colorado Cooperative Pocket Gopher Project, which is a joint 
research program of the Forestry and Range Management Section of 
Colorado State University, the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range 
Experiment Station of the U.S. Forest Service, and the Denver 
Wildlife Research Center of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and 
Wildlife. The Colorado Cattlemen's Association has actively 
supported the program. 
Much credit is due personnel of the hydraulics laboratory, 
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, for their assist- 
ance in constructing the first machine. Their technical knowledge 
in methods of construction was of great value. The efforts of Ancel 
M. Johnson and Paul L. Hegdal of the Denver Wildlife Research 
Laboratory in field testing the equipment are also gratefully 
acknowledged. 
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