How to Get Rid of Gophers: ID Damage, Traps, Deterrents & Baits

Pocket gophers are burrowing rodents that live almost entirely underground, and they do their damage out of sight — eating roots, bulbs, and tubers from below, pulling whole plants down into their tunnels, severing irrigation lines, and dotting the yard with crescent-shaped mounds of soil. Because they’re rarely seen, people often misidentify the culprit, so the first step is reading the mounds correctly: gophers leave fan- or crescent-shaped mounds with a plugged hole off to one side, distinct from the volcano-shaped mounds of moles and the open holes of voles. Once you’ve confirmed gophers, the most effective control by a wide margin is trapping, which directly removes the animal from its tunnel. Barriers protect specific plants, deterrents push gophers along, and baits exist but carry real risks. Gophers are solitary and territorial — usually only one animal occupies a tunnel system — so eliminating the resident gopher often clears the problem until a new one moves in. This guide covers identifying gopher damage, locating tunnels, setting traps, building barriers, and using deterrents and baits responsibly.

Identifying gopher damage

The telltale sign is the mound shape. Pocket gophers push excavated soil out to the surface in a fan- or crescent-shaped (kidney-shaped) mound, with the burrow opening plugged with soil and located off to one side of the fan rather than in the center. A gopher mound looks asymmetrical, like a horseshoe or a fan, and the entrance hole is sealed. This contrasts sharply with moles, which push soil straight up to make a symmetrical, round, volcano-shaped mound with the hole in the middle, and with voles, which leave open, clean, quarter-sized holes connected by surface runways and don’t make significant mounds.

Below ground, gophers create extensive tunnel systems with a main runway 6–12 inches deep and short lateral branches that surface to push out mounds. The plant damage is severe and sudden: a plant may wilt and die because its roots were eaten, or vanish entirely as the gopher pulls it down into the tunnel from below. Gophers feed on roots, bulbs, tubers, and the bark of roots, and they’ll gnaw plastic irrigation and sprinkler lines. If you’re seeing crescent mounds with plugged side holes and plants dying from the roots up, you have gophers — and that identification tells you to attack the tunnel system, not the surface.

Finding the tunnel

Effective trapping and baiting both depend on locating the main lateral tunnel that connects to a fresh mound. Start at a recent mound (moist, dark soil means it’s active). The plug on the fan side marks the lateral tunnel that the gopher used to push soil out. Probe the soil about 8–12 inches out from the plug side of the mound with a gopher probe or a sturdy rod; when the probe suddenly drops an inch or two, you’ve punched into the tunnel — typically 6–12 inches down. That tunnel is your target for setting traps or placing bait.

Work with fresh mounds, not old dried ones, because the gopher is actively using those runs. Mark located tunnels with a flag so you can return to them. Spending a few minutes finding the real tunnel is what separates successful trapping from frustration — traps set in the open or in the wrong spot catch nothing.

Trapping: the gold standard

Trapping is the most effective and reliable way to remove a gopher, and because gophers are solitary, removing the resident animal usually ends the problem. Use traps designed for gophers — the two-pronged pincer types (such as the classic Macabee) or box-style gopher traps. To set them, open the lateral tunnel by digging down to it where you probed, then place two traps facing in opposite directions within the main tunnel so you intercept the gopher whether it approaches from either side. Anchor each trap with a stake and a length of wire or chain so a partially caught gopher can’t drag it off, and so you can retrieve it easily.

Gophers are sensitive to drafts and will plug a tunnel that’s letting in air, so you can either leave the dug-open hole exposed (some trappers find the gopher comes to investigate and plug the draft, springing the trap) or cover the excavation loosely with soil, cardboard, or a board to block light while leaving the traps clear to function — both approaches work and trappers debate which is better, so try each. Check traps every day or two; if you haven’t caught anything in two to three days, the tunnel may be abandoned, so move to a fresh mound. Wear gloves, and re-probe for new activity after a catch in case another gopher moves into the vacated system.

Barriers to protect plants

Where you have high-value plants, physical exclusion is the most dependable protection. For individual trees, shrubs, and perennials, plant the root ball inside a wire gopher basket made of galvanized hardware cloth or aluminum mesh — these line the planting hole and stop gophers from reaching the roots while still letting the roots grow out through the mesh as the plant matures. Commercial gopher baskets in various sizes make this easy. For raised beds and vegetable gardens, line the bottom of the bed with 1/2-inch galvanized hardware cloth before filling with soil, which blocks gophers from tunneling up into the bed entirely.

For protecting a whole bed or small area, an underground fence of hardware cloth or 3/4-inch mesh buried 18–24 inches deep around the perimeter, with several inches extending above ground, blocks gophers from tunneling in. Use galvanized mesh, since gophers chew through plastic and thin wire over time. Barriers are more work and cost up front than trapping, but they give permanent protection to the specific plants and beds you care about most, which is invaluable in areas with chronic gopher pressure.

Deterrents and baits

Deterrents are a secondary, supporting measure. Castor-oil-based repellents applied to the soil and watered in are the most commonly recommended — they make the area distasteful and can push gophers to relocate, though they need reapplication and don’t reliably eliminate an established animal. Encouraging predators helps over time: barn owls (an owl box can attract a hunting pair), hawks, snakes, and a hunting cat or dog all take gophers. Vibrating and ultrasonic “sonic stake” devices are widely sold but produce inconsistent, frequently disappointing results, and gophers habituate, so don’t rely on them as your main approach.

Toxic baits — typically anticoagulant or zinc-phosphide pellets placed deep in the tunnel system — can control gophers, but they should be a last resort because of the danger to pets, children, and especially the owls, hawks, and other predators that eat poisoned gophers and die from secondary poisoning. If you use bait, place it deep inside the main tunnel using a bait applicator (never on the surface), reseal the opening, and follow the label exactly; some areas restrict these products. So-called gas/smoke “gopher bombs” and flooding tunnels with a hose are popular but generally ineffective because gophers quickly wall off sections of their tunnels. For most yards, the combination of diligent trapping, wire baskets around key plants, and habitat changes controls gophers without poison. If you’re also seeing surface runways and gnawed bark rather than crescent mounds, the culprit may be voles instead — see our guide on getting rid of voles. For above-ground browsers, our guides on keeping rabbits out of the garden and the broader Outdoor Living hub round out your yard defenses.