Gopher Season is here!

It’s no secret our park is over-run with gophers. The little critters are everywhere, and they present a pretty big challenge for us. They cause a lot of damage, and are also known to carry diseases.

We are attacking the issue on two fronts this year: natural predation, with the owl nesting box; and the Gopher X machine we bought a few years back.

The Gopher X machine had a few limitations that made its use infrequent in the past. The hose was too short, especially for use on our slopes, and the Gopher X Smoke Oil the manufacturer recommended was extremely expensive.

The smoke oil goes into a small reservoir at the engine and when using the machine it produces a colored smoke. The operator sticks the hose into a gopher hole, and then he looks for the colored smoke escaping from all the other holes the gopher is using. Those holes are covered with dirt so that the carbon monoxide exhaust fills all the tunnels and essentially puts the gopher to sleep.

The manufacturer’s Smoke Oil cost $21.95 a pint. If you buy a case of 12, the price goes down to $15.16 a pint, or $181.15. It’s not sold by the gallon!

So, the operating cost was so high the machine was not being used. There was an attempt to make our own smoke oil, using mineral oil and food colorant, but the results were less than satisfactory.

However, I did some research and discovered a paraffin-based oil that is used by aircraft. It sells for $37.00 per gallon, so it was worth trying out. It worked, producing an easily visible, non-toxic white smoke (the same smoke you see trailing from planes at air shows).

So that solved the smoke oil cost issue. We got a longer hose, and then mounted the Gopher X machine to the electric cart, with a way to coil the hose on the side of the bed.

Now Lorenzo and John can attack immediately whenever they see recent gopher activity. It’s just a matter of firing up the Gopher X, uncoiling the hose (40 ft worth), and going to work. They don’t have to go back to the shed, unload the cart, load the machine, and then go back to the gopher site. And then return to the shed, unload etc…

Residents can help by alerting them to recent gopher activity. If they cannot get the cart near the affected area, they also have the Gopher Gas bombs they can use. The key is to keep after the fresh activity every day.

Residents can email gopher alerts to: fosmmaintenance (dot) com. John checks the email first thing Monday through Friday.

Hopefully, between the owls and the Gopher X machine, we can put a dent in the gopher population this year.