How to Get Rid of Gophers in the Yard (2026 Guide)

You get rid of gophers in the yard by trapping the animal in its main tunnel, then screening the plants worth saving. Find a fresh mound, probe the ground beside it until your probe drops into the burrow, and set two pincer traps inside facing opposite directions. Check them daily. One gopher usually works the whole system, so a single catch often ends the damage, and wire barriers plus weed control keep the next one from settling in.

Poison, water, noise gadgets, and smell-based repellents all promise shortcuts. Research says they mostly fail or carry risks that trapping avoids. (Trap brand names below are examples, not endorsements; our stance on product mentions lives on the disclosure page.)

Is it really gophers?

Start here, because every digger needs different tools and gophers get blamed for damage they never caused. A pocket gopher is a stout burrowing rodent named for the fur-lined cheek pouches outside its mouth, which it uses to haul food and nesting material. Adults run 6 to 10 inches long, with big clawed front paws, small eyes and ears, and lips that close behind four large front teeth so dirt stays out while they dig (UC IPM). You will rarely see the animal itself.

Small eyes, strong whiskers, and chisel teeth mark the pocket gopher. It eats plants, which is why gardens suffer.

Mounds are the signature. Gophers push loose dirt up as they dig, forming crescent or horseshoe-shaped mounds with the hole off to one side and usually plugged. One animal can build several mounds in a day, so a sudden burst of fresh dirt does not mean a herd moved in. Fresh mounds show dark, moist, crumbly soil. Old ones sit pale and flattened. Work only the fresh ones.

Mound building peaks in spring and fall when soil is moist and easy to dig, though irrigated lawns and beds can show new mounds all year (UC IPM). Gophers are strict plant eaters that feed on roots and fleshy underground parts, and they drag whole plants down into the tunnel from below. A row of vegetables that wilts or vanishes points at gophers. So do chewed drip lines and tunnels that steal irrigation water.

Sign	Gopher	Mole	Vole
Mound shape	Crescent or fan, hole plugged off to one side	Round volcano, plug in the center	No mounds at all
Surface tunnels	None	Raised ridges where shallow runs lift the turf	Open runways clipped through the grass
Plants	Roots eaten, whole plants pulled under	Plants left alone, since moles hunt worms	Stems clipped at ground level, bark girdled
Holes	Sealed with soil plugs	Sealed, often hidden under a mound	Open holes with no dirt pile

Moles build round volcano mounds with a center plug plus raised ridges, and they never eat your plants. Voles cut surface runways without mounding. Ground squirrels leave open holes with no dirt pile and show themselves in daylight. Match your sign to the table before buying anything, because mole traps in gopher tunnels catch nothing. When ridges plus volcano mounds say mole instead, switch to the mole removal guide and compare suspects in the gopher hub.

How do you trap a gopher that works?

Trap the main tunnel, not the mound. The main tunnel is the deeper shared runway, usually 6 to 12 inches down, that links feeding branches, the nest, and food storage. The visible mound is just the plugged outlet of a short side branch. Traps set in side branches sit where the gopher may never travel, while traps in the main runway meet it coming or going. That single distinction decides most campaigns.

Dig beside the mound, not in it

Beginners dig into the mound itself and wonder why the trap sits empty for a week. Think of the mound as a chimney cap on a side flue. The furnace room, the main tunnel, runs a short distance away. Probe the soil 4 to 12 inches from the plugged side of a fresh mound until the probe tip drops about 2 inches into open burrow (UC IPM). The wildlife damage handbook puts the main burrow 12 to 18 inches out from the plug in fan-shaped mounds, so sweep a wide arc and probe more than once. Skill grows fast with practice. Backfilled stretches of old tunnel can feel like open burrow to a new hand, so confirm by opening the ground and looking before you trust a reading.

Use two traps per opening, facing opposite directions, because you cannot know which side of the system holds the animal. The standard choices are two-pronged pincer traps such as the Macabee, Cinch, or Gophinator, plus choker-style box traps like the Victor Black Box. The Gophinator beats the Macabee on big mature animals (UC IPM). Open the tunnel with a trowel, clear loose dirt, set each trap exactly as its instructions show, and wire every trap to a stake at the surface so a catch or a scavenger cannot drag it down the burrow.

Paired pincer traps in the main tunnel do the actual work. No bait needed.

Cover the excavation to shut out light, using sod, dirt clods, canvas, cardboard, or plywood with fine soil sifted around the edges. Some trappers leave sets open on purpose, since gophers come to plug light leaks and walk into the trap. Research finds little difference either way, so cover every set where people or pets pass and do as you like elsewhere (UC IPM). Flag each set against mowers and feet.

Skip the bait. UC Davis trials found no gain from food behind the trap, and your scent on the steel changes nothing (UC IPM). Gophers trigger the pan or wire by shoving dirt or patrolling, not by feeding. Placement skill matters more than brand loyalty.

Check traps every day and reset as needed. Move any silent set to a fresh mound within 1 to 2 days. In spring and early summer, leave traps working a day or two after a catch, since a female may have young sharing the system (Montana State). Keep at it until no new mounds appear. Most yards hold one gopher per burrow system outside breeding season, so patience with fresh sign beats buying more gadgets.

A note on timing: trap when new mounds show, which is spring and fall in unirrigated ground and any wet stretch in watered yards. Frozen or baked-hard soil defeats probes and shovels alike.

What keeps gophers out for good?

Trapping clears the current resident. Exclusion and habitat work decide how fast the next one moves in, because empty tunnels near weedy cover invite new prospectors within weeks. Treat the highest-value plantings first and accept that whole-yard fencing costs more than years of trapping.

Bury wire where it counts. For prized shrubs or trees, sink hardware cloth or half to three-quarter-inch mesh at least 2 feet deep, bend an extra 6 inches outward at the bottom at a right angle, and run the top at least 1 foot above ground so overland visitors meet a wall too (UC IPM). Pick galvanized or stainless mesh so it lasts. Gophers can eventually dig under any fence, and tight wire can cramp tree roots, so reserve full rings for specimens worth the trouble.

Vegetable and flower beds earn simpler armor. Line the sides and bottom of the bed with mesh before filling, or underlay raised beds with hardware cloth or three-quarter-inch poultry wire. Set wire baskets around individual transplants at planting time, leaving room for several years of root growth. Light non-galvanized wire suits young shrubs since it rusts away as roots outgrow the need (UC IPM). Shield buried drip lines and cables with 6 to 8 inches of coarse gravel at least 1 inch across, which gophers tend to tunnel around rather than through.

Each fresh mound marks recent digging. Level old mounds so new ones stand out.

Starve the yard of cover and menu. Clear weedy strips beside beds and lawns to form a buffer of bare or unsuitable ground. Gophers favor lush growth with big fleshy roots, bulbs, and tubers, so a weedy fence line functions as a nursery that feeds your beds. Favor plants with fibrous roots in buffer zones and keep irrigation tight. None of this evicts a resident alone.

Then monitor like it matters. Level every mound after the campaign and walk the yard weekly through the growing season. Fresh dirt means a newcomer, and catching the first animal is faster and cheaper than fighting the fifth. Browse the lawn and garden hub for the full digger lineup, compare vole and groundhog habits, scan all pests, and lean on the mole hub when ridges muddy the diagnosis.

Why do repellents and quick fixes fail?

Because gophers live sealed underground, eat almost any plant, and shrug at scare tactics. No sold repellent protects gardens from them, and frightening devices including vibrating stakes, ultrasonic units, and wind-powered pinwheels all failed in research trials (UC IPM). Gophers hear sprinklers, mowers, traffic, and footsteps every day. One more buzz from a plastic stake does not move them.

Plant-based claims fail the same test. Gopher purge, castor bean, and garlic get recommended constantly, yet trials show no repellent effect, and the first two are poisonous to people and pets, so planting them trades a garden pest for a safety hazard (UC IPM). Chewing gum and laxatives stuffed down holes kill nothing. Owl boxes sound appealing, but barn owls hunt wide areas where prey runs thickest, and they will not clear the single gopher currently eating your carrots (UC IPM). Predators of all kinds take gophers yet move on long before the last one dies.

Smoke and gas cartridges fizzle because gophers sense the intrusion and wall the section off with a soil plug within minutes. Flooding with a hose can flush an animal from a small new system, and it is worth trying where water cannot hurt anything, but established networks survive it (Montana State).

That leaves toxic bait, which works but belongs low on a homeowner list. Grain baits with strychnine or zinc phosphide kill with a single feeding, yet every placement must go into the main tunnel by hand, never scattered above ground, and never in beds of root vegetables where bait could touch food (UC IPM). Old multi-feed anticoagulant products lost their residential approval in California, so leftovers belong at hazardous waste pickup. Given the risk to pets, wildlife, and children, trapping plus screening solves most yard cases with less hazard.

Know when to hand the job over. Call a pro when mounds spread faster than you can trap, when burrows undermine slopes, walls, or septic ground, or when two careful weeks catch nothing and the diagnosis itself needs a second look. Pocket gophers are nongame mammals in California with no trapping license required, but rules differ by state, so check local wildlife rules before you start, especially outside your own yard.

How to: How to Get Rid of Gophers in the Yard (2026 Guide)

Find the main tunnel beside a fresh mound and trap it with paired sets.

You'll need

• 2 pincer-style gopher traps per tunnel
• gopher probe or long screwdriver
• garden trowel
• stakes and wire
• marker flags
• gloves

Tools

• flashlight

1. Pick a fresh mound

   Choose a mound with dark, moist, granular soil. Old pale flattened mounds mark tunnels the gopher may have left. Fresh dirt means a gopher worked here recently.

2. Probe for the main tunnel

   Push the probe into the soil 4 to 12 inches from the plugged side of the mound. When the tip breaks into the burrow you will feel a sudden drop of about 2 inches. Repeat until you map the tunnel line.

3. Open the tunnel and set paired traps

   Cut a neat opening with the trowel and clear loose dirt from the tunnel. Set two pincer traps, one facing each direction, and wire each trap to a surface stake so nothing drags it away.

4. Cover, flag, and check daily

   Cover the opening with sod, plywood, or canvas to shut out light, and flag the spot. Check traps every day. Move any set that catches nothing within 2 days, and keep trapping until no new mounds appear.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best gopher trap for a yard?

Two-pronged pincer traps such as the Macabee, Cinch, or Gophinator, set in pairs facing each other inside the main tunnel. The Gophinator handles large adult gophers better than the Macabee. Box traps work too but need more digging, which matters in lawns.

Do I need bait in a gopher trap?

No. UC Davis researchers found no benefit from bait behind the trap, and human scent does not change results either. Gophers get caught because they push soil against the trigger pan or wire while patrolling or plugging the tunnel, not because they want a snack.

Do sonic spikes or repellent plants keep gophers away?

No. Vibrating stakes, ultrasonic devices, and wind-powered pinwheels all failed in research trials, and no sold repellent protects plants. Gopher purge, castor bean, and garlic have no supporting evidence, and two of those plants are poisonous to people and pets.

Can I flood gophers out with a hose?

Sometimes, in a small new tunnel system where extra water will not hurt anything. Slide a garden hose into a lateral tunnel and run water until the animal bolts. It rarely clears an established burrow network, so treat flooding as a bonus, not the plan.

Are gopher baits safe around kids and pets?

They carry real risk, since spilled bait above ground can poison pets and wildlife. UC IPM flags toxic baits as a special concern in backyards. Trap instead where children or pets roam, and leave any baiting to labeled products placed deep in the main tunnel, exactly as the label directs.

When should I call a professional for gophers?

Call when mounds keep appearing across a large area, when tunnels threaten slopes, retaining walls, or septic lines, when traps are unsafe around kids or pets, or when two weeks of correct trapping catch nothing. Licensed operators can also use restricted fumigants that homeowners cannot buy.

Useful links (3)

1. UC IPM: Pocket Gophers, Home and Landscape (2025)— ipm.ucanr.edu
2. ICWDM: Pocket Gopher Damage Prevention and Control Methods— icwdm.org
3. Montana State Extension: Non-Chemical Pocket Gopher Control— animalrangeextension.montana.edu

Photo credits

Thank you to National Park Service, Chuck Abbe, Simiprof and Ian Silvernail for sharing these beautiful photographs and helping bring this guide to life.

Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · CC BY 2.0 · CC0 · CC BY-SA 3.0