Gopher Control in Modesto

Tackling Gopher Infestations Across the Central Valley

Have you noticed dug-up holes in your landscape or damage to your garden or ornamental plants? This may be the handiwork of destructive gophers. Gophers are a significant problem in California and one that should not be taken lightly. Luckily, there is a way to protect your domain from these intruders with the help of licensed experts from Castle Pest Management. 

For nearly two decades, we have served Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and Merced counties with high-quality pest control services and have removed countless gopher invasions from local homes and businesses. Our experienced, reputable, and reliable team is eager to help you get rid of pesky gophers and keep them away.

Schedule your free estimate for services by calling (209) 553-7858 or entering your information on our online form.

How Gophers Operate

Gophers, also commonly called pocket gophers, are burrowing rodents known for their tendency of digging tunnels wherever they reside and causing destruction in agricultural settings, fields, gardens, and commercial and residential properties. There are about 35 species of gophers worldwide with most species living in the United States. 

Gophers were designed to live a tunneling lifestyle. Their powerful limbs and large claws make digging easy. They also possess highly sensitive whiskers to help them navigate in the dark. They nest, travel, and store food in their tunnel systems and seal the openings with dirt. 

Gophers can cause extensive damage, not just from burrowing, but also from their eating habits. Gophers will eat just about anything. However, most of the eating they do is underground. They yank plants down from the root and eat them in their burrows. If they are targeting your property, chances are your landscape has plenty of options for them to satiate themselves.

Signs You May Have Gophers

Because of how damaging gophers can be to landscaping, it’s important to know the warning signs that you may have a gopher infestation. If you see any of this evidence, call the professional gopher control experts at Castle Pest Management immediately so we can safely remove these animals from your lawn.

Signs of gophers on your property include:

• Dirt mounds—These holes can appear in the form of fan-shaped mounds initially, but when fully dug, are round or oval-shaped holes on your lawn.
• Plugged holes—These are mounds that the gophers will cover with dirt to protect it from predators
• Damaged vegetation—Indicated by missing lawn and garden plants or wilting or dying ornamentals. You may also notice dead patches of grass from gophers feeding on the plant roots from underground.
• Damaged utilities—Due to their underground activities and gnawing habits, you may notice damage to utility cables, sprinkler systems, and underground wiring.

How We Get Rid of Gophers

There are a number of different ways to address a gopher problem. Depending on your preference, our technicians can utilize lethal or non-lethal methods of control. 

Trapping and baiting have proven to be the best ways to eliminate gophers. By performing a detailed inspection of your landscape and the gopher activity present, we can strategically place these traps and baits for the best chances of successfully capturing or killing the intruding gophers. 

Alternatively, we can use gopher repellents to deter them from your property. These repellents use ingredients to create an unpleasant taste, smell, or touch to a treated area. We can scatter them around the active sites and, before long, the gophers will interact with the repellent granules and the unpleasantness of the product will drive them away. These repellents can also be used as a preventative measure after gophers are successfully controlled.