Experienced Castle Rock Gopher Control Providers
Gophers are troublesome pests that dig complex systems of burrows underneath the lawns of unsuspecting homeowners. As they dig, they destroy vegetation by feeding on the roots of various plants. Gopher activity lasts all year long, meaning the damage will not stop until you have them removed by professionals.
Are you tired of gophers wreaking havoc on your property? Then, it’s time to call a Castle Rock gopher control provider. OMNIS Pest Control has immense experience driving gophers away, so trust us to provide you with the peace of mind you deserve!
What Are Gophers?
Before you call a Castle Rock gopher control company, make sure that gophers are actually the problem. A lot of animals look like gophers, but not all of them are technically gophers. In Colorado, you need to look out for a specific set of rodents called pocket gophers. The pocket gopher is very distinctive.
Pocket gophers get their name from the large, fur-lined pouches in their cheeks, which they use to carry food. They use the pockets to carry materials for nesting too.
Every region of Colorado has some level of pocket gopher presence. Though, identifying a pocket gopher is complex because they come in a variety of colors. Their size varies too.
Generally, expect pocket gophers to range between 8 and 12 inches. As far as colors go, they usually have fur that matches the soil they live in. That said, gophers live in nearly every environment, from valleys to plains.
Where Do Gophers Live?
Gophers live underground. They dig burrows that are distinctive and remarkable. What makes them unique is the fact that gophers plug them, meaning there is no visible entry point from the surface level. The burrows are deep. So deep that there is no ridge of turf created when they dig underneath the surface of a lawn.
For this reason, detecting gophers is difficult. However, if there are gophers living under your grass unbeknownst to you, they have a significant opportunity to destroy your lawn with their burrowing. The burrows are as long as 200 yards. Therefore, they move lots of soil during their creation.
Are Gophers Good?
Gophers are not inherently dangerous or bad for the environment. On the contrary, they aerate the soil and serve as prey for birds and other animals. Still, the damage they do to lawns is often undesirable to homeowners.
Also, while gophers are not explicitly dangerous, they do carry zoonotic diseases that are harmful to humans. These diseases pass via fecal-oral transmission, direct contact, bite wounds, and other methods.
Hantavirus is the most common disease passed by gophers.
Hantavirus
This is a rare respiratory illness that you find in rodents. While rodents do carry the disease, it does not cause disease in them. Yet, when humans contract it, it causes severe damage.
Hantavirus passes through contact with gopher urine, saliva, and feces. If you unknowingly consume or come into contact with these materials, you risk getting the disease. Once contracted, some strains are fatal.
The disease is most common in Southwestern states but occurs in Colorado. Watch out because the disease spreads when mist or dust from gopher excretions gets in the air after something disturbs it. After simply breathing these substances in, the disease transmits.
The symptoms include fevers, muscle pain, and flu-like illness. You usually start developing symptoms within two weeks of contracting the virus. If exposed, get medical attention immediately to avoid complications.
Castle Rock Gopher Control: What To Do
The first step of Castle Rock gopher control is determining if gophers are present. Look out for mounds of dirt in your yard or garden. If they are present, pocket gophers likely live on your property. Be especially careful if you live near open spaces, like plains or meadows. Pocket gophers love moving from these areas to nearby lawns and gardens.
Once you identify the gophers, you need to do something to remove them. This is tricky, mainly because gophers live underground. Most people are out of their depth when confronted with gopher infestations. Rather than deal with the issue alone, have Castle Rock gopher control providers inspect your property and implement a timely solution.
If you don’t, you risk additional damage to your property.
How Does Castle Rock Gopher Control Work?
Gophers are crafty. That’s why it takes pest control experts to remove them permanently. When you call OMNIS Pest Control, our process for removing gophers includes several steps. We start with an inspection, then implement one of the following removal solutions.
Erecting Barriers
The first step in getting any pest problem under control is prevention. Trying to get rid of field mice includes sealing entry points into your home, eliminating access to food, and getting rid of nest sites.
Blocking gophers from entering an area is an effective way to eliminate them. Our team erects barriers along the surface of your lawn to keep them out. We build the barriers using gopher mesh or another similar material. Usually, gophers try to dig under the obstacles, so we make sure to plant them at least 2 feet underground.
Gopher Baskets
Sometimes, homeowners only want to limit access to specific parts of their garden. The perfect solution for this is gopher baskets. You fix these wire mesh baskets around particular areas that are vulnerable to gopher infestation. Using this method, you save your favorite plants from being destroyed by local gophers.
Gopher Traps
Companies commonly use traps for pest control. Unfortunately, though, trapping is complicated with animals that live underground. To trap gophers effectively, we seal off all but one or two entrances to their burrows. Then, we insert a trap into one of the entrances. The goal is to get the gophers to leave the tunnel and get trapped.
This is not easy. We must keep the gophers from creating a path that leads away from the traps. To do this, we stab around the gopher burrows to irritate them. They rush to get out; then, they walk into the trap. Afterward, we take the trap to a safe place to release the animals.
Using traps is complex, especially in large areas. Trying to do it independently is possible, but results vary if you are not a professional. To get the job done right, call OMNIS Pest Control for effective Castle Rock gopher control.
Ongoing Preventive Treatment
If you don’t keep your eye on the problem, pests will inevitably return. That is why we offer ongoing preventive treatments to customers interested in this service. We will come to your home and apply treatments that keep pests out on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis! This will save you the headache and expense of hiring us for a more extensive treatment down the road.
The End Of Your Gopher Infestation
Gopher problems persist forever if you do nothing about them. So, stop waiting for the gophers to leave on their own. Waiting longer allows more damage to occur.
One phone call to OMNIS Pest Control marks the end of your gopher infestation. Our team has the talent and experience to do the job right the first time. To schedule a free inspection, call us at 720-583-4126 or submit the contact form below.
Pill Bugs
Ants
Spiders
Bees
Crickets
Millipedes
Wasps
Hornets
Mice
Voles
Rats
Snakes
Bats
Birds
Squirrels
Gophers
Raccoons
Mosquitos