Help me kill a shit-ton of gophers

[Mazderati]

How big is the garden? Wire mesh under the soil and small electric fence.

[billyk]

Are these shit-gophers? Maybe you should ask Mr Lahey.

[Game Over]

If all else fails tillage works pretty well.

[BmillsSkier]

we don't even need a permit for that

Or a reason.

[KQ]

Around here our local Audobon society will come put up barn owl boxes for free. You might check with your local association.

Here's an article re: Bend barn owls from 2010. At the end of the article the guy says he'll send you free plans to make your own. Who knows if he's still doing it 10 years later but might be a start if you're interested:

A Better Mousetrap: Why Barn Owls Might Be Better Pest Control Than Poison


So cool to see them flying at night. Hate their screech (not a nice hoot like a Great Horned) but you can't have everything I suppose.

[PB]

Also effective for controlling chihuahua infestations.

[KQ]

Also effective for controlling chihuahua infestations.

Not Barn owls but Great Horned yes.

[PB]

A Barn Owl cold probably carry a 7-8 lb chihuahua (a short distance?), as a Great Horned got half-way down the barn road with our 23 lb (screaming) JR

[Bunion 2020]

African or European Barn Owl?

[exsparky]

We HAD a huge bunny problem in my neighbor hood. Owls should work on gophers too.

First it was the red tailed hawks, then the gray owls now, I have a pair of great horned northern owls now.
They eat about half of something then drop it in my yard. The pile is terrifying. These things are more lethal to rodents than anything else I have seen and mess up every other lone bird to come around.

"The relationship between great horned owls and other raptorial birds in its range is usually decidedly one-sided. While certain species, such as the red-tailed hawk and northern goshawk, might be seen as potential competition for the owls, most others seem to be regarded merely as prey by great horned owls. The great horned owl is both the most prolific and diverse predator in America of other birds of prey"

"Both young and adult great grey owls, despite their superficially superior size, are apparently hunted with impunity by great horned owls"

"In the boreal forests, the great horned owl's prolificacy as a snowshoe hare hunter places it second only to the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) among all predators. Although locally dependent on the hares as their main food, northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis), red-tailed hawks and golden eagles apparently do not have as large of an impact on the hares, nor do mammalian carnivore generalists that also kill many hares, like the fisher, bobcat, wolverine (Gulo gulo), coyote and larger varieties (i.e. wolves (Canis lupus), cougars (Puma concolor) and bears (Ursus ssp.))."

Unless mobbed by many other birds, horned owls are usually going to win. Then they eat every little bunny they can find.

[Rideski]

Around here our local Audobon society will come put up barn owl boxes for free. You might check with your local association.

Here's an article re: Bend barn owls from 2010. At the end of the article the guy says he'll send you free plans to make your own. Who knows if he's still doing it 10 years later but might be a start if you're interested:

A Better Mousetrap: Why Barn Owls Might Be Better Pest Control Than Poison


So cool to see them flying at night. Hate their screech (not a nice hoot like a Great Horned) but you can't have everything I suppose.

I was really digging the idea of getting abarn owl till I got to the last paragraph and the hazmat suit required to clean the nest every year.

[Bunion 2020]

Barn cat FTW. And when the gophers are gone, call in the Barn Owl to remove the Barn feline.

[Flyoverland Captive]

I used to have a Great Horned owl who would visit in the evenings; it sat on my roof, watching my field for varmints. Haven’t seen it this year. I’ve got mesh under all my raised beds, but the little bastards can crawl right up the sides.

[Flyoverland Captive]

And I’m not inclined to get a cat; tootsie rolls all over the garden beds sounds awful.

[SnowHot]

I'm just going to leave this right here.

[Johnny P]

African or European Barn Owl?

Um....... I believe that’s an unladen swallow.

[PB]

I'm just going to leave this right here.

Nutria hunting!! You could have owls the size of 747s and the Nutria simply blows bubbles at 'em!

[BmillsSkier]

I'm just going to leave this right here.

This presents many more questions than answers

[dannynoonan]

My mom took her garden pretty fucking seriously; she would catch ground hogs in a live trap, and drown them in a barrel of rainwater. She had a good grasp of irony, I must say.

[east or bust]

owls FTW

[Kopi_Red]

Rodenator

https://youtu.be/fIMfir6r1Rc

[TBS]

Also effective for controlling chihuahua infestations.

Heh, an owl (maybe barn, maybe great horned, maybe barred) hauled off a neighbor's yapper dog two weeks ago...

[KQ]

I was really digging the idea of getting abarn owl till I got to the last paragraph and the hazmat suit required to clean the nest every year.

Ohh didn't even think about that. The ones on my farm nest in a couple of old unused outbuildings so it's no worry. Floor is certainly littered with pellets. I do go in the buildings something (very open) and have never given it a thought. Good for my immune system I suppose. LOL!

People here have mentioned how the Great Horned is an apex preditor and I can attest. My Barn owls come and go mostly because the Great Horned kill them off. Every once in a while I find a shredded Barn owl which makes me very sad. Pretty sure they've taken a cat or two also. Nature.......

[m2711c]

Rodenator

https://youtu.be/fIMfir6r1Rc

also sold as a hantavirus spreader...

[SnowHot]

My mom took her garden pretty fucking seriously; she would catch ground hogs in a live trap, and drown them in a barrel of rainwater. She had a good grasp of irony, I must say.

Thatat's actually a picture of my grandma.
She had a huge garden and two pretty big outbuildings. She'd catch the critters causing damage in the live trap and deep six them in the pond.
She was also an avid hunter and was really pissed when my dad took her guns away during early onset dimentia.
She was a pretty incredible woman. I learned a lot from her. I miss her.

But squirrels met there peril at the hands of Grandma Gertrude.