Gopher Control in Vallejo, CA

Why Vallejo yards get so many gophers

The gopher in Vallejo yards is Botta’s pocket gopher, a small burrowing rodent that spends almost its whole life underground. One gopher can push up several new mounds a day and dig a tunnel system that covers a big part of a backyard.

Vallejo gives them a lot to work with. Many neighborhoods, like Hiddenbrooke, Glen Cove, the hills around Blue Rock Springs and much of North Vallejo, sit right next to open grassland and hillsides full of gophers. When the soil softens after the fall and winter rains, gophers spread into irrigated lawns and gardens, where the roots are juicy and the digging is easy.

Gophers are active all year here, but you see the most new mounds in fall and spring when the soil is moist. That is also when trapping works best.

Gopher, mole or vole?

All three tear up yards, but they are different animals and need different fixes.

Gophers are by far the most common of the three in Vallejo yards. If your mounds are fan-shaped with a plug of soil to one side, it is a gopher.

Why gophers are more than a lawn problem

• Irrigation damage. Gophers chew through drip lines and sprinkler tubing, which wastes water and leaves dry spots in the yard.
• Garden losses. Vegetable beds, roses, fruit trees and bulbs can be killed from below in a few days.
• Trip hazards. Open holes and soft tunnels in the lawn are easy places to twist an ankle.
• Hillside and slope problems. Tunnels on slopes can channel rainwater and add to erosion in the yards that back onto Vallejo’s hills.
• Other pests move into old burrows. Empty gopher tunnels are where western yellowjackets build ground nests in summer. See wasp and yellowjacket removal in Vallejo.

How our gopher control works

1. Inspection. We walk the yard, find fresh mounds and the main tunnels, and check for damage to irrigation and plants. We confirm it is gophers and not moles or voles.
2. Locate the main tunnel. Gophers have a main runway that connects their feeding tunnels. We probe the soil near fresh mounds to find it.
3. Trapping. We set traps in the active tunnels. Trapping is the most reliable way to remove gophers from a yard, and it does not leave poison in the ground where pets, owls, hawks and other wildlife can reach it.
4. Check and reset. We come back to check the traps, remove gophers and reset traps where new activity shows up.
5. Other options when needed. For large properties or heavy activity, we explain any other methods, how they work and any risks to pets and wildlife before using them. Any product used follows the label and California rules.
6. Protect the yard. We show you where wire baskets, underground mesh and other barriers make sense, especially for garden beds, new lawns and young trees.

Protect your yard from gophers

Getting rid of the gophers you have is half the job. In a neighborhood next to open hillside, new gophers will keep moving in. These steps help.

• Plant in wire baskets. Use gopher wire baskets for roses, fruit trees, shrubs and vegetables.
• Line raised beds. Put galvanized hardware cloth under raised garden beds before you fill them.
• Lay mesh under new lawns before laying sod.
• Watch for new mounds and act early. One gopher is far easier to remove than a yard full of tunnels.
• Keep an eye on the property line. Gophers often come in from a neighbor’s yard or a hillside, so working with neighbors helps.
• Welcome barn owls and hawks. Natural predators help keep numbers down, which is another reason we avoid poison where we can.

What does not work very well

• Flooding the tunnels. Gophers usually escape to higher tunnels, and you waste a lot of water.
• Smoke bombs and gas cartridges. Gopher tunnels are long and the gas leaks out of the soil.
• Vibrating stakes and ultrasonic devices. Most studies show little or no lasting effect.
• Castor oil and home remedies. Results are mixed at best.
• Store-bought poison baits. They can harm pets, owls, hawks and other wildlife, and they often fail if they are not placed in the main tunnel.

Gophers and rats around the same home?

Gophers live in the yard. If you are hearing scratching in the attic or walls, finding droppings in the garage, or seeing rats along the fence at night, that is a different rodent problem with a different fix. See rodent control in Vallejo.

What does gopher control cost in Vallejo?

The price depends on the size of the yard, how many gophers are active, whether the property backs onto open hillside, how many trap checks it takes and whether you want ongoing service to keep new gophers out.

We inspect first and give you a clear price before we start. For general pricing factors, see our Vallejo pest control cost guide.