The gophers are out ......

[LEP]

In my travels it always seems that gopher infestations are worse on continually overgrazed fields. Anyone else notice this?

They are certainly more visible in short grass but it seems as if the prefer the habitat of short grass so they can see for long distances.

They are also probably worse in areas with less nesting raptors. It would be interesting to know the science behind why infestations are high in some areas but not others.

The area with the worst infestation on my farm is beside 80 acres of grass that hasn't been grazed in 25+ years. My landlady prefers to call it habitat. Every year the gophers move out into the crop as it is emerging. Probably easy pickings versus picking new growth out of the overgrown bunches of old grass.

With the gophers follows the badgers. About 15 or 20 acres are affected. Not fun harvesting lentils on this ground.

The landlady has all of her acres posted no hunting, which is fine. To get some control I use a small container of strychnine treated grain that I shake down the holes as I pick rocks. Keeps the numbers down somewhat.

I don't tell her though.