Q: I have a clean yard, in which I have a few plants and trees, and had a large Mexican primrose that came up by itself. Last week gophers, plural, got the primrose and it disappeared. How did they find it? The ground for more than 40 feet around the primrose is bare and had no gopher mounds of dirt. Nothing, yet the tunnel surfaced an inch from the plant and they proceeded to eat it. I set a trap and killed one gopher overnight, but the next day there was an additional mound and the plant had disappeared. Do they come above ground to scout around at night? Iโm mystified.
A:ย Gophers are nocturnal so it makes sense that you could catch them overnight and lose plants to them at the same time. Their crescent-shaped mounds, tunnels, and plant damage are certainly signs they are present. Many animals find plants by smell and they may have been scouting above ground at night before building that part of the tunnel. While they feed on the roots primarily, they will also take whole plants underground. Continue trapping and try to exclude them from desired plants with hardware cloth buried beneath the beds.
Peter L. Warren is the Forest Health Program Coordinator for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. Questions, photos and videos may be emailed toย tucsongardensage@gmail.com
