Farmers who found gophers in their fields, pastures and yards last year
should expect to find them again this year.
If there were lots of gophers last year, there will be more this year,
making early control necessary to avoid serious problems.
Normally, half of all gophers die before adulthood, killed by
predators, winter cold, spring flooding and starvation.
But when winters are mild and springs are dry, gopher populations soar
and females emerge from the spring soil with an average of seven pups
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in tow.
Gophers, also known as Richardson’s ground squirrels, favour new
cereal plants and they seek them as soon as they emerge .
That is happening near the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan this
season.
John Bourne, a pest control specialist with Alberta Agriculture, said
the last couple of years have produced ideal conditions for ground
squirrels.
“Short, sparse vegetation of a consistent type such as a poor stand of
forages or cereal crops are ideal for this animal …. Reduced tillage
trend has kept many dens intact. It just so happens that is what we’ve
offered them – near perfect conditions the last few years.”
He said if fields had grown tall crops, fewer gophers would have stayed
around. As well, he said the rodents don’t boost their populations as
much if they don’t have ideal habitats. Prevention is the answer, he
said.
