Tales from the Garden

Pocket Gophers have been getting under my skin in a big way this spring!   They are gnawing their burrows through some of my vegetable garden beds, and escaping all our best attempts to dissuade or trap them.   They have been bold too, popping up out of their holes in broad daylight to look around for more crops to consume, and absolutely torturing our indoor cats who are now on constant “gopher watch”.   One by one over the past 2 weeks, my biggest chard plants have gone “down the hatch” as they cut and drag them into their burrows, sometimes right before our eyes (see video below).   My best watermelon starts are gone now too!   And I find sawed-off, wilted leaves and stems lying on the surface, with a gopher tunnel right under them.   Grrrrrrr!     "Gopher Watchcats" Eva and Tootsie But as I always say, the best way to outsmart any kind of “varmit” is to get to know them, so here goes:   Botta’s Pocket Gophers are the species we have here in Arivaca.