. Breeder and sportsman. Horses. Saturday, January 10, 1914.] THE BREEDER AND SPORTSMAN 13 THE FARM GETTING GOPHERS AND SQUIRRELS. The problem of exterminatingâor at least of controllingâthe gopher and the squirrel is put up to the agricul- tural editor with rhythmic frequency. With no feeling of egotism, but rather with a sense of duty to my fellow til- lers of the soil, I make the assertion that the control of these two pests no longer constitutes a problem at the Way-up Ranch. It is customary to trap the gopher and to poison the squirrel. In the ultimate working out of the problem we found
. Breeder and sportsman. Horses. Saturday, January 10, 1914.] THE BREEDER AND SPORTSMAN 13 THE FARM GETTING GOPHERS AND SQUIRRELS. The problem of exterminatingâor at least of controllingâthe gopher and the squirrel is put up to the agricul- tural editor with rhythmic frequency. With no feeling of egotism, but rather with a sense of duty to my fellow til- lers of the soil, I make the assertion that the control of these two pests no longer constitutes a problem at the Way-up Ranch. It is customary to trap the gopher and to poison the squirrel. In the ultimate working out of the problem we found this reversed; for we get all the gophers with poison and the last of the equirrels in a trap. As is the case with many successful operations the methods are simple. The gophers take the poison readily in conjunction with alfalfa and the squirrels go into our traps under the apparent impres- sion that they are playhouses. In preparing the gopher bait we take two or three stalks of green alfalfaâ preferably that which is nearly ready to bloom and is therefore more pal- atable than that which is immatureâ double the upper ends over twice and tie in such a way that a fist-like tuft is produced. The leaves are then stripped from that portion of the stalks which is not a portion of this tuft. A little stock, a bit of melon or juicy fruit and some powdered strychnine form the kit used in the further preparation of the bait. The end of the stick is dipped in the fruit juice and used to moisten the inside of the tuft. The moistened stick is then dipped in the strychnine and the poison is placed in the tuft, where it readily adheres to the moistened leaves. The tuft is then pressed so as to hold and conceal the poisonâ and the job is done. In placing these baits the method is substantially the same as in setting traps. That is, the main runway of the gopher must be reached and this will be known because there will be an opening at each side of the excava- tion made by the shovel. A
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjecthorses, bookyear1882
