. Controlling field rodents in California. Rodents; Mammals. Fig. 12. Traps for pocket gophers, shown as set for use. Left, Macabee trap, right, California pocket gopher trap of wood. sion; and (6) encouragement of natural enemies. There is a common but mistaken idea that some kinds of plants are "go- pher ; There is no reliable evi- dence that any kind of plant will keep gophers out of a garden. Trapping. The traps used for rats, mice, and large mammals are not suitable for gophers, which must be caught in their burrows where space is limited. Many special gopher traps hav
. Controlling field rodents in California. Rodents; Mammals. Fig. 12. Traps for pocket gophers, shown as set for use. Left, Macabee trap, right, California pocket gopher trap of wood. sion; and (6) encouragement of natural enemies. There is a common but mistaken idea that some kinds of plants are "go- pher ; There is no reliable evi- dence that any kind of plant will keep gophers out of a garden. Trapping. The traps used for rats, mice, and large mammals are not suitable for gophers, which must be caught in their burrows where space is limited. Many special gopher traps have been de- signed (fig. 12) and are of two kinds: those designed to spring when a gopher pushes against the flat trigger pan of the trap, and those operated by a bait trigger, moved when the gopher seizes the special bait. Trapping is especially useful in gar- dens, orchards, small fields, and the banks of irrigation canals. It is probably as effective as any other single method of control. Traps are useful in following up and capturing individual gophers. The special traps are safe to handle and re- quire only a limited amount of skill and a little digging to place them. On one ranch near Davis a workman handled about 75 traps, set usually in pairs. These required about 5 hours daily to examine and reset as needed, and on 3 successive days took 38, 40, and 37 go- phers, respectively. The most successful and most com- monly used trap in California is the Macabee, about 5% inches long, and con- structed of wire except for the trigger. The next most popular is the box type with a choker effect. Many other types have been designed and marketed, but none seems to have found any lasting de- mand. Some "gopher guns" using shot- gun or smaller cartridges have been made; these have some hazard to the user, and their efficiency has not been proved. The best "set" for the Macabee trap is in the main runway (fig. 13), and not in the lateral run leading to the surface m
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