The year is almost over and I won't be trapping any more pocket gophers for the year. Actually I had cleared the hayfield and pastures of pocket gophers many months ago and none have moved in since then.
Earlier this year I thought the pocket gophers may reach a tipping point and get out of control. I was distracted from trapping them and then the hayfield grew tall and thick hiding their dirt mounds. Also with the river low this Summer the cattle had access to both the middle and south pastures and I didn't want them messing with my traps possibly breaking them. So I had to work around the cattle and only trap in those pastures when I had the cattle in the north pasture.
The pocket gophers seemed to be moving in like gangbusters. Add in a newly planted alfalfa field (which the roots of the pocket gophers love to eat) and I was worried I wouldn't trap them all. But I did.
In the end the annual count was less than I expected. I trapped 46 pocket gophers this year, down from the 52 I had trapped last year.
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