Roundup: “Gofer It…”

Tuesday July 23, 2024
From the less messy desk of Amanda Eichstaedt…

Gofer It…

Waylon likes to dig. He has actually caught a handful of gophers, but not recently, and while we are likely the biggest fans of Waylon in this universe, we think that they might have been the slower gophers…

Gophers are prolific in West Marin. I have seen them pull entire plants into the ground. They have crawled into my raised beds, destroyed a great tomato crop, and created ankle twisting opportunities all over the yard. 

To their credit, they can totally dig! They are herbivores. Experts say it is better to create a situation where your plants can succeed, rather than kill gophers. Sounds like these experts might be organization development specialists, since I have found throughout my career that it is best to set folks up for success in pretty much every scenario.

I don’t bother with gopher traps, but I do try to set my plants up for success, and since Waylon’s holes are much bigger than a gopher hole, the yard is dangerous on a good day. It is impressive that gophers can excavate a burrow system of up to 2,000 square feet (from an IJ article) of tennis ball sized tunnels. And they can hide in air pockets during flooding and survive (although I have seen a few fleeing for their lives during flooding at our place).

Experts also say that there are some plants that gophers do not like, which include lavender, salvias, catmint, oleander, and marigolds. Some of those plants are prolific in my yard. There are a lot of different types of pocket gophers (called such since they have little pouches inside their cheeks to store food), and they can actually close their lips behind their big ol’ teeth, to keep the dirt out of their mouths. Nice adaptation!

Goldy the Gopher, striking a pose at University of Minnesota.  photo: U of M

And while California seems to have a LOT of gophers, it is Minnesota that is called the “Gopher State” and the University of Minnesota mascot is Goldy Gopher. Gainer the Gopher is the mascot for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. 

And while gophers get a bad rap, they are beneficial in aerating the ground, and spreading their waste around underground, thus fertilizing the soil. 

And please do not be confused by the genus gopherus, which is a type of fossorial land tortoise. Don’t ask me, I just read this on the internet.

So, you are free to return to the normal and insane news cycle that we are living in, or to enjoying your view while sipping the beverage of your choice, but now you might know a bit more about gophers. Thank you for reading! 

Amanda Eichstaedt
Station Manager/Executive Director

p.s. Waylon says “Hey!” photo: Ken Eichstaedt