Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Have had serious gopher problems for YEARS. Most effective up to this point have been (for me) the "smoke bombs". those cost about $7 for 4 of them, and for them to be successful I needed to locate about 10 or so holes, make sure they did follow a tunnel and them bomb them all at one time. It was somewhat effective, and with no bodies to account for you never really knew. THESE TRAPS HOWEVER: WORK GREAT Ive never liked traps because theyd say something like "find the main gopher tunnel, and then place it in there...etc" And Id think "ya right, point ONE out to me and Id be GLAD to do just that..." Ive killed 4 gophers so far using these traps. Two yesterday, and one so far today (=3 dead gophers) and one a couple days ago... What I have found effective SO FAR (still getting the "hang of it") is to EITHER: 1) find an OPEN HOLE and use a stick and "TRY TO" determine which direction it leads, and THEN dig an opening in that direction about 1-2 feet AWAY from its opening large enough to put TWO of these traps inside it BACK TO BACK. THEN (set the traps) put them inside, cover up ALL the holes so NO LIGHT PASSES INTO the tunnel. And WAIT - come back in an hour Im sure MOST LIKELY you got one! no kidding, see my uploaded pictures. Ive gotten 1 this way 2) IF YOU FIND A HOLE THAT IS CLOSED / PLUGGED **AND** THE DIRT PLUGGING IT IS "POWDERY" (is literally the consistency of powder) THEN (most likely) a gopher is INSIDE THAT TUNNEL. In THIS SCENARIO put ONE TRAP facing INTO the tunnel, cover up all holes so NO LIGHT can enter. Come back in about an hour, or the next day (for me 1 hour is suffice) AND *ALMOST CERTAIN* YOU CAUGHT ONE! no kidding, Ive gotten 3 this way (1 yesterday, one today within 1 hour of setting this trap this way). ONE THING TO CONSIDER ALSO: THREE GOPHERS SO FAR were not dead when I pulled the traps out of the ground so I had to kill them myself... they were hurt but no way dead - all others were dead (fyi) NEW TECHNIQUE 03-01-13: BEFORE setting the trap against the hole, take dirt and rub the entire inside of the trap with it. This will make the inside of the trap more like the tunnel the gopher has dug, so when they come to the trap portion of their tunnel they wont notice any difference - it will also be dirty of the same earth - WHY? - because several gopher are SMART and wont go into the trap and they will backfill into the trap plugging it up into one big heavy chunk of dirt (trap PACKED TIGHTLY with dirt - like a brick). Since I started using this technique no gophers have back filled and all have been caught. FYI - good luck AND A NICE POINT / IN ADDITION: IF you see the spring portion UP IN THE AIR when you approach your trap after youve set it in place, this means 100% you caught a gopher. SPRINGS UP = CAUGHT GOPHER FINAL POINT / IN CONCLUSION: GREAT TRAPS! THEY WORK BY FAR THE BEST OUT OF ANYTHING IVE TRIED SO FAR... BY FAR GREAT GREAT TRAPS! remember find and ACTIVE HOLE, and set them in there using the methods above and YOU WILL kill gophers! GREAT TRAPS, wish I knew of them 15 years ago! I hope this review helps! I think these traps work GREAT **update** killed 29 gophers so far (as of 03-XX-15) Caught three more March 2015. Didnt document the exact days or take pictures, but caught (killed) more.... same story as below! 01-09-14 The Gophers have returned! And so has the implementation of the Victor Black Gopher Trap; Hence Gopher #26! Another one caught (found it today - noticed spring was up in the air). Actually set two traps about a week ago, and noticed today one was sprung. Must have been dead several hours because thousands of ants were all over the dead gopher carcass. Didnt smell of death yet so still must have been caught fairly recent (no stench). Ants all over it though was stiff and hard to remove. So as of today 1-9-14 Gopher #26, still more activity will be setting more, surely will post/update all kills. Happy Gopher Hunting, THESE TRAPS WORK GREAT! 03-26-13 Caught gopher #25 - same story basically... saw alot of mounds and plugged holes in one area, the dirt plugging the holes looked fresh/powdery (not stuck together) - means gophers are active right there. SET 3 TRAPS, 20min-30min later checked them and caught #25. Was a small gopher, wasnt dead just caught, wasnt pleasant but had to kill myself. Like in my review if the gopher isnt big enough itll catch its tail end and still be alive, youll need to kill it yourself, see my review for "how to" suggestion, again not enjoyable but what can you do. THESE TRAPS WORK! bad day to be a gopher! 03-01-13 caught gopher #24 I saw a large hole in the ground near a tree, when I walked back by it a few minutes later it had a mound of dirt over it / covering it up. I looked closely and could see dirth moving underneath, this had to be the gopher plugging it from inside. I waited about 10 min, came back and dug it open, found the hole - set the trap and a couple hours later checked back and the spring was upwards in the air, again means only one thing, caught the gopher. SEE UPLOADED PICS 12-12-12 bad day to be a gopher, just caught #23... after having caught/killed 22 they slowed... I saw alot of activity the last few weeks in the same area, so I started digging into the new holes, all led nowhere - until I was feeling around and found a deeper tunnel in one of them. Set a trap and w/in 2 hours caught #23 - Ill upload the pictures later today or sometime tomorrow. happy gopher hunting! - pictures uploaded 1 4-5-12 gopher leaving tunnel 2 4-8-12 (one of these was killed using 2 traps back to back when gopher was re-entering the hole, the other gopher leaving tunnel) 1 4-9-12 gopher leaving tunnel 1 4-10-12 gopher leaving tunnel 1 4-11-12 gopher leaving tunnel 2 4-12-12 gophers leaving (separate) tunnels 1 4-14-12 gopher leaving tunnel 2 4-21-12 gopher inside tunnel / leaving tunnel - one was caught in SAME TUNNEL as previous caught 4-12-12. The second today was caught in a different area of the yard when my foot sank into the ground, I dug the area and found a large "fresh" looking tunnel - within 2 hours I checked back (daily routine) and caught a gopher - took pictures and uploaded them, set the trap and within 2 hours caught a gopher 1 4-25-12 gopher inside tunnel / leaving tunnel - one trap near opening, inside tunnel 1 4-28-12 gopher leaving tunnel 1 4-03-12 gopher leaving tunnel / 2nd kill SAME tunnel - took about 7-8 days, left trap in tunel, surprised to have caught another in the SAME tunnel (about 7-8 days later) 1 5-05-12 gopher leaving tunnel - saw a fresh / new hole back filled with LOOSE / POWDERY dirt, set trap, about 6 hours later (I check every couple-few hours regularly) CAUGHT GOPHER #15 1 5-6-12 (same tunnel / hole as #15... there was no other hole to set this trap in, so I reset it in the same hole 2 5-9-12 gopher within tunnel AND the second gopher THIS day was same tunnel as #15 and #16 (3rd gopher in SAME TUNNEL) 18 gophers so far 1 5-12-12 gopher inside tunnel - used two traps 1 5-18-12 GOPHER #20!!! :-) gopher inside tunnel... was walking and heel sank, dug into ground and found hole, set ONE TRAP, a few hours later was on the computer looked out window and saw the spring was up in the air (only means ONE thing) = caught gopher #20 - happy happy day (see uploaded pic) 1 6-3-12 gopher inside tunnel - was leaving tunnel - saw a new / fresh powdery dirt plugged hole and set trap - next day spring was up 1 6-29-12 OLD TUNNEL, two traps had been in their for a couple weeks and I never took them out, today ONE of the springs was up, caught another one a small one but a dead one (gopher #22) WHAT IVE LEARNED AFTER KILLING 22 GOPHERS: It *SEEMS* as if each gopher has its own set of tunnels which ARE NOT shared by other gophers... (W/ FEW Exceptions that is). Gophers went unchecked / ignored and RUINED our entire yard, and front of house - HUGE "gulleys and VERY uneven ground is what remains, you walk around out there and sometimes your entire foot sinks to your ankle... After having caught a gopher in pretty much most of the tunneled areas, NONE have come back so far... SO FAR BUT: IT DOES SEEM as if each gopher has its own tunnel system. I have ONLY caught gophers in different tunnels areas, NEVER in the same tunnel system / area. It just seems this way, and like mentioned none have come back as of yet, and I am going to be digging into ALL tunnels and back filling them with dirt... of course THEN EVEN MORE SO a new opening / entrance will mean an active tunnel - this was how I caught my 9th gopher... it dug a hole and then back filled its opening, then later below it on a hill, it dug another and I could see its head shooting in and out throwing out dirt - I stood over witha shovel and made eye contact... I then came back in about 10 min and set a trap in the FIRST backfilled hole, about 45 min later I checked and the spring had popped up - caught that gopher #9 ALSO - and END OF THIS POST (for now) - 8 of 9 gophers only ONE TRAP was used, saw a fresh hole which was plugged from the inside, which I also now know / feel means it is an active hole / tunnel - set ONE TRAP FOR WHEN IT LEFT - 8 out of 9 kills went THIS WAY I CAUGHT ONLY ONE GOPHER USING TWO TRAPS BACK TO BACK: gopher hole was OPEN, I dug infront of it about 1-2 feet, set TWO traps and the gopher was caught on the way back in MY CONCLUSION: if a hole is OPEN set two, and youll most likely catch it upon its re entrance If a hole looks fresh, and plugged, dig it open wide enough to set one trap, then WAIT, just go about your day, and come back later, almost certain you caught one if its an active hole "ACTIVE HOLE" = a hole that is OPEN or PLUGGED FROM THE INSIDE and the dirt that is plugging it is POWDERY *NOT* compacted like the desert ground all cracked looking, it will look like fresh dirt was used to plug it VERY RECENTLY meaning that SAME DAY take all of this info and use it, it worked for me! 8 out of 9 were killed using ONE TRAP when the gopher was LEAVING its tunnel - I literally destroyed its opening by digging it open with a shovel, the felt for a hole, found the tunnel using a stick made sure it went on for some ways, then I set a trap butted up against the opening that I widened - used some leaves to cover the holes in the set trap, sprinkled loose dirt lightly and MADE SURE NO LIGHT ENTERED FROM OUTSIDE INTO THE TUNNEL - then waited / went about my day - EVERY TIME SPRING WAS UP = caught gopher. 3 of 9 werent dead had to kill myself, but they were caught in the trap. The sprung trap makes a very nice and ironically convenient handle to just grab and removed the whole thing from the ground with the butt of the gopher staring you in the face when you pull it up - you NEVER even have to touch the gopher, I never cleaned mine off, just reset the spring and reused the trap - if it was an "active hole" I caught another SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE good luck! ***ALSO see my uploaded pictures ALSO: IF YOU GUYS WANT ME TO POST A VIDEO OF HOW TO (HOW I USE THESE PUPPIES) LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW - COULD SHOW A FRESH KILL AS WELL ALONG WITH CARCASS REMOVAL HIT ME UP IF YOUD LIKE A VIDEO