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Pocket Gopher
The Living with Wildlife series includes advice on living with rodents such as the Pocket gopher.
Nearly everyone has critters of some kind on their agricultural property. As the number of orchards and vineyards has grown, the populations of some wildlife species have increased to take advantage of new food sources and opportunities presented by urban and rural communities.
Living with Wildlife is a series of eight new wildlife management guides for agriculture. The publications serve several purposes. They present options for wildlife deterrents for the species most problematic for growers including rodents, starlings, deer, and bear; and they focus on safety for species that may cause concern for people working outdoors such as snakes, cougars, and coyotes.
Choices for wildlife management, worker safety, and animal deterrents are provided for each species and are also compiled in the Wildlife Conflict Reduction guide. Wildlife management assessments are outlined as a planning tool and can help determine what are the most cost-effective, protective measures. Web links for further information on each species as well as wildlife control suppliers are included.
The goal behind the new guides is to reduce crop damage while reducing the need to kill wildlife. Controlling attractants is a key strategy in wildlife management, but when the fruit or animal attractant is the commercial product, it can be challenging. Wildlife control agencies are reticent to respond to complaints about damage to commercial crops or livestock if little or no predator control measures, such as fencing and basic attractant management, are in place. Responsibility for the reduction of potential conflicts is considered to lie first with the land owner.
Here’s an excerpt from one of the guides on worker safety and managing attractants:
Managing Attractants
Managing attractants and wastes are the single most important practice for reducing human-wildlife conflict. Garbage is the major cause of human-wildlife conflict in North America.
Keep a buffer zone of cleared brush on the perimeter of the property to create a visible ‘break’ in animal travel pathways and improve sight lines for workers.
Secure pungent liquids, chemicals, fertilizers, and animal or livestock feeds in locked or wildlife resistant structures, and bee hives inside enclosures or surrounded by electric fencing.
Make sure all human garbage is easily disposed of into secure containers or bear proof bins. This is very important around living areas and regular food consumption sites. Keep containers in clear view to avoid a surprise encounter. This practice also removes any other molestation of waste by raccoons, rats, rodents, and dogs.
Discarded vegetative material, such as fruit and vegetable thinnings. Make sure these items are correctly composted and safely away from workers, or placed in such a way as to be easily seen and accessed.
Left over fruit or vegetation in the field should be flailed, ploughed under or removed.
Compost
Composting on site can be a very effective way of dealing with potential attractants.
Locate away from areas of human activity and check frequently to insure the compost is working correctly – composting not rotting.
Locate where leaching or ground water pollution is not an issue.
Choose a highly visible location, in an open area to reduce wildlife encounters while loading on or turning the compost.
Compost can be used to dispose of smaller dead animals if properly managed and buried deeply.
The management guides are available for free download.
http://www.osca.org/okanagan/eco/nature/444-Living%2Bwith%2BWildlife
http://www.rdos.bc.ca/departments/public-works/wildsafe-bc-bear-aware/