Wow!
'Train up a child in the way that he should go…" you know the source of the quote. Well done!
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Interesting. I’ve created openings in the mounds and sat in a lawn chair with the .22 waiting for the little buggers to show up. Nada. At night, the holes get covered back up. Seeing one pushing up dirt in the daylight is pretty unusual here. Most new mounds show up when it’s dark. There must be different species of pocket gophers with different habits.
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It upsets me how many people get Co2 and CO confused.
I sent the information to a friend in Tucson who is dealing with total destruction in their yard from the varmints. She said the gophers have basically killed everything! Agave, all kinds of cacti, flowers, etc. I hope they give it a try. Thanks for posting!
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I believe those only work with older autos. It messes with the sensors on the new ones. You might be able to do something with a riding lawnmower or tractor.
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I was thinking ATV 
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We played wack a mole as kids. Find the holes and plug all but one with rocks. Fill unplugged hole with water using garden hose. Put fishing net over the hole before filling with water. When the gopher shot out and into the net we wacked them with a baseball bat. Loads of fun in the summer.
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I plugged up our Cushman exhaust and piped carbon monoxide into the vole tunnel while gunning the accelerator until I saw smoke wafting up in a couple places. Result. Nothing.
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Our half border collie (pup we kept after mama died) actually stalks, and catches gophers! He got three today and it’s crazy to watch him soft paw and sneak around the holes.
He eats em too and absolutely prefers to catch em fresh over eating one taken out of a trap.
Somekindadog!
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‘Affordable dog food’ 
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I did that as a kid too, but those weren’t pocket gophers they were 13 lined ground squirrels. I get a few of them here with the .22 every year. They are nowhere near as destructive as pocket gophers.
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my border collie/ heeler female does that also. got a vole the other day and snatched a red squirrel off a branch. the .22 is gathering dust. 
never seen a dog so agile! she also can run like the wind and is smart as a whip! luckily she only plays with the cats as she could easily catch them if she wanted. her son is big and strong but cant turn on a dime like she can. she rolls him in the yard all the time. the neighbors walking by ask me if they get hurt . i just tell them thats how herding dogs play. kind of like teenage boys wrestling each other.
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This made me smile! My blue heeler has finally decided he might like our new pups (Smooth Hair Collie/Australian Kelpie cross) enough to play with them a little bit. His idea of playing with them is to wait for them to run full sprint towards me when I call them. He runs in from an angle, hits and rolls them and keeps on going. Great fun for dogs. 
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lol! Bailey does the same ! if she wants to go outside she nips at her son and barks at him to rile him up so i let the both out to roughhouse in the yard. fun to watch them.
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My border collie/heeler has dug little craters all over the farm looking for voles/moles. I think he’s got a few, as I’ve seen their carcasses on the ground. I’ve seen him in action sometimes, he’ll get the scent, ears perk up, then he starts pawing at the ground, then dives in, dirt flying. Fun to watch. My wife scolded him this evening as one of her rose plots got partially dug up by you know who.
Him and our yard cat get into tussles, he’ll run circles around the cat, trying to get at his backsides, and the cat spins around and waits for his chance to give him a face full of claws. He can usually defend himself, but I think the dog has nipped his hindquarters a few times, hence some wounds. I’ve been trying to break him of this habit.
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my females mom, Ivy has a thing for rocks. she brings about a doz. and places them on the lawn. when her owner mows he throws them all back in the bushes. 1/2hr after hes done she puts them all back on the lawn. seems all herding dogs have weird obsessions of some kind.
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ya… we have a couple that border on neurotic… it can kind drive you nuts sometimes. Herding dogs HAVE to work. If you don’t provide the work, they will find something to do. You know what I mean, I am sure!
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yep. they have the taste for brand new $100 + leather hiking boots/ sneakers.