The Book of Alfalfa: History, Cultivation and Merits / Its Uses as a Forage and Fertilizer

by F. D. Coburn

GOPHERS AND PRAIRIE DOGS

Gophers and prairie dogs are great pests in some parts of the Middle West, and about the only successful means of combating them is poison. The state of Kansas has, probably more than any other, made a systematic effort to destroy its gophers and prairie dogs, by liberal appropriations and a field agent to supervise the work to be carried out under provisions of law by local officials.

The injury done by the gophers consists chiefly in throwing up mounds of soil taken from the burrows and these greatly interfere with operating the mowing machine in harvesting. In the alfalfa fields there is also a noticeable thinning out of the plants, by reason of the cutting off of the roots. These root cuttings are stored in the burrows in considerable piles, and are used in cold weather by the gophers for food. It is claimed by some alfalfa growers that this process of thinning out the plants is a benefit rather than an injury to the field, but, says Prof. D. E. Lantz, the official formerly in charge of the Kansas work, “I have known fields where this thinning has continued until the crop did not half cover the ground at cutting time, and the fields were plowed up for the planting of other crops. The loss from gopher depredations to the alfalfa growers of Kansas during 1901 was probably fully one-tenth of the entire product, and had a money value of at least $500,000.”

According to Professor Lantz, carbon bisulphide and other poisonous gases have frequently been recommended for the destruction of the pocket-gopher, but the great length of the burrows and their irregularities in depth prevent the gases from flowing into every part, and the animals often escape. Trapping, if properly done, is a sure method of killing the gopher; but it is attended with considerable labor and is very slow. An excellent trap for general use is the No. O ordinary steel trap. Sink it in loose soil to the level of the runway, nearly conceal it by sprinkling fine earth over it, and leave the hole open.

Gophers are easily poisoned. They are fond of potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, raisins and prunes. The presence of strychnine, arsenic or other poisons does not seem to deter them from eating the food; but if the poison is sweetened they seem to eat it more readily. In summer it may be desirable to sweeten the poison, but in the fall and early spring it does not seem worth while. The poisoned food being introduced to the burrows below the surface, there is no danger of poisoning stock. It might be well, however, not to let swine run in the fields for a time after the poison has been put out.

The following method of introducing poison is recommended: Cut the potatoes or other food into pieces not more than three-fourths of an inch in diameter. Cut a slit in each piece and with a point of the knife blade insert a little sulphate of strychnine; as much as half the bulk of a grain of wheat. Having prepared the bait in sufficient quantity, go to the field armed with a round, sharp-pointed implement an inch or an inch and a half in diameter and of sufficient length. The tool [here] illustrated was made by a blacksmith.

It is a spade handle shod with an iron point. A bar is attached about fifteen inches from the point to enable the operator to use his foot in pressing it into the soil. With this tool it is only necessary to find the runway of the gopher. The handle is sufficiently thick to make a hole large enough to permit one to drop the poisoned potato directly into the burrow. The operator then passes on to another place, leaving the hole open. No digging with a spade or other hard labor is necessary. An experienced person can distribute poison to many acres of alfalfa in a day; and if proper care is taken to rightly distribute the bait, it will not be necessary to go over the ground a second time. Some experience is required to find the burrows quickly. It is best to insert the food as near as possible to the freshest mounds of earth. Two or three pieces of potato at that place are worth many scattered in other parts of the runway. The operator should avoid the larger mounds and those that are not freshly made.

For destroying prairie dogs, Professor Lantz says that out of thousands of suggestions nothing has been found more effective than strychnine poison and carbon bisulphide. Following are directions for preparing and using the strychnine:

“Dissolve one and a half ounces of strychnine sulphate in a quart of hot water. Add a quart of syrup—molasses, sorghum, or thick sugar and water—and a teaspoonful of oil of anise. Thoroughly heat and mix the liquid. While hot pour it over a bushel of clean wheat and mix completely. Then stir in two or more pounds of fine corn meal. The quantity of corn meal needed will depend upon the amount of extra moisture present. There should be enough to wet every grain of the wheat and no more. Care should be taken that there is no leakage from the vessel in which the wheat is mixed. Let the poisoned grain stand over night, and distribute it in the early morning of a bright day. Use a tablespoonful of the wheat to each hole occupied by prairie dogs, putting it near the mouth of the burrow in two or three little bunches. Do not put out the poison in cold or stormy weather. It will keep for a considerable time, and is much more effective after a cold period, as the animals are then hungry and eat the grain readily. A bushel of wheat should poison 1000 to 1200 holes. An excellent substitute for the oil of anise in this formula can be made by soaking two ounces of green coffee berries in the whites of three eggs. Let this stand for about twelve hours, and use the liquid instead of anise oil.”

A tablespoonful of carbon bisulphide, upon some such absorbent material as cotton, dry horse manure, or a piece of corn-cob, and rolled into the burrows, is effective. It is best immediately to cover the hole with a sod and stamp down firmly.