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Integrated Pest Management (IPM)�for Gophers, Birds and Deer

UC Master Gardeners of Monterey & Santa Cruz

March 2020

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What You’ll Learn Today

  • Basic IPM principles
  • Systematic approach to any “pest”
  • How to diagnose a problem
  • Management strategies
  • Where to get help
  • Fieldwork to set gopher traps

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What is IPM?

Integrated pest management (IPM) is an eco-system based strategy of pest control that focuses on natural control factors through a combination of techniques that are minimally disruptive, using chemicals only as a last resort.

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IPM Process

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Inspect The Garden

Weekly at a minimum!

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Hand watering is a good way to keep an eye on your plants’ health.

Look for pest damage of all kinds. What do YOU see in your gardens?

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Identify the Pest

Look for clues

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  • Feeding damage
  • Part of plant affected?
  • Disturbed soil
  • Holes in the ground
  • Footprints
  • Others?

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Learn about the Pest

Knowledge is key to identification and management.

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  • Biology
  • Behavior
  • Lifecycle
  • Habitat
  • Diet

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University of California�IPM Information

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http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/menu.house.html

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  • Search by different vertebrate pests
  • Download Pest Notes and Quick Tips

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Many other sources on the web.

Focus on educational sites with .edu

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Consider Your Tolerance Level

  • How much damage is really being done?
  • Are permanent plants being destroyed?
  • Define your economic and aesthetic limits.
  • Can you share? Plant more?

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Methods of Control

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In order of environmental impact

Chemical

Biological

Mechanical/Physical

Cultural

Intervention

Prevention

Benign

Toxic

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Cultural Controls

Change your own gardening practices to reduce pests’ impact.

  • Grow plants they don’t eat or infect
  • Provide alternative host crop (trap crop insects)
  • Remove favored habitats; create buffer zone
  • Practice good garden hygine

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Physical Controls

  • Exclusion
    • Fencing/Netting
    • Underground wire
    • Tree baffles, collars
    • Fruit bags
  • Trapping
  • Frightening

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Biological Controls�Natural Enemies

  • Birds of prey
  • Snakes
  • Cats
  • Dogs
  • Coyotes
  • Mountain lions!

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Chemical Controls�

  • Repellants
  • Baits
  • Fumigation

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  • Read the label!
  • Learn its impacts
  • Choose the least toxic
  • Wear protective clothing
  • Use as directed
  • Dispose of properly

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GOPHERS

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Gopher – Know Your Pest

Lifestyle

  • Solitary, territorial
  • Active spring and fall, morning and evening
  • Re-use gopher runs

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Pocket Gopher Fun Facts

  • Eats 60% of body weight/day
  • Range: up to 700 yards
  • Navigate backwards in tunnels using their tails
  • Breed in spring, 3-4 pups/year

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  • Live 2-3 years
  • Naturally hemophiliac
  • Gets moisture from food
  • Nests up to 6’ deep

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More info at http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7433.html

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Gopher – Plant Damage

Plant Damage

  • Plant missing
  • Plant wilted, root gone

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Gopher – In Action

Mounds

  • Crescent or fan shaped mounds
  • Hole is capped with soil

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Pop Holes

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Gopher Run Diagram

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Gopher Management

Low Impact Management

  • Cultural – gopher resistant plants? There are none.
  • Plant in containers
  • Physical exclusion
  • Traps
  • Biological control

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Gopher Management

Physical Exclusion/Barriers

  • Underwire beds with 19 gauge, ½” mesh, galvanized or plastic coated hardware cloth
  • Gopher baskets
  • Underground fence

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Gopher Management

Trap, but First Find the Run

  • Probe between 2 mounds or a mound and a hole to feel run
  • Use a digging hand tool to open the run

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Probes

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How to find the tunnel

Bait applicator

Gopher Hawk Probe

Weeder

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Gopher Management

Low Impact Management - Trap

Cinch

Gophinator

Gopher Hawk

MacAbee

Box Trap

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Used by the pros. Can set in pop hole. Easy gopher removal

Also used by pros. Small, fits in run, lots of success, easy removal

No digging, very quick kill. Clear indicator when gopher is caught

Design over 100 years old. Tried and true

VERY easy to set,

Requires some strength to set. Danger to pets. Rusts

Tricky to set, required digging into the run

Quite expensive and tend to break

Dangerous to set and for pets. Messy to extract gopher

Bulky, doesn’t fit in hole.

PROS

CONS

VIDEO

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Gopher Trapping Tips

  • Use post hold digger to get to run
  • Set traps both directions
  • Stake the traps so you don’t lose them
  • Cover with a galvanized pail
  • Check morning and evening

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Gopher Management

Low Impact Management – Biological Control

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Gopher Management

High Impact Management

  • Bait –anti-coagulant, multiple dose �Warfarin, Diaphacione, Chlorophacione
  • Bait –anti-coagulant, single dose�Brodifacoum, Bromadiolone, Difethialone, Difenacoum
  • Bait – non-anticoagulant, single dose �Bromethalin, Cholecalciferol, Zinc Phosphide, Strychnine

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Rodenticide Fact Sheet http://saferodentcontrol.org/site/wpcontent/uploads/2013/04/rodenticides.pdf

Not recommended due to risk of secondary poisoning

  • Chewing Gum, laxatives
  • Vibrators, noise producers, repellents

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Other Methods, Not Recommended

  • Gassers, car exhaust
  • Exploding gas
  • Guns

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Gopher Management – Lowest Impact Bait

Anticoagulant Bait Blocks

  • Wax impregnated grain bar won’t rot in the soil, lasts for the next gopher resident
  • Gophers drag it to nest burrow for repeat feeding, they die deep underground
  • Low risk to pets & wildlife, 1st generation anticoagulant = low toxicity volume,
  • If a pet is affected, it’s treatable with Vitamin K from the vet
  • But…

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Other Burrowing �Mammals

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Type

Damage

Management

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Gopher

Eats roots or takes whole plant

Trap, exclude, bait

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Mole

Eats grubs, disturbs soil surface

Trap, bait, ignore

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Vole

(aka field mouse)

Eats flowers, leaves and fruit

Trap, exclude, bait

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Ground Squirrel

Eats plants above and below ground

Trap, exclude, bait

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Mole - Identify the Damage

Mounds & Runs

  • Volcano shaped mounds
  • Raised track disturbs soil from their surface tunnels

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Plant Damage

  • Cosmetic:

Soil disturbed

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Vole- Identify the Damage

Holes & Runs

  • Multiple connected burrows with open 2” holes
  • Mouse-like creatures running around on the surface
  • Worn tracks with droppings leading from holes

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Plant Damage

  • Eaten plants, roots, tubers – below and above ground
  • Stripped bark at ground level
  • Lawn damage

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Ground Squirrel - Identify the Damage

Holes & Runs

  • Multiple connected burrows with large, open 3-4” holes in dry, open spaces
  • Active, squirrel like critters with fluffy tails, retreat to burrows

Plant Damage

  • Eats plants, roots, tubers – below and above ground
  • Stripped bark at ground level
  • May undermine tree roots
  • May gnaw watering systems

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Quiz - Gopher or Ground Squirrel?

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Gophers

Ground Squirrels

Social

Solitary, territorial

Colonial, gregarious

Habitat

Soft, moist soil, tunnels may be re-inhabited

Dry open fields, networked burrows

Diet

Feed below ground, Plants, roots

Feed above ground, Leafy green plants, nuts, roots and fruit

Indicators

Distinctive crescent shaped mounds

Open, 4” hole at soil surface, multiple openings

Active

Evening and morning, spring and fall

Daytime, year around

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Gophers

Ground Squirrels

Social

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Habitat

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Diet

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Indicators

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Active

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Activity – Let Set Some Traps

  • Always wear gloves

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DEER

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Deer in your Garden?

Their natural habitat

In your garden

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Deer Behavior-Know your Pest

  • Travel in familial groups for generations
  • Range of 3-5 miles, sleep within 1 mile of water
  • Eat 5 pounds of vegetation per day
    • 90% leaves and stems
    • 10% grass
  • Drink 2-4 quarts of water per day
  • Feed in early morning or late evening
  • Heavy feeding in spring and summer. �Metabolism slows in late fall and winter

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Identify Deer Damage

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  • Ragged torn vegetation from tearing action
  • Trampled vegetation
  • Plants pulled out of the ground
  • Produce munched to the ground
  • Rub marks on tree trunks

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Physical Controls -

Frighten Them Away

A dog is a very effective deterent

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Physical Controls -

Frighten Them Away

  • Starling devices
    • Motion-activated lights, sounds, sprinklers
    • Deer will habituate

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Physical Controls-Placement Up High, Out of Reach

  • Roses on arbor

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  • Pots on Decks

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  • Hanging baskets

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pictures

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Odor Repellants

  • Require frequent application after rain or irrigation
    • Sprays-Not Tonight Deer, Liquid Fence
    • Urine of dog, puma, human
    • Home remedies-found in the literature but not scientifically proven

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Tree Tips

  • Choose tree with

tall trunk

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  • Prune lower branches

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  • Wrap trunk

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  • Cages

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Physical Controls-Fences

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  • Effective but costly
  • Need to be 7-8 feet high
  • Tight to the ground
  • Double fencing on slanted fencing on hillsides

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Small Area Fencing and Barriers

  • Wire cages

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  • Row covers in vegetable gardens

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Large Area Fencing -

Fence extensions deliver height at reduced cost

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Fencing on slopes

Double fence

4ft. high, 4ft. of separation

Slanted fence

Height and width defeat deer

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Cultural Controls-Plant Selection�Plant what they don’t like to eat

  • Pungent Plants

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  • Fuzzy Plants

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  • Poisonous Plants

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  • Fibrous, Spiky, Distasteful Plants

Herbs

Lavenders

Scented geranium

Wooly Lamb’s Ear

Brunnera

Digitalis

Oleander

Euphorbia

Cactus-succulents

Gravellia

Phormium

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Cultural Controls-Plant Selection�Plant what they don’t like to eat

Type of plant

Examples

Pungent Plants

Herbs

Lavenders

Scented geranium

Fuzzy Plants

Wooly Lamb’s Ear

Brunnera

Poisonous Plants

Digitalis

Oleander

Ephorbia

Fibrous, Spikey or Distasteful plants

Cactus/succulents

Gravellia

Phormium

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Deer Candy

Avoid Them or Protect Them

  • Roses
  • Hostas
  • Tulips
  • Petunias
  • Hydrangeas
  • Orchard fruits
  • Garden vegetables
  • Azalea
  • Clematis
  • And many more...

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Refer to a Deer Resistant Plant List

  • Inconsistencies from list to list--what works for some will not work for others

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  • No such thing as “deer proof”--only “deer resistant”

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  • What gets eaten often depends upon
    • The environment
    • Season
    • Presence of fawns which sample “everything”
    • Presence of predators which deter feeding

More info at http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74117.html

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Deer Resistant Plants are Beautiful

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Good Luck

Living in harmony with the deer

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BIRDS

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Birds – Identify the Damage

  • Seeds not sprouting
  • Seedlings disappearing
  • Ragged holes in fruit
  • Fruit missing
  • Bird or squirrel?

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  • MONITOR!

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Birds – Identify the Damage

Typical feeding damage from small birds

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Birds – Know Your Pest

  • Need to identify species?
  • Each has different tastes
  • They also eat insects and snails/slugs
  • Most are protected from harm

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More info at http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74152.html

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Birds - Cultural Controls

  • Not so many for birds.
  • Grow other food sources like native berry plants. (Timing)
  • Grow enough to share.
  • Plan ahead. Think about exclusion before you plant.

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Birds – Physical Controls

Keep them out:

  • Frame and netting over seed beds and crops
  • Inverted wire baskets on individual plants
  • Grid of string
  • Paper bags over fruits & veggies
  • Leave open for pollination

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Birds – Physical Controls

Scare them away:

  • Shiny things
  • Moving things
  • Balloons with eyes
  • Noisemakers
  • Best used only when most needed
  • Move them OFTEN!

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Birds – Chemical Controls?

What doesn’t work:

  • Mothballs
  • Pepper spray
  • Decoys

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Methyl anthranilate spray:

  • From concord grapes
  • Tastes bad
  • Studies differ on efficacy
  • Foliar burns on blueberries
  • More study needed

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Stumped? Ask a Master Gardener

Ask the UC Master Gardener Hotline

http://mbmg.ucanr.edu/hotline/

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Questions?

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APPENDIX

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Reference Links

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Handouts for this Class

Deer Resistant Plant List:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oDzqtEkdhdLUA9nVErTuzxba_aY5ZDmMUa4dP9-BSVg/edit?usp=sharing

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Mole - Know Your Pest

Lifestyle

  • Solitary, territorial
  • Active year round
  • Feeding paths just under soil surface
  • Not an herbivore
  • Not a rodent

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More info at http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74115.html

Mole Gopher Fun Facts

  • Eat invertebrates; insects and grubs
  • Territory up to 2.5 acres (!)
  • Active after rain or watering

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  • Lives for 6 years, produce 2-7 pups
  • Blind and have 6 fingers
  • Velvety fur allows them to move forward or back in tunnels

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Mole Management

Low Impact Management

  • Physical Exclusion – underground fences
  • Repellents– castor oil spray, vibrators
  • Traps – cinch trap in the deep tunnel or surface tunnel “harpoon” traps
  • Biological Control - owls, snakes, cats, dogs, and coyotes
  • Can’t really bait effectively

DAMAGE COSMETIC

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Vole – Know Your Pest

Lifestyle

  • Gregarious, social
  • Active day/night all year
  • Appear above and below ground
  • Eat grasses, plants and tree roots

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Vole Fun Facts

  • Rapid population changes – up to 1000’s per acre
  • Connected burrows with runways
  • Burrow openings 1.5-2 inches
  • Poor climbers
  • Run along edges of buildings

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More info at http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7439.html

Common Name: Field Mouse

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Vole Management

Low Impact Management

  • Habitat modification– reduce vegetative cover (grass)
  • Physical Exclusion – ¼” mesh fence, 12” above ground, 10” below, wrap tree trunks
  • Traps – cinch trap in in the deep tunnel
  • Traps – wooden mouse traps on surface – 10-50
  • Biological Control – owls, snakes,

cats, dogs, and coyotes

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Higher Impact Management

  • Bait – multiple feeding anticoagulant

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Ground Squirrel - Know Your Pest

Lifestyle

  • Gregarious, social
  • Active mid-day spring and fall. Hibernate winters, go dormant in heat of summer
  • Live above and below ground
  • Eat grass, grains, seedlings, damage trees, nuts, all kinds of vegetables
  • Defining feature: a fluffy tail

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Ground Squirrel Fun Facts

  • Active only a few months of the year, litter size correlates with climate: 7-8 per litter
  • Connected burrows with runways 2-4’ deep. ‘
  • May harbor bubonic plague and other diseases
  • Kit foxes may inhabit burrows

Key

Keystone Species

in

California Grasslands

More info at http://http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7438.html

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Ground Squirrel - Management

Low Impact Management

  • Habitat modification– cultivate to destroy burrows. Repellents don’t work
  • Physical Exclusion – difficult and expensive
  • Traps – box traps, repeating live traps, or Conibear 110 near burrow opening
  • Biological Control – owls & hawks, snakes,

cats, dogs, and coyotes. Dogs may dissuade

�Higher Impact Management

  • Bait – multiple feeding anticoagulant, best used in summer & fall
  • Fumigation