Do Gophers Like to Eat Magnolia?

Gopher Characteristics

• A quick look at the common Thomomys species pocket gopher makes it hard to believe that the 6- to 10-inch, puffy-cheeked rodents could take down an entire garden, but they are very well equipped to do just that. Gophers have large, clawed front paws and powerful forequarters that are perfect for burrowing through soil. They also have sensitive whiskers that help guide them through dark tunnels they create and fur-lined, external cheek pouches in which they carry food and nesting materials.

  Pocket gophers live in a burrow system that can cover a 200- to 2,000-square-foot area. They generally live alone within their burrow system unless they are breeding or females are present to care for babies. Pocket gophers have a lifespan of about three years and usually reproduce one to three litters of about five or six babies per year. Without proper control, gophers can easily claim a garden as their all-you-can-eat buffet.

Signs of Gophers

• Mounds of fresh soil formed when gophers dig tunnels and push loose soil to the surface are the best indication gophers are present. The mounds have plugged holes. After you see the mounds, you probably will see signs of gopher damage to your garden. The rodents use their sense of smell to locate plants and sometimes pull entire plants underground into their tunnels.

Effects on Magnolias

• Because old magnolias are large, gophers are less likely to destroy them than young, small magnolias. Magnolia seedlings are especially susceptible to gopher damage. The plants may require as long as 10 years after planting to establish themselves in their location and bloom. Magnolias' shallow root systems make them perfect targets for gophers, which gnaw roots and bark until the nutrient flow within the magnolias is destroyed and the plants die.

  With their fragrant, showy flowers and glossy leaves, magnolias are often said to be the aristocrats of the Southern landscape. More than 80 magnolia species exist, and, depending on the species or cultivar, they are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9. Some are deciduous, semi-evergreen or evergreen, and their flower colors are pink, purple, red, yellow and white. Magnolias' bloom time ranges from early spring to summer.

Control Options

• After you confirm gophers damage your magnolias, the sooner you take action against the critters, the better chance you have of saving the plants. The two main kinds of gopher controls are poison and traps.

  If you opt to kill gophers with poison, place the bait in a main, active gopher tunnel. The most effective kind of bait is strychnine-treated grain, which kills the varmints in one dose. If you have children and/or pets, though, a less toxic alternative is anticoagulant baits. The downside of the anticoagulant baits is that much more is needed in order to kill gophers.

  Trapping is also an effective way to control pocket gophers. Two-pronged pincher traps and choker-style box traps are the most common kinds of gopher traps. Locate a main, active gopher tunnel with a probe, and then open the tunnel wide enough to place traps in opposite-facing pairs so that the gophers can be caught coming from each end of the tunnel. Check traps often, and reset them as necessary. If you haven't caught a gopher in a few days, try placing the traps in different locations.