Gophers & Bougainvillea

Gophers

• In the United States, there are 3 genera and 13 species of pocket gophers, so-called for the large cheek pouches that carry food. Each gopher maintains an extensive burrow system marked by occasional upturned mounds of dirt. According to Gerald Wiscomb and Terry Messmer of Utah State University, a pocket gopher "…may construct as many as 300 soil mounds in a year while moving over 4 tons of soil." Favorite foods of gophers are dandelions and alfalfa, but they will eat a wide variety of trees, shrubs, herbs and agricultural crops. Other animals sometimes called gophers are ground squirrels, moles, and the southeastern gopher tortoise.

Bougainvillea

• Native to Brazil, Bougainvillea was discovered in 1768 by its namesake, Admiral Louis de Bougainvillea. They are grown as landscaping plants in warm-winter areas and as pot plants elsewhere. Flowers are actually small and white, surrounded with colorful papery bracts that look like petals. Vines can cover large areas and cover trellises, building sides, and highway rights-of-way with long-lasting brilliant displays of red, fuchsia, pinks, oranges and even white. Bougainvilleas are reputed to have root systems that are sensitive to disturbance. When transplanted, repotted, or otherwise disturbed, fine roots do not hold the soil ball together and may take months to recover. Gophers feeding on Bougainvillea roots can severely damage or kill a plant.

Gopher/Bougainvillea Distribution Overlap

• The species of pocket gophers which overlap with the warm-winter planting areas for Bougainvillea occur in the American West and South and northern Mexico. Species include the plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius) in Texas and Louisiana, Botta's pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae) in California, Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico, the yellow-faced pocket gopher (Pappogeomys castanops) in Texas, the southeastern pocket gopher (Geomys pinetis) in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, and the southern pocket gopher (Thomomys umbrinus) in Arizona.

Damage Prevention

• Pocket gophers are not as likely to occur in urban areas, where Bougainvillea is most likely to be planted, except where weedy fields or undeveloped lands are close by. Gophers are hard to control. Hardware cloth root cages can be installed when the Bougainvillea is first planted, but the root system will grow outside the cage as the plant gets bigger. The feeder roots are at the root ends which extend some distance from the base of the plant and thus susceptible to gopher chewing. There are poison baits containing strychnine and some containing anticoagulant chemicals which can be put in burrows. Traps can be inserted in the burrows to catch and kill gophers. These give good control in small areas. Flood irrigation can kill gophers and destroy their burrows. Properly administered carbon monoxide from car exhausts can give 90-percent effectiveness in gopher control.