While looking out your window of your Redlands, California home, you may have noticed several horseshoe-shaped mounds starting to pop up. If so, these mounds are a sign that gophers are invading your lawn. When these furry pests come onto your property, they present the following four potential hazards.

Gophers Cause Extensive Damage to Your Lawn

Since you have already noticed dirt mounds in your yard, you can already see some of the damage gophers can do. However, these piles of dirt only show the surface damage.

While digging their tunnels underground, gophers cause two types of damage to your lawn. First, the holes they dig in the ground weaken the integrity of your yard. If there is a cave-in, you could end up with larger surface holes that ruin the yard’s beauty and uniformity.

Second, since gophers are strict vegetarians, they eat the roots of your grass while they dig and even pull blades of grass down through the soil. You may start seeing brown patches in your otherwise lustrous, green lawn.

Flowers and Trees Become Food

Grass is not the only food source for gophers. While underground, they may also start eating the roots of your trees and flowers. If you have bulbs planted, they most likely will start feeding on those as well.

Since gophers do not stay underground, these pests can also start feasting on your bedding plants as well. At first, you may start noticing flower heads missing that were present the previous day. Then, you may start seeing entire flower plants gone as the gophers drag them down into their holes and tunnels to nibble on later.

Dirt Mounds Become a Walking Hazard

Gophers do not just pose a risk to your lawn and landscaping. They can also present a risk to you and your household’s well-being. Those dirt mounds you see in your lawn not only look bad, but they are also a walking hazard.

Because the ground under the mounds is hollow, you or a family member could step into the hole if you are not careful. The sudden, unexpected drop could jar your foot, ankle, or leg.

If you or your child’s foot catches in the hole, there is the risk of twisting or breaking your ankle. And if a gopher is under the ground and near the mound, they may try to bite whoever’s foot is inside, presenting another potential health hazard, as discussed below.

Gophers Carry Diseases

As mammals, gophers have the ability to carry rabies. Although they do not exhibit symptoms themselves, they can bite you or another household member and pass on the infection. If you have a small child, they may try to pet or grab a gopher out of its hole, increasing the risk of a bite.

However, rabies is not the only disease you have to worry about when you have gophers on your property. Gophers are also carriers of other serious diseases, such as the plague, hantavirus, and monkeypox.

Monkeypox is one of the more common diseases found in gophers. The disease starts out with flu-like symptoms, such as body aches, extreme fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. As it progresses, tiny pustules form on the skin.

If you suspect you have gophers and want to avoid the dangers discussed above, you should get in touch with a pest control expert before you end up with a large colony of gophers. We are a family-owned business serving the Redlands area for 26 years. Contact us today to schedule an inspection and discuss options for getting rid of your gopher problem.