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Help! Rodents living in raised bed garden #791861

Asked May 20, 2022, 5:22 PM EDT

I have a raised bed garden that I want to plant vegetables in but there are burrowing rodents living in the garden. I have not seen what they are but suspect either chipmunks or gophers. How do I safely remove them and prevent them from returning?

Carver County Minnesota

Expert Response

Thanks for your question.

There is no “safe” way of removing these critters if you mean by this preserving their safety. They have found, presumably, a good home and will continue to come back to it. In looking at your pictures I don’t believe that moles are the culprits. More likely gophers. You could try to trap them and transport them to another location. However this simply means (“Nature abhors a vacuum”) that other gophers will just move in. Are they really causing a significant amount of damage at this time to your garden or is this more a cosmetic issue? You’ll need to decide what your priorities are. You could hire an exterminator who will either trap them or put out some poison. Take a look at the following as they might give you some other ideas:

https://www.havahart.com/gopher-facts

https://www.pestnet.com/rodents/pocket-gopher/

https://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Gophers

Good Luck!!

An Ask Extension Expert Replied May 20, 2022, 7:52 PM EDT

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