As prairie producers prepare for gophers to begin wreaking havoc on farm and pastureland this spring, the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation is stepping up to address concerns.
Executive Director Todd Smith says SWF members will be available to provide gopher control by means of hunting. This is the second year the SWF has offered this service.
“It was received in a very positive manner by producers, and we’re hoping it will be bigger and better this time around.”
Many farmers believe that this approach is just a drop in the bucket, but Smith believes it will have a measurable impact.
“I think if it’s targeted to the areas where they’re having issues, it may take three sessions to get a localized population under control, but I think with a concerted effort, it could definitely have an impact.”
While several provinces, including Saskatchewan and Alberta, have called for a reinstatement of the use of strychnine, the SWF believes that the secondary, residual effects are not worth the initial benefits.
“Not only would it kill the gopher itself, but anything that consumes that gopher later on could suffer. Birds of prey, some of our other predatory species could be at risk, so the secondary effects are what we are looking to avoid.”
Smith says interested landowners can call head office at 306-692-8812.
However, not everyone is convinced of the new initiative. Arnold Meister is a retired farmer and rents out land north of Borden and south of Radisson. He says oats on his land have had to be reseeded entirely due to gopher damage.
“Most years on our land I probably shoot between four and five hundred gophers, and that doesn’t do anything to the population.”
He adds that hunters can’t drive in with a quad without rutting up the field, so they end up shooting from the edge of the field with less accuracy. “It sounds good, but it just doesn’t work,” he explains.
He suggests the use of strychnine shouldn’t be entirely off the table, as a large majority of gophers killed with the poison die below ground.
“I’d say for every three gallons of poison that I’ve used, I’ve found one dead gopher above ground. You put it down the hole, and that’s where they die. This whole idea that you’re endangering birds and other species, it just doesn’t hold water.”
