Around Montana
Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.
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Local gopher information
Gopher control in Montana
Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.
Gophers in Montana: what to know
What to note
Where you see gophers, how long it has been going on, and anything you’ve already tried are the most useful details to mention.
A useful next step
Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to identify the problem yourself before getting in touch.
Local research
Gophers in Montana: what the public record shows
Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which gophers actually live in Montana, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.
Not protected by federal or state law
Legal status in Montana
Landowners may control pocket gophers year-round without a permit.
Montana State University Extension0.31 to 0.5% active ingredient
Strychnine grain bait concentration
Extension calls strychnine the most widely used gopher toxicant in Montana; all baits go underground in the main tunnel.
Montana State University Extension0.005% chlorophacinone
Registered anticoagulant
The single anticoagulant option where strychnine is unwanted; zinc phosphide at 2% is rated less effective.
Montana State University ExtensionGopher species recorded in Montana
- Northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) — Smallest and most widespread western species; all of eastern Washington and Oregon east of the Cascades.
When gophers are busiest in Montana
Mound building peaks after snowmelt in spring and again in fall.
Pocket gophers occupy habitats from valley floors to above 12,000 feet in Montana.
Rules that apply in Montana
For context, nationally
- 14 species in 3 genera (Thomomys, Geomys, Pappogeomys) — Pocket gopher species in the U.S.. Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management
- 200 to 2,000 square feet — Botta's pocket gopher burrow system. UC IPM (University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources)
Sources: Montana State University Extension; Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management; UC IPM (University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources); Living with wildlife: Pocket gophers. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources
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