Around Utah
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 Utah
Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.
Gophers in Utah: 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 Utah: what the public record shows
Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which gophers actually live in Utah, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.
2: northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) and Botta's pocket gopher (T. bottae)
Pocket gopher species in Utah
Northern gophers hold cooler mountain meadows and forest; Botta's occupies deserts, grasslands and irrigated farm ground, and is the species most Utah growers fight.
Utah State University ExtensionAbout 83%
Alfalfa growers reporting gopher damage
Alfalfa is the state's signature gopher crop, and stand loss forces early replanting.
Utah State University Extension6 times greater than in any other habitat type
Gopher density in alfalfa
Alfalfa and dandelion taproots are preferred food, so irrigated hay ground concentrates gophers.
Utah State University ExtensionGopher species recorded in Utah
- Botta's pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae) — Most widespread of California's five species; also in disjunct southwest Oregon populations.
- 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 Utah
Active year-round; irrigated alfalfa and turf support the heaviest populations.
Utah is the largest user of below-ground strychnine gopher bait in the country; burrow-builder baits are Restricted Use.
Rules that apply in Utah
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: Utah State University Extension; Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management; Pest Notes: Pocket Gophers; Living with wildlife: Pocket gophers. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources
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St. George
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South Jordan
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Taylorsville
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West Jordan
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West Valley City
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Bountiful
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