‘Goff-Pocalips’: Fed-up farmers fight on a large scale Sansk. Rodent population

In Suskechewan, people have a love/hate relationship with gofters.

Ganner, Kadali Shubhankar for Suskechewan Reforridrs, is a beloved gopher that is about 60 kilometers to the west of the mousse jaw from the small town of Parkbeg.

But those who deal with gofters and their vigorous holes often find themselves in battle with lovely creatures.

Chak Tony, which cultivates near the Gul lake in the south-west Suskechewan, firstly sees by hand that the scale of loss can do Cropland.

He said that after the drought of gradual years, the gofters have been completed, especially in the pastures in their grassland.

Tony said, “Meadow Brome is not really dry tolerant and left and left. The gofters left with a vengeance because there is no choice to hide them,” Tony said, Gafters said, the gafters loved Overgrade pasture and bare ground so that they could present the hunters.

“Their population just exploded. I call it ‘Goff-Pokalips.”

Listen It is Suskchewan Checks people’s complex relations with gofters:

Heritage of gopher destruction

Gofters are not a new problem. Back in 1917, Suskechewan declared a working holiday on 1 May. More than 900 schools were closed for the day and children in the country were loose. Their goal was wreaking havoc on agricultural land, catching, shooting or shooting them.

The child who killed the most gofters was gifted to a Shetland Pony. For years, the provincial government offered a reward on Goff Tales.

Today, Tony is one of the farmers of many Suskechewan who sees their land as a battlefield. And where there are a lot of gofters, many badges are also ready to eat small rodents. Bazes especially dig large holes that can damage the farm equipment and animals such as horses and cows, which can lead to expensive repair.

Tony said that he has spent a lot of money on poison, guns and gunpowder so that he can clean his land of gofters. While this effort means that their farm is no longer ‘gofterpocalips’, they will have to stay at the top on this issue.

Gopher-hit farmers formed a team with hunter

Suskechewan Association of Rural Municipality (SARM) and Suskechewan Wildlife Federation are looking for ways to reduce the gopher population.

Derael Crabe, Executive Director of Suskechewan Wildlife Federation, said that a good way to do so is enthusiastic people who are interested in taking care of gopher madness.

“(We) are putting the hunting community in contact with landowners who were experiencing the issue. So we just thought that it was a very, very direct opportunity for us, you know, just two different interests and drain them together,” Crabey said.

Poison

Methods of controlling the gopher population have changed over years. Poison, including strikein, was widely used in Suskechewan and Alberta until it was banned by Health Canada in 2023. The federal department determined that it was more toxic than just intended gofters.

Tony uses poison in his ongoing battle with critters: Rosol, which is in a lot of rats poison, and zinc phosphide rodent rodenticide poison borozit.

Shaun Sherwood, who runs the polline’s insect control in Regina, said that there are other ways for those who have small groups of goffer holes in their yard and other property. One is called a huge destroyer, which contains sulfur gas cartridges.

“You lighten the cartridge, put it in the hole, uproot a piece of shovel paper, and then cover it with dirt. The newspaper prevents the dirt from sniffing with the cartridge and it pumps a ton sulfur gas and it is suffocated by small demons,” Sherwood said.

What is good for gophers?

Tony is certainly not a fan of gofters, but believes that they are part of the ecosystem and therefore important. He said that Mother Nature can take care of things, as long as the population of the gopher is at a healthy level and the ecosystem is diverse.

And when the entire business of Sherwood is getting rid of Peski Criters, he said that he accepts and recognizes the need for a certain percentage of gofters in the wild.

“They are a food source for a lot of animals and have benefits. But sometimes you get a large -scale overpopulation and at the end of the day you have to sit and say, ‘Okay, do I benefit rodents, or do I benefit humans?” ,

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