Show DAMAGE BY POCKET GOPHERS little animate animals are very destructive to orchard and nursery stock and to garden truck prepared by the united states department of agriculture according to the biological survey of the department of agriculture the pocket gophers are very destructive to orchard and nursery stock and to garden produce apricot trees six inches in diameter have been de strayed by the gopher in one orchard in california alone an assistant of the survey counted seven trees that had been killed by bir gophers the ranch man did not seem to know what was the trouble but thought it was due to some blight A gopher was as seen boring under one of the trees and later on was caught in a trap one of the greatest enemies of the gopher Is the barn owl one halt half bushel of the remains of gophers was found near the nest of an owl of this species and yet almost every ranchman would shoot an owl at sight the rhe survey Is tr trying ing to educate them to the value of oa owls is the best method of killing the pocket gopher Is to destroy them by the use of poison mixed with chopped sweet potatoes the potatoes are very acceptable to the gopher owing to the fact that they keep well nell under ground in one experiment of 20 dif detent runways dead gophers were found in 19 and in the twentieth the potato hart hae been stored up by the gopher for a future meal |