Southern Homewares Hole Gopher/Rodent Easy Set Spring Loaded Trap

This trap works very well. The first few times I tried it I left the hole open to the sun as it suggests. This did not work for me. The gophers just back filled the trap. Then I went to my tried and true method which was to dig a whole big enough to put the trap in, make sure it has dirt covering the floor, maybe a bit of the grass the gopher likes to eat sticking through the hole at the end, and then cover the hole completely. (I use a board, piece of slate, etc., so no light gets in). Since I have been doing this I have gotten 4 gophers in a row! Now removing them is not easy. Put on some gloves, get a stick and eventually you will get the gopher free of the trap. I live on a hillside, so I just toss them onto the ground where turkey vultures or ravens enjoy my work.

Right out of the box I had a gopher in the trap in less than 4 hours. Unbelievably easy to use and set, but a real pain to remove the dead pest if you are at all squeamish like I am (I nearly ralphed twice). A little trick I used for night deployment (see photo) I bought a $3 solar lawn spotlight and placed it face down at the end of the trap. The light attracts the gopher and they enter the trap trying to plug the hole/block the light.

I really had high hopes for this product. I have a very similar one that works beautifully. I bought this one because it looked like it would be much easier to set. However, the problem I have is that it doesn’t trigger when the gopher goes inside. I’ve tested it and I’ve done all sorts of things to try and get it to work for the gopher. It works whenever I test it, but does not work with the gophers. I am so disappointed and sad.

I’ve tried several other types of traps and really wanted these to work. I bought 4 and I’ve had these traps a couple weeks and haven’t caught anything. The concept is good and the product is well made but the triggers are too tight. It takes quite a bit of pressure to fire the trap. The gofer just piles up dirt inside the trap and digs under it or pushes it up out of the way. Does Amazon sell dynamite?

Seems well built. Trigger a bit of Rube Goldberg complexity, but it works. Gopher I was going to trap has since abandoned the hole, so no experience how well the trap works in real situations. One note: past experience taught me that washing the trap to remove all scents, clean hands and using gloves when handling it, and minimizing contact vastly improved odds of getting the critter.

I have gotten four gophers on my horse property with this. It’s very easy to use and safe to setup. There is a bit of a learning curve, when placing in a two way tunnel you need to know which end of the tunnel the gopher is in, otherwise it covers up the back of the trap with dirt. Also I have found that putting a small piece of apple in the back of the trap helps I have gotten much better results this way.

Have used these for years. They really work great. Use 2 at one time. Use them back to back. Each one facing opposite ends of their tunnel. Use a carrot or apple as bait. Cover with a black plastic trash bag to make their area dark. Cover all edges with soil to weight plastic down. Say a little prayer and leave alone for a couple of days before you peek. 9 times out of 10 you will be lucky. Show no mercy they deserve their fate.

I have caught 100’s of gophers. Possibly over 1000 total. Probably a couple hundred in the last 2 years. I bought these because the black hole traps worked so well for me. Prior to that I was using the old school snap traps. I saw these at $15 v $25 for the black holes so I bought 3. The idea is the same as the black hole traps however the 2 stage trigger on these vs the paddle hooked directly to the catch on the black holes isn’t comparable. The 2 stage gets very sticky and stiff. I think I can get them to work but I will have to lube the top of the catch prior to each use. Because of this I will still use them but I won’t be buying any more.

Fonctionne très bien mais pas pendant l'hiver. Après 6 mois d'utilisation semble devenir trop dur à déclencher et les écureuils profitent de la bouffe sans se faire prendre...

This works great for moles, however it’s too heavy duty to work for voles. Caught 2 moles in 2 days!!

Got my mole!

Did it’s job right away.