Gophers can wreak havoc in your garden or lawn. They love to create huge holes in your landscape, often destroying any vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the holes. Unfortunately, it's not possible to use a fence (as you would with deer) to keep gophers out of your yard. If it is illegal in your location or unacceptable to you personally to shoot these gophers, you'll have to find a way to discourage them from even wanting to visit your yard to begin with. Thankfully, there are a few nonlethal approaches that you can try to rid your landscape of those pesky gophers.

Scare the Gophers Away

Position moving and sound producing objects like pinwheels and wind chimes along the perimeter of your yard or garden. You can also place them throughout your garden close to any existing gopher holes. The louder and scarier they are, the better chance you have of driving away the gophers.

Annoyed Them with Cat Litter

Take some used cat litter and pour it down the existing gopher holes. Sprinkle some around the holes as well. The cat urine in the litter contains ammonia, and the unpleasant odor may encourage the gophers to move on. Don't hesitate to use a lot of cat litter, since it does break down and is harmless to the surrounding environment.

Try Hot Cayenne Pepper

If the above doesn't work, spray plenty of cayenne pepper powder down into the gopher holes. The more the better. Try to get it as far down inside the hole as you can. Since cayenne pepper powder is extremely hot, it will make the gophers more reluctant to go into the holes and dig. This won't actually harm the gophers, but it will irritate them enough that they may want to leave.

Toss in Some Castor Oil Pellets

Pour a a few handfuls of castor oil pellets inside the gopher holes. Just as with the cayenne pepper powder, the purpose of these pellets is to discourage the gophers from entering the holes. Like cayenne pepper, castor oil pellets will not harm gophers. You can also use a broadcast sprayer to spread the castor oil pellets over the area where the gophers cause the most damage.

Try a Commercial Product

Go to your local lawn and garden center and purchase a supply of commercial gopher repellent. Gopher repellent is formed into small granules that you can sprinkle down into the gopher holes. Make sure that you purchase one that is non-toxic. For assistance, talk to a professional like Arab Termite and Pest Control.