Gopher spray with Peppermint Oil and Vodka

https://peskylittlecritters.com ^ | April 15 2026 | Beowulf9

[Beowulf9]

Still trying to get rid of the gophers in my yard.

I read there are scents they don't like, makes 'em leave so I'm making a natural pest repellent spray infused with peppermint to ward off the gophers. I thought I'd put it up here for anyone else with this problem to try. Not expensive, doesn't hurt pets. Hope it works.

Surprisingly this recipe says to mix with distilled water and VODKA!?

They will either leave or hang out at the patio trying to hook up with loose gopher chicks 🦫

If I hear them singing Muskrat Love tonight I'll know it's not working...for me anyway.

This is why there are no gophers in Russia 😆

[vaskypilot]

Cats. Nature’s exterminator.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Find a local who hunts with minks.

[Beowulf9]

I would never know this not being a Vodka drinker. Good to know.

[stanne]

I am going w vodka for the deer here. Let’s see.

[Dr. Sivana]

Get a cat that’s an outdoor hunter, or raise one or two to be outdoor cats. Works like a charm.

When we had a small acreage in northern Illinois, two of them, Martin and Dominic, turned out to be excellent hunters. Both took out gophers, voles, mice, rabbits, birds, chipmunks. My wife's garden thrived. She taught our young children the French words for the varmints , and taught them to keep count of Dominic's kills on a white board. He played with our rat terrier (who was eager but worthless for hunting) by sneaking on an elevated surface, jumping on her Ninja style, purposefully missing her, but showing he could take her out if he wanted to. Unfortunately, Dominic was not car smart, and was taken out on the state road in front of house early. Cats are wonderful.

[VictoryGal]

Gophers are good eatin' according to O Brother Where Art Thou!

[dfwgator]

"Great Big Globs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts!"

[Governor Dinwiddie]

1. Pour the peppermint oil into the gopher hole.
2. Pour some vodka into a juice glass.
3. Add twist of lemon. Drink the vodka.
4. Check the gopher hole at a latter date.
5. Repeat daily.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

try Diatomaceous Earth

[Grammy]

We have 2 ways to deal with tunnel critters. The first is to throw moth balls in both ends of the tunnel. Drives many creatures to find a new home.

Unfortunately you don’t always know where all the entrances and exits are. So with an extensive set of mole trails we stuck a hose in one end of the tunnel, and the other end of the hose into the tail pipe of Mr G’s running motorcycle. Worked great!

[Beowulf9]

😆

[Beowulf9]

Yes. I saw it went across the yard via under the patio and the hole on the other side was flooded out on top.

But they just made new holes.

I had a pest control company lay traps, they put down three. In a week I had more gopher holes in the areas around the traps, but no gopher in the traps. Let the pest control company go after a month.

Planted rosemary, 12 of the plants but they are small so maybe not effective yet. There was a gopher hole inches from one of the plants this morning.

Planted sage in the front yard, there never were gopher holes in that area. There still aren’t. I don’t know if it’s just they haven’t gotten there yet but I hope the sage works.

I did buy gopher repellant balls, 12 of them put them around and in one of the holes. They did not use that hole ever since.

I saw today moth balls at Walmart and wondered if that would be pet safe and deter the gophers. I have not looked into that yet.

Now up to trying the mint thing.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Traps work, and my favorite Calcium Carbide Crystals works fantastically if you want. Bury a half a can of crystals in an undisturbed tunnel and add a lot of water. Do it in a lot of places. It's heavier so the gas will flow down hill into the tunnel complex. It's always worked for me. The crystals create acetylene gas when water is added. Test it on a couple crystals and light it.

Miner's used to use it in their helmet lights.

[No.6]

Continuous Active Tracking device deployed...

[Beowulf9]

same thing but shows it works against gophers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il3eHwcuHgk

[Beowulf9]

I wonder if I will have to try this but it’s something to think about.

[lee martell]

Will that (Hunting With Minks) be the new sequel to the old movie “Dance With Wolves”?
Interesting plot twist!

[Mean Daddy]

You’ve got to kill or trap them. I use the smoke bombs and a leaf blower to push it through the tunnels.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Potentially a blockbuster sequel!

[kvanbrunt2]

They don’t like .22lr