A Little Help From Mother Nature
Gophers are a big nuisances on our golf course and many man-hours are spent keeping gophers out of turf areas. Natural predators offer some help in controlling gophers, but the majority of control is from trapping the gophers. Local coyotes take a few gophers but prefer easier prey. There are two breading pairs of red tail hawks that have lived on the golf course for many years, which take a large number of gophers. During spring nesting season you may notice sticks under the large pine tree next to six green. If you look up near the top of the tree you may spot one of the pair of hawk’s nest.
The best predator of gophers is the barn owl. A pair of barn owls raising a family will consume sixty to seventy pounds of gophers a year. To encourage more barn owls to live on the golf course, nesting boxes have been built and installed on the golf course. With a little effort and patience a large enough population of resident barn owls can be established to make a significant difference in the gopher population.
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| Barn Owl in flight |
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| Barn Owl Nest box hole #4 |
