“There are a lot of gophers out here,” Kemp said. “There have been probably quite a few for years. Early on there were quite a few, but now there are young ones, and there are a lot now.”
The gophers tend to grow in numbers in dry years, as there is less flooding of their underground nests and perhaps fewer diseases to impact their breeding. As 2021 is a very dry year, the explosion of the rodent pests is not unexpected.
Why are they pests? Well, a gopher is not just a little inhabitant of the subterranean world that pops up to chirp in the sunlight. They can do considerable damage to a farming operation.
As Kemp explained, they will eat a crop. He has barley close to home which the rodents like to munch on. As well, they will eat the grass in the pasture field, which is meant for the livestock.
They also will create other problems for cattle. Their tunneling means holes in the ground, which can be a hazard for the livestock animals if they step in them. One of the predators of gophers are badgers. If gopher numbers are high, the badgers will move in. They dig much larger holes going after their prey, which causes more problems. As well, badgers are ill tempered to the extreme, which is not what farmers want around them or their livestock.
Other predators of the ground squirrel include hawks, falcons, weasels and varieties of snakes. However, there are often not enough of these around to do a good job of keeping gopher numbers in check.
Kemp said gophers would sometimes start showing up when there is still snow on the ground. Killing them before they breed would be optimal, but as he said, anytime is a good time to go after them.
Often farmers have used different poisons to deal with the unwanted rodents, but Kemp said it is not as effective as years ago.
“I haven’t used it for a long time. It doesn’t have the strength it used to have.”
Historically, the animal has been a problem for farming. Kemp said the issue has come and gone over time. During different points of prairie history, hunters were rewarded by the government for killing the pests. They were shot and the tails were presented to authorities to prove their removal, with bounties then paid. There was even a song called ‘Flunky Jim’, in which the narrator was going to buy new clothes “with his gopher tails this fall.”
Kemp is hoping to have a few more shooters come out to help cut the numbers down. He said he only lets one party on the property at a time, as they use .22 calibre rifles and having more than one group in different areas is dangerous. He has heard from other farmers in the area who confirm there are plenty of the rodents this summer. It is a problem that must be dealt with and will not go away on its own.
“If we don’t get rid of them, there will be that many more next year,” he stated. “It’s hard on the grass and crop and it’s dangerous for the livestock. I’m hoping to have more hunters come out.”
Anyone interested in coming out to Jack Kemp’s for some gopher shooting can contact him at 204-534-6859.

by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff