Victor 0611 Easy Set Weather-Resistant Outdoor Gopher Trap 2-Pack

I'm a normal dude who lives in a suburb. I'm not a master trapper, nor do I work on a farm. I can barely go outside without sneezing.All of that is to say that I had no experience setting a gopher trap, a mouse trap, or any other trap. The only trap I ever set were those terro ant baits around the house (which work great as well).When the gophers decided to move into my modest little lawn area 60x20feet, I was pretty upset. We had just put in sod and it was perfectly lump-free. My family and I would enjoy nice picnics on the lawn and just lay out. About 6 months ago, I noticed my grass was starting to die in spots and I blamed the summer heat/irrigation. I watered the hell out of my lawn and nothing was working. I started noticing little dirt piles all over the place and was clueless to what that meant. Our gardener told me it was gophers and he said he would get poison to eliminate them. I said cool thanks.3 months later, the gophers laughed at whatever the gardener was putting into the little holes. If anything, they multiplied as the gopher piles increased and my lawn was basically 45% destroyed. dirt piles turned into mud piles and my backyard lawn became a swampy mess. I used to lay out on that lawn with my kids. Now I had to cordon off whole areas because of the poison in the ground.I told my gardener that I would need to step in.I started watching hours and hours of youtube videos and ended up purchasing every poison or deterrent I could find. I tried poison gas, flooding, coffee grinds, etc. As I was about to pull the trigger on a pack of 10 sonic spikes, I looked in the mirror and asked, "what am I doing?" Do I really want a lawn full of poison emitting a high pitched screech 24/7? That was not the reality I wanted to live.I knew the only way to win this war was to catch the gopher in the act and have evidence of its demise. Even with poison and sonic spikes, I would never really know if they were working. I needed to see bodies.I bought the EZ set victor traps because they were the cheapest and smallest. I looked at the scissor ones above ground (expensive, and more skill required to find a main tunnel from top side) and the black hole looking ones (very big, need to dig out my lawn too much). I figured I was in for a long war so I would try out all the traps over the course of a few months if the EZ set victor ones didn't work.I got them in the mail in one day and set up the trap just like the youtube video said. It was super easy. Just make sure the hole is big enough and you tie a sturdy rope/string to the trap so you can pull it out of the ground easier. Although I was optimistic I would get something (my lawn felt like it was times square for gophers at this point), I wasn't sure if I had set the trap right. I was feeling nervous - was this gonna work?I went back the next morning to look at the trip and see if the string had moved around at all. It seemed like it did. I grabbed the wire and started tugging. It was definitely more stuck than I remember. I pulled harder. The wire I used snapped. UGHGHHHHH! I was going to lose my trap to this damn gopher. Extremely frustrated, I put my whole arm into the hole up to my elbow to see if I could retrieve the trap. At this point, I was 50/50 if I had actually trapped the gopher or if he just pulled the whole damn thing down into his tunnel as a souvenir. I still couldn't get it out so I had to grab a 12'' tent stake to try and pull it out. Finally, after about 10 min, I was able to hook the trap with the metal stake and start yanking it the trap out. I guess I could have just used a shovel to excavate it, but I didn't want to damage my lawn even more.When I pulled the trap out, to my surprise and disgust, there was a dead gopher. A lot of complex emotions ran though me, but I was happy it worked. Having never trapped anything in my life, the first time seeing a dead gopher is alarming, to say the least.And that was it! It was one gopher wreaking havoc on my lawn. After trapping the one gopher, I didn't see any more dirt piles for about 3 weeks. Last night I noticed a little pile, so I set another trap. Next morning, BOOM, another dead gopher.THESE THINGS WORK. AND THEY'RE CHEAP! AND SMALL!Highly recommend. 5 stars.The end.

I wouldn't have bought 18 traps if these things didn't work. Those that report them not working, don't understand how to use or set them. I get that as from what I remember the directions saying, it is NOT self evident on how to use or the strategy to use. I have over 150 dead gophers under my belt, so I can most assuredly tell you they work.Pointers I've learned along the way. Find a lateral run to set two traps, one on each side of the run. Single open holes are not travelled like main lateral runs. I use a long screw driver and probe around the mound of dirt. Easier to find the run outside the huge mound of dirt. Best success is to open up tunnels enough that you can set the trap well within the tunnel....12+inches. You most likely will NOT catch a gopher if you stick the trap just inside the tunnel end. Go deep into the tunnel. I attached a chain to each trap to aid in retrieving traps. I also secure all chains (sometimes I've found an intersection of 5 tunnels and I set 5 traps) with one lawn stake marker. I've never had a gopher drag the trap further into the hole. Gophers sometimes backfill the trap. Chain is handy to retrieve trap. Persistence is key. Redig hole, or find another area to trap. Forgot to mention I level all mounds when I first start such that I know exactly where the gophers are active. I do not cover any holes and it works just fine. I suspect they come even faster to repair the damage. Often times I will catch something within a couple of hours. When placing the trap in the hole, I hold the loaded trigger plate such that it doesn't spring during insertion. Again, ream out the tunnel such that the entire trap (pincher parts are the biggest) fit into the run. When I've had access issues due to huge bolder, etc., my final resort is a rodent smoke bomb. Only used 3-4 times. These traps work. If you aren't having luck, then follow my recommendations. You will then.