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My main topic for this week will be delayed due to massively swollen lymph nodes, and so I'm going to bring you a short review. I DID say that this is a review site. I did not specify WHAT I will review, and so I will review the only new products I've gotten to test this week. Some people get cars to test drive. Others get TVs, or video games, or books to review. What do I get? Read on
I am not the one to talk about the tragedy of our garden. I can't really express the dismay at seeing large holes pop up in the boxes, or seeing cucumbers, lettuce, and cilantro vanish without a trace. But I am the one to take action over it. I'm not really a violent person, despite my attitude toward sorority girls at concerts, and I went through major moral qualming over killing an animal just for the sake of a hobby. And then the little bastards started doing a beeline toward the roses. So the little creeps must die.
There's a couple methods of killing gophers- my favored one was to get a couple of our friends to sit out in the garden with beer and a shotgun. Lacking beer, we went for stage two. I proposed getting propane, piping it into the tunnels, and then using the old "Stripped electrical wire" trick to safely - I repeat SAFELY detonate it. My dearest love, sadly, rejected this perfectly reasonable plan out of a totally unjustified fear of mass carnage and flying plant parts. The plan to attach a hose to the tailpipe of our car was similarly discarded. This left traps. Naturally, I am the one to both install, and in the future *ick* clean the things.
We ended up with two different traps: the EasySet® Gopher Trap, and the Black Hole gopher trap. The EasySet has a simple design, consisting of a wire framework, and two wickedly sharp prongs to impale the gopher with. The Black Hole is a cylinder with a gate that pulls up a wire loop- the better to throttle the gopher with. Both require the gopher to enter the trap, and trip a catch plate- beyond that any similarity ends.
SET UP: ARMING
Any gopher trap requires arming to be effective. I first armed the EasySet trap, which belied it's name. For a start, arming consists of aligning a trigger wire, and then pushing down on the spring lever, forcing the prongs apart. This made me quite nervous, as this seemed like just the sort of operation that would all too likely end up in my going to the emergency ward. Beyond that, I had to also jiggle the wire around to get it to catch properly, and then get the end in the trigger plate. I felt like I was arming a bomb. The Black Hole on the other hand, was quite simple- push the U-shaped wire down, and poke the trigger wire into the hole. Simple and safe feeling, though I suppose I could have pinched my finger if the trap had gone off accidentally- unlike the EasySet trap, I felt no fear of that- which is an issue for later.
SET UP: EMPLACEMENT:
The best method for setting up a trap is a matter of finding a main tunnel, and placing traps facing down each direction, to catch the critter coming from either direction. In this, I found the EasySet was a clear winner. I should qualify this- in placing the EasySet I was worried about setting it off accidentally, and I did accidentally set it off once- however, the EasySet has a low profile, and fit into the tunnel easily. The Black Hole however is quite large- larger then the tunnel in fact. I had to do a massive amount of digging to fit the Black Hole traps in, and I’m not sure that the spring, which requires some ceiling clearance, will be able to actually work.
EFFECTIVNESS
Remains to be seen. We shall see, won't we Mr. Gopher?
REUSABILITY:
Hasn't been tested, but here are my first impressions:
Black Hole: designed to be cleaned off and put back into the ground. The fact that the gopher enters the trap and I don't even need to see the sucker should help with this.
EasySet: Ick. I mean, ICK! I'm dreading just hauling those things out to see if something's been caught. Removing the gopher and replacing the trap? YUCK!!
Tune in later, as we test drive our new traps.
I am not the one to talk about the tragedy of our garden. I can't really express the dismay at seeing large holes pop up in the boxes, or seeing cucumbers, lettuce, and cilantro vanish without a trace. But I am the one to take action over it. I'm not really a violent person, despite my attitude toward sorority girls at concerts, and I went through major moral qualming over killing an animal just for the sake of a hobby. And then the little bastards started doing a beeline toward the roses. So the little creeps must die.
There's a couple methods of killing gophers- my favored one was to get a couple of our friends to sit out in the garden with beer and a shotgun. Lacking beer, we went for stage two. I proposed getting propane, piping it into the tunnels, and then using the old "Stripped electrical wire" trick to safely - I repeat SAFELY detonate it. My dearest love, sadly, rejected this perfectly reasonable plan out of a totally unjustified fear of mass carnage and flying plant parts. The plan to attach a hose to the tailpipe of our car was similarly discarded. This left traps. Naturally, I am the one to both install, and in the future *ick* clean the things.
We ended up with two different traps: the EasySet® Gopher Trap, and the Black Hole gopher trap. The EasySet has a simple design, consisting of a wire framework, and two wickedly sharp prongs to impale the gopher with. The Black Hole is a cylinder with a gate that pulls up a wire loop- the better to throttle the gopher with. Both require the gopher to enter the trap, and trip a catch plate- beyond that any similarity ends.
SET UP: ARMING
Any gopher trap requires arming to be effective. I first armed the EasySet trap, which belied it's name. For a start, arming consists of aligning a trigger wire, and then pushing down on the spring lever, forcing the prongs apart. This made me quite nervous, as this seemed like just the sort of operation that would all too likely end up in my going to the emergency ward. Beyond that, I had to also jiggle the wire around to get it to catch properly, and then get the end in the trigger plate. I felt like I was arming a bomb. The Black Hole on the other hand, was quite simple- push the U-shaped wire down, and poke the trigger wire into the hole. Simple and safe feeling, though I suppose I could have pinched my finger if the trap had gone off accidentally- unlike the EasySet trap, I felt no fear of that- which is an issue for later.
SET UP: EMPLACEMENT:
The best method for setting up a trap is a matter of finding a main tunnel, and placing traps facing down each direction, to catch the critter coming from either direction. In this, I found the EasySet was a clear winner. I should qualify this- in placing the EasySet I was worried about setting it off accidentally, and I did accidentally set it off once- however, the EasySet has a low profile, and fit into the tunnel easily. The Black Hole however is quite large- larger then the tunnel in fact. I had to do a massive amount of digging to fit the Black Hole traps in, and I’m not sure that the spring, which requires some ceiling clearance, will be able to actually work.
EFFECTIVNESS
Remains to be seen. We shall see, won't we Mr. Gopher?
REUSABILITY:
Hasn't been tested, but here are my first impressions:
Black Hole: designed to be cleaned off and put back into the ground. The fact that the gopher enters the trap and I don't even need to see the sucker should help with this.
EasySet: Ick. I mean, ICK! I'm dreading just hauling those things out to see if something's been caught. Removing the gopher and replacing the trap? YUCK!!
Tune in later, as we test drive our new traps.
