This new gopher trap lets you get rid of gophers and moles from above ground without ever needing to use a shovel.

    The Gopher Hawk gopher trap pushes down into the tunnel, eliminating the need to dig down into the gopher mound.

    It consists of 3 components " a 2-part wedge and probe tool (the probe fits inside the wedge handle for storage), and a spring-loaded, cylinder-shaped trap that's designed to be placed in the ground vertically. The "snare" is located inside a black outer sleeve and consists of a stainless steel, triple strap ring with an embedded, swivel-type trigger. The straps that form the ring blend in with the sides of the tunnel and can be approached from either direction.

    You start by using the probe to find the tunnel. Probe the area surrounding the mound, but not the mound itself. After locating the tunnel, remove the probe and place the wedge in the small hole left by the probe. Push down on the wedge until it breaks through to the tunnel.

     To insert the trap you hold the outer sleeve and push the trap all the way to the bottom of the tunnel. Once the trap is in place, hold the spring steady with one hand and pull upward on the outer sleeve to extend the triple strap ring down into the tunnel. The triple strap ring will then balloon out of the mechanism and hug the walls of the tunnel, allowing the gopher to be trapped from either direction. 

    To get rid of the gopher you pull the trap up out of the ground, then hold the spring end of the device in one hand and firmly tap the outer sleeve with the other to release the trigger mechanism.
    "It has a lot of advantages," says sales manager David McAtee. "There's no use of poison, no digging up big holes in the ground, no need to set two traps at either end of the tunnel, and you never have to touch the gopher. You always know when the trap has been triggered, because there's a yellow catch indicator on the spring that sets above ground and can be seen from a distance.

     "The trigger is very sensitive but has enough leeway that the gopher gets its head completely inside the rings before the trigger is activated. No matter what angle the gopher hits the trigger, it will cause the rings to snap. The gopher is killed immediately.
    "One customer with a lot of cherry and almond trees caught more than 1,200 gophers in just 7 weeks. He likes the precision of the trap because he can set it right next to a tree's roots without having to dig up the ground and damaging the tree."