Hey Steve...ever seen one of these?

[coonboy]

This is what my boy wonder caught Easter night...first albino pocket gopher for us..

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[trappnman]

Neat catch! pretty cool when you get one.

fairly rare- in all the years I've trapped them, I've gotten 8-

3 were on one farm- 2 one year, 1 2 years later-

5 on another- 2 one year- and THREE the next in one check, including a side by side- to be honest, that was one of the most "exciting " trapping days we have had as far as sheer fun. We set up every mound we could find, but caught no more. Was sorry to eliminate the gene.

spotted ones, brown with white patches are somewhat common, get one now and then all season long- and black ones are common in some soil types- they are coal black.

I've sold a couple (albinos) on taxidermy.net

[trappnman]

PS- isn't this fun gopher trapping weather? I'm thankful we aren't getting the severe weather so many are getting, but the constant rain is getting old. 2 inches in this latest round on top of saturated ground. many farmers can't even haul manure let alone work the fields

trying to trap in between, and got 300 or so- but a day on, 2-3 off- set 113 traps monday- most likely can't get to them til sat IF it doesn't rain then.

got stuck twice so far-its dry, dry solid and then a little bog- got out Easter with chains no problem- course, fun putting them on in standing water..... but monday- chains couldn't do it- just as we came to that conclusion, a neighboring farmer came by on a backhoe- so we waved him over and he pulled us out. so not anxious to go back to that farm too early-

got 3 new farms yesterday- plus many old ones to get to yet, and that hay is growing faster than I'd like. a week of dry, and we could cover a lot of ground.

still liking those quicksets?

[coonboy]

Yes the weather stinks I love the quick sets . My son can set them. He has a good time, if he gets tired of digging he shots stuff with his sling shot. Mom isn't happy if he forgets his pocket is full of gravel and she finds it in the washing machine. Any tips on getting more farms to trap? The ad in the town paper has not really been doing much good. Maybe the hay needs to get higher or stop rain so the farmers can get in their field and see the gopher mounds.

[trappnman]

ads in the paper are slow for me as well, but always pick up enough new work to justify the cost. I get an average of 5-6 serious calls from an ad I run weekly for 4-6 weeks

try hanging a notice at the local farm elevators

90% of my new jobs now, come from word of mouth-

got one the other day- guy driving by stopped and asked if I need more work. That happens a few times a year.

right when they are starting to cut hay is a good time to put ad in- shoppers seem better than the paper- if there is a Farmers Section- make sure ad goes there- for the few extra dollars, try a small box ad rather than a classfied.

[Scott W.]

Find out who does custom hay cutting or chopping. They can recommend you to some of their farmers.