Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation offers to connect landowners with gopher hunters

The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF) is offering to connect hunters with landowners needing help controlling gopher populations.

Darrell Crabbe from SWF said Richardson's ground squirrels, more commonly known as gophers, can cause extensive damage to crops and livestock.

"Hunting gophers, for generations, has been something that's been an activity that has been utilized by thousands of Saskatchewan residents," he said.

Crabbe said it's often difficult for hunters and landowners to connect directly, due to trespass legislation and privacy concerns. SWF wants to facilitate these connections.

Interested landowners are asked to contact SWF. The organization said in a news release that any of its members hunting gophers as part of this initiative will carry $5-million in liability coverage.

Crabbe said poisons have been used to deal with gophers for many years.

"Under federal jurisdiction, many of the very, very effective poisons are no longer available," he said. "So that was certainly something that may have contributed to the increase in numbers."

Health Canada banned the use of strychnine and sodium monofluoroacetate, two poisons used to control gophers, in 2024. Earlier this year, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities called for a reversal of the strychnine ban to control gopher populations.

Rene Dubreuil is mayor of Ituna, Sask., about 115 kilometres northeast of Regina, but is also a pest control officer for three municipalities around Ituna.

Dubreuil said he deals with most rodent problems, including gophers. He said this is the time of year when the pups are born and come out of their burrows looking for food.

"Anything that's green is eaten," he said. "So you can see in crops and pasture lands, all the vegetation around the burrows are completely cleaned off to the ground."

Dubreuil said it's worse in areas with less moisture.

"What makes the gopher population explode is the dry weather," he said. "They seem to be able to survive where a lot of other animals can't." 

He said hunting alone isn't enough to mitigate gopher populations. He mentioned poisons like Burrow Oat Bait and Rozol Pocket Gopher Bait, but warned to be careful when using them. 

"You have to be very careful with it that you can't expose it to any kind of moisture," he said. "Moisture is what sets off the sulfur that's in the bait itself. So they have to be very careful to keep it in a dry area. It would be poisonous to human beings if it ever got wet."