Sask Gopher Hunts
July 11, 2007
Hunters lured to Sask to shoot thousands of gophers destroying crops
REGINA (CP) - On the one hand, it's a beloved mascot for Saskatchewan's football team, but on the other, farmers decry the gopher as a pesky rodent that is eating them out of house and home.
That's why producers in the province's southwest have come up with a way to rid their land of the populous burrowers and boost tourism at the same time - through gopher hunting.
"We can put (hunters) out on a piece of grass, or somewhere where the grass is short, and away they go at her," said Les Jordet, who farms in Hazenmore, Sask., just southeast of Swift Current.
"You don't have to hunt very far," noted Jordet, who said the gopher population is so large the tiny animals frequently run over his feet.
Gophers, which are properly called Richardson's ground squirrels, are among the most common pests destroying crops in Saskatchewan. Thousands of their holes have also wrecked harvesting equipment and injured cattle.
"They're eating us out of our livelihood down here is what they're doing," said Jordet.
"On my farm alone here in the last week, I surveyed it out - we got over 400 acres of cropland that is wrote off and just completely gone. My hay land is destroyed; my pastures are ate out."
Researchers looking for ways to control the gopher population have estimated there are about 7,000 holes on one 32-hectare section of Jordet's farm. That's about the size of a small city subdivision.
Strychnine, a harsh poison, is no longer allowed and farmers have complained that other bait doesn't work.
For a couple of years in the early 2000s, the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation held a gopher derby in an attempt to control the pests. Prize money was handed out for those collecting the most gopher tails, but the derby attracted tremendous criticism from animal rights groups in Canada and the United States.
Some farmers turned to technology for a while in the form of the Gophinator, a machine designed and built in Saskatchewan that pumped clouds of toxic ammonia gas into burrows.
But shooting the gophers is "the only effective solution" right now, said Jordet.
Word of the problem has spread.
People from Manitoba and as far away as British Columbia have asked Jordet if they can gopher hunt on his property. Some even set up campers in his yard and stay for days.
"We had a fella come in and he spent a week with us, him and his wife, and he shot 12, 14 hours a day," said Jordet.
"He slowed 'em down but, you know, that was a month ago or a month and a half ago, and they're back."
Jordet's phone isn't the only one ringing off the hook.
The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, a Moose-Jaw-based group with more than 25,000 members across the province, says a lot of people have called to ask where they can gopher hunt.
Darrell Crabbe, the federation's executive director, said gopher hunting is "somewhat of a Saskatchewan tradition."
"Gopher hunting has been entrenched in many dad-and-son or -daughter (relationships) for decades," said Crabbe. "I have two teenaged sons and we've been going gopher hunting since they were eight years old."
He agrees hunting the varmints could develop into a tourist attraction.
"It can be a very fruitful little economic generator for small-town Saskatchewan," said Crabbe, who noted that hunting more traditional game already generates about $176 million revenue in Saskatchewan each year.
Crabbe knows of some Quebec men who recently travelled to Saskatchewan for a meeting, but arrived three days early just to go gopher hunting.
Saskatchewan Agriculture says hunters have long gone to the southwest to find gophers, but the tourism idea is relatively new.
"It came to light just a couple of days ago, this gopher tourism kind of initiative," said Cam Wilk of Saskatchewan Agriculture.
"If it works for them down in that country to help manage that problem, it's a good thing."
Hunters have to respect the landowner's rights, get permission to hunt and be properly licensed for firearms. If all those things are followed, Wilk doesn't see any concerns.
However, there is one gopher who won't be in the line of fire.
In an ironic twist, Gainer the Gopher, the beloved Saskatchewan Roughriders mascot, draws wild cheers from fans at football games even as he represents perhaps the most hated animal in the province.
But Rider fans can rest easy.
"Gainer's pretty safe within the walls of Taylor Field," said Crabbe with a laugh. "He's the chosen one."
__________________
Travis
|
talk about .22lr only, would get pricey pricey for centerfires if they are that bad.
Linear Mode
