Ground squirrels are up!

[Arachnodisiac]

This means roughly 45 days until the snakes are up too!

Every year since my son was pretty little and obsessed with archery hunting them, I make a "gopher cake" celebrating the emergence. Obviously, cake decorating is not my forte, but this is still my best one yet.


I should note that a few years ago, I wrote for a provincial ag newspaper and did a three-part series on the natural history of the species.

The males come up first and battle for territory for a couple of weeks before the females emerge. Then happy breeding ensues, and by the time all the fighting and lovemaking is over, stuff has usually started growing and they'll begin eating again.

The males begin hibernation in July, females in August, and the juveniles follow in September/October. The old rule of thumb was that if you saw a gopher up in November, it wouldn't survive the winter, but maybe that is changing. We sure saw many up in November last year.

[calgarychef]

Well you’re no baker but any cake is a good cake!! Interesting little tidbit about the gophers though.

[marlin1]

good to hear . Enjoyed your article and your articles these days . I haven't seen any yet but my brother did near Stavely

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Not sure I want the recipe for a 'gopher cake'

And this is from a guy who has BBQed gophers.

ARG

[270person]

You should bake a cake illustrating the results of a 17hmr vmax entering just below tail and exiting forward. After that you wouldn't have to bake any more cakes.

I have no idea how to make a gopher cake but in-depth knowledge of how to create a gopher slurry.

[tallieho]

Old hay shaker lore.Said that males gophers emerge first.To do there way,of controlling breeding competition.By going into burrows & castrating male young of the year..

[Arachnodisiac]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

Well you’re no baker but any cake is a good cake!! Interesting little tidbit about the gophers though.

Haha - the carrot cake actually tastes awesome - I’m just a craptacular artist, sadly!

[Arachnodisiac]

Or a .204 - which I’ve used and definitely not much left.
That said, I really like archery hunting then because I don’t have to worry about leaving the carcass there for scavengers because of the lead.

Originally Posted by 270person

You should bake a cake illustrating the results of a 17hmr vmax entering just below tail and exiting forward. After that you wouldn't have to bake any more cakes.

I have no idea how to make a gopher cake but in-depth knowledge of how to create a gopher slurry.

[okke]

no worries about baking that annual cake, Any cake is good cake!
thanks for the gophers 101 lesson .