Major changes are about to be made in predator management in the U.S., as a result of the President’s Executive Order No. 11643 of Feb. 8, 1972, and the Report to the Council on Environmental Quality (the so-called “Cain Report”) of the same date. The author discusses these expected changes in light of previous resolutions and policies published by the National Wool Growers Association, the Secretary of the Interior’s Advisory Board on Wildlife and Game Management of 1963-64 (the “Leopold Report”), and statements made by Dr. Stanley Cain before a 1966 congressional hearing on predatory mammal control practices. The author further discusses a recent recommendation that predator control be conducted only by government agency professionals within a U.S. Fish & Wildlife-state government cooperative program, not by private individuals including those who have suffered damage. The author recommends that the Department of Agriculture within California and other western states is the most appropriate agency to conduct predator damage management.

Pocket gopher biology, behavior, damage, and control are discussed extensively in this paper, with emphasis on Thomomys spp. found in California and elsewhere in the western states. Habitat modification by use of herbicides to reduce forbs, which are preferred by gophers, has been demonstrated to be effective on Forest Service rangelands. Limitations of burrow flooding or burrow fumigation are discussed. Exclusion techniques are described as most useful in home and garden situations. Gopher control is most effectively done by poisoning and/or trapping, both of which are discussed in detail, as are types of traps commonly used. Effective poisons are Compound 1080 and strychnine, if correctly formulated and applied. The recently developed mechanical gopher bait applicator implement, the burrow-builder, is discussed. Pertinent references are provided.