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At Wildout Animal & Pest Removal, we’re the gopher control company Florida homeowners, property managers, and businesses call first.
We specialize in professional pocket gopher removal across Florida using proven, regulation-compliant methods. No guesswork. No waiting around. Just fast, expert gopher control near you — from the team Florida trusts.
For expert gopher removal in FL, call today.
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Florida’s deep, sandy, well-drained soils are exactly what the southeastern pocket gopher is built for — and the state’s mild climate keeps them digging year-round. A single gopher rarely stays a single problem. During springtime, these rodents create vast tunnel systems and can even push up several new mounds in one day. Initially one or two piles of sand might be enough, but within weeks, these mounds can be covering a whole yard.
The real damage happens out of sight. Down and dirty is where the real destruction happens. Pocket gophers are herbivores only, so they eat roots, bulbs, rhizomes, and tubers. This means for many homeowners, their first indication of gophers isn’t a mound – it’s the sudden, unexplained wilting and death of a variety of plants, shrubs, or even young trees as their roots are slowly eaten away underground. The tunnels that the gophers make are just a few inches beneath the surface and when they collapse, they cause soft areas and holes in the ground which, in addition to being trip hazards, are also mowing hazards. Moreover, their digging frequently breaks buried sprinkler and drip-irrigation lines.
More and more mounds will be made when a gopher problem is not dealt with, more and more of the turf will be smothered, and more and more of the landscaping will be lost. Gopher control by professionals will enable you to correctly identify the gophers, properly trap their active tunnels, and make use of the exclusion work that will actually keep them out. Unlike scattered home remedies that will leave the tunnel system totally intact.
Pocket gophers can do real, expensive damage to your lawn and landscaping before you ever spot the animal responsible. Whether you’re dealing with mounds erupting across your turf or shrubs dying from chewed roots, professional gopher removal is the reliable fix. Our gopher control services in Florida focus on effective, targeted solutions: we locate the active tunnels, remove the gophers, and seal your property against the next ones.
We provide gopher removal across Florida, including Orlando, Tampa, and Lakeland. If you’re dealing with a gopher problem, we offer quick response times and solutions tailored to your specific property — from a small backyard to acres of pasture or turf. Trust our professional gopher removal services to handle any gopher issue, big or small, while protecting your lawn, garden, and irrigation. Contact us for fast, reliable gopher control in Florida.
In Florida, “gopher” can mean two completely different animals, and the difference matters — legally and practically. Before any work begins, our first job is to confirm exactly what’s on your property.
Pocket Gopher (the pest we control) | Gopher Tortoise (protected — we don’t touch) | |
|---|---|---|
What it is | A burrowing rodent (Geomys pinetis), locally called a “sandy-mounder” or “salamander” | A reptile (Gopherus polyphemus), a land tortoise |
The sign it leaves | Fan- or crescent-shaped sandy mounds with a soil plug to one side; no open hole | A wide, half-moon-shaped burrow entrance, about the size of the tortoise’s shell |
What it does | Tunnels underground and eats roots, bulbs, and grasses — kills plants and ruins lawns | Digs a long burrow for shelter; a keystone species that shares it with other wildlife |
Legal status | Not protected — can be controlled on private property | State-listed as Threatened. Illegal to take, harm, harass, or disturb the tortoise or its burrow without an FWC permit. |
If what you have is a pocket gopher, we control it. If our inspection turns up a gopher tortoise or an active tortoise burrow, we’ll tell you straight away, we will not disturb it, and we’ll point you to the proper Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) process. Misidentifying a protected tortoise as a pest is a costly mistake — and knowing the difference is exactly what you’re hiring a licensed professional for.
Our team begins with a full walk of your property to find fresh mounds and map where the gophers are actually working. We confirm the species — ruling out moles, armadillos, and the protected gopher tortoise — then probe near the freshest mounds to locate the active main tunnels and runways. Because gophers stay underground and one animal can throw up mounds across a wide area, locating the live tunnel is the single most important step, and it’s what separates real gopher control from guesswork.
Trapping is the most reliable method for pocket gophers, and it’s where our experience pays off. We open up the active tunnels we’ve identified and set traps in the main runways and laterals, placed and positioned so gophers are caught quickly as they move to repair the disturbed burrow. Traps are checked frequently and reset as needed until the tunnel system is clear, all in compliance with Florida regulations. Pinpoint placement in live tunnels — not random traps in random mounds — is what makes this work.
Where trapping alone isn’t enough for the size of the property, we use targeted below-ground burrow treatments, applied deep inside active tunnels and sealed off — kept well away from pets, children, and non-target wildlife. At the same time, we identify the landscape features feeding the problem, from preferred root crops and dense turf to soft, freshly tilled beds, and advise on changes that make your property less attractive. This multi-angle approach is what delivers lasting results instead of a temporary dip in activity.
The first part is to get rid of the gophers; however, keeping them out is what will safeguard your property over the years. In some cases, the solution can be the installation of underground wire-mesh barriers alongside beds and borders; lining raised beds with hardware cloth; or the use of gopher wire baskets to protect the root balls of valuable trees and shrubs.
