Yes, it is legal to kill gophers in California. Pocket gophers are classified as nongame mammals under the California Fish and Game Code, which means they can be controlled at any time and in any legal manner. You don’t need a trapping license or a permit to remove them from your property.
That said, “any legal manner” comes with real boundaries. California regulates the specific methods you can use, particularly when it comes to poisons and fumigation devices. Here’s what you need to know about each approach.
Trapping Has the Fewest Restrictions
Trapping is the most straightforward legal option for killing gophers in California. No license is required, and there are no seasonal restrictions. You can set traps year-round on your own property. Common gopher traps are placed directly inside the tunnel system, making them effective and unlikely to harm non-target animals or pets on the surface.
Poison Bait: What’s Allowed and What’s Banned
California has some of the strictest rodenticide laws in the country, and they affect what you can use on gophers. Since January 1, 2021, four second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) are broadly prohibited across the state: brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, and difethialone. These are the potent, slow-acting poisons that accumulate in the food chain and have been linked to deaths in birds of prey, bobcats, and other wildlife.
The ban covers residential and home use outright. It also extends to most commercial and institutional settings, including restaurants, schools, offices, grocery stores, airports, golf courses, parks, and construction sites. Violating this law can result in administrative civil penalties.
There is a narrow agricultural exemption. Farmers and ranchers producing crops, livestock, poultry, or other farm products can still use SGARs within 50 feet of agricultural buildings like barns or grain storage structures, as long as the use site matches the product label. Even this exemption disappears on land within state parks, state wildlife refuges, or state conservancies.
First-generation anticoagulants and other types of gopher bait (like strychnine-based products labeled for pocket gophers) follow their own labeling and registration rules. If you’re buying gopher bait at a hardware store, check the active ingredient and follow the label directions exactly. In California, the product label is legally enforceable.
Carbon Monoxide Devices and Fumigation
Pressurized carbon monoxide (CO) devices, which pump exhaust into gopher tunnels, are legal in California but regulated by the Department of Pesticide Regulation. Most homeowners can use these devices without a license or certification. However, if you’re advertising or operating a pest control business, you need a pest control business license.
The key restrictions on CO devices are about where, not whether, you can use them:
- No use inside structures. CO devices cannot be used in any structure inhabited by people or livestock.
- Setback distances apply. You must maintain a minimum distance between the burrow opening you’re treating and any inhabited structure. The required distance depends on the type of rodent being targeted and typical burrow characteristics.
- Non-target animals are protected. You cannot use a CO device on burrow openings that may contain non-target animals such as moles, raccoons, or skunks.
CO devices do not need to be registered with the state, and there is no official list of approved models. But every device must carry a permanently affixed warning label stating that carbon monoxide is a poisonous, odorless, colorless gas that can kill within minutes.
What “Any Legal Manner” Actually Means
The phrase from the Fish and Game Code gives property owners broad authority, but it doesn’t mean anything goes. You still need to comply with pesticide regulations, local ordinances, and general animal cruelty statutes. Shooting gophers, for instance, may be legal on rural private property but could violate local firearms discharge laws in suburban or urban areas. Flooding burrows is sometimes attempted but is generally ineffective and may violate water waste ordinances in drought-prone regions.
If you hire a professional pest control operator, they must hold a valid California pest control business license. This requirement applies to anyone advertising or soliciting pest control services, even for something as common as gopher removal. Licensed operators are also subject to recordkeeping and safety disclosure requirements when using CO devices or restricted materials.
Protecting Non-Target Wildlife
California’s strict approach to gopher control methods exists largely because of the state’s wildlife. Second-generation anticoagulants were banned primarily to protect predators and scavengers that eat poisoned rodents. Owls, hawks, coyotes, and foxes are all at risk of secondary poisoning when they consume gophers that have ingested these baits.
This is one reason trapping remains the preferred recommendation from the University of California’s Integrated Pest Management program. Traps kill the target animal without introducing toxins into the food chain, and they let you confirm the gopher has actually been caught rather than guessing whether bait was consumed. For most homeowners dealing with a few gophers tearing up a yard, a pair of traps placed in an active tunnel is the simplest, most legally uncomplicated solution available.