HOA communities throughout Los Angeles County — from Rancho Cucamonga to Redlands — often have specific rules about pest control methods. This guide explains what HOAs can require and why trapping is always the safe choice.
The vast majority of gopher control services in the Greater Los Angeles use rodenticide bait as their primary method. Products containing zinc phosphide, diphacinone, or strychnine are placed in gopher tunnels, where they're intended to be consumed by the gopher underground. The appeal for pest control operators is clear: bait is inexpensive, requires minimal equipment, and shows results quickly.
For a household without pets or children, bait may be an acceptable tradeoff. For the overwhelming majority of Los Angeles County homeowners with dogs, cats, horses, or young children, bait introduces risks that trapping eliminates entirely.
Direct exposure: Gophers are fastidious about their tunnel systems and frequently push debris — including bait — out of their tunnels. Bait that gophers move to the surface is accessible to any dog that sniffs around the yard. Even when bait remains underground, a dog that digs near an active gopher system can access treated areas directly.
Secondary poisoning: When a cat or dog catches and eats a poisoned gopher, they absorb whatever rodenticide is in the gopher's system. The concentration of toxin in a gopher's body at time of death can be sufficient to fatally poison a cat or small dog. There is no antidote for most gopher poisons — treatment is supportive care only.
Professional gopher traps — Macabee, Cinch, and similar designs — are set entirely underground inside the gopher's main tunnel run. The trap mechanism is 12 to 18 inches below the surface. Pets walking, running, and playing on the lawn above are completely safe. There is no bait, no surface residue, and no risk of secondary poisoning because the gopher is caught mechanically, not chemically.
Irrigation flags mark each trap location so homeowners know where traps are set, but normal yard activity — dogs playing fetch, children running, cats exploring — is entirely safe throughout the treatment period. There is no exclusion period required because there is nothing toxic on or in the soil.
A common misconception is that bait works faster or more reliably than trapping. In practice, professional trapping by an experienced operator resolves most gopher infestations in 2 to 4 weeks — comparable to the timeline for bait-based treatment when done correctly. The key variable is operator experience: an experienced trapper who can accurately locate active tunnels and position traps correctly will achieve results equivalent to bait, with none of the chemical risk.
For properties near Los Angeles County's open space — foothills, washes, agricultural borders — trapping also eliminates the ongoing secondary poisoning risk to wildlife. The raptors and coyotes that naturally regulate gopher populations in the Greater Los Angeles are valuable ecological partners. Chemical gopher control that harms these predators removes a natural gopher control mechanism from the area over the long term.
For professional trapping service anywhere in Los Angeles County, contact Rodent Guys — trapping specialists since 2011 with a 60-day guarantee and no long-term contracts.