Child-Safe Gopher Control — What Parents Need to Know

For parents with young children who play in the yard, gopher control decisions involve a safety dimension beyond simply removing the pest. Rodenticide bait — the most widely used gopher control product — is an edible poison that can seriously harm children who encounter it. Understanding the risks and how to choose safe alternatives is important for any family with kids who use outdoor spaces.

Why Rodenticide Bait Is Dangerous Around Children

Anticoagulant rodenticide bait — the active ingredient in most commercial and professional gopher bait products — is formulated to be attractive and edible to rodents. This means it can also be attractive to curious toddlers and young children who encounter it in a yard. The bait is typically grain or pellet-based, and young children who are at the age of putting things in their mouths are at real risk if bait is accessible in the yard.

Even when bait is placed underground in tunnel systems or in locked bait stations, children can dig into stations or uncover tunnel placements during play. The risk is not hypothetical — accidental rodenticide ingestion by children is a documented cause of pediatric emergency room visits, and California Poison Control handles rodenticide exposure calls regularly.

How Rodent Guys' Methods Protect Children

Rodent Guys uses only two methods: professional trapping and carbon monoxide treatment. Neither poses any risk to children in the yard after service.

Traps are mechanical devices set inside tunnel systems. When a trap has been sprung — successfully or otherwise — it is removed or reset by the technician on the next visit. There is no edible or chemical substance left in the yard. Between technician visits, traps sit inside underground tunnels inaccessible to surface activity.

Carbon monoxide is applied directly into active tunnel systems underground and dissipates completely within the tunnel as outside air gradually replaces it. There is no CO at the surface, no residue, and no way for children to encounter CO exposure from treatment that was applied underground. The treated area looks identical before and after service — there is nothing on the surface to find or touch.

What to Tell Children During Active Treatment

During active gopher treatment, your technician may have set traps in tunnel systems in your yard. The traps are underground and not accessible to children playing normally on the surface. You do not need to restrict yard access during treatment. However, if your children dig in the yard regularly and might excavate a trap, a brief explanation that there are underground devices in the lawn is appropriate during the service period.

Related Articles

• Why Gopher Poison Is Dangerous for Dogs and Cats
• Secondary Poisoning — How Rodenticide Kills Hawks and Owls
• Why Pet-Safe Gopher Control Matters

Call 909-599-4711 for gopher control that is completely safe for your family and children.

Also see: Trapping vs. Poison — Why Chemical-Free Control Is Better