Monthly vs. Quarterly Gopher Control — Which Service Plan Do You Need?
After an initial gopher infestation is resolved, many homeowners in Southern California find that the problem eventually returns — especially those living near golf courses, regional parks, school campuses, or open space. For these properties, a recurring maintenance plan is more practical and more cost-effective than repeatedly paying for a new initial service every few months. The question is whether monthly or quarterly service is the right fit for your specific situation.
Who Needs Monthly Service
Monthly maintenance is the right choice for properties with high and consistent reinvasion pressure. If your yard borders a golf course fairway, backs up to a regional park, sits adjacent to a school athletic field, or is in the path of a natural wildlife corridor, animals from the adjacent source population are regularly testing your property's perimeter. A monthly service interval means your technician is checking for and treating new activity every four weeks — staying ahead of any animal that establishes in your yard before it has time to build an extensive tunnel system or cause significant damage.
Horse properties with multiple animals and large irrigated pastures also typically warrant monthly service, as the equestrian environment sustains high local gopher populations that continuously push into managed areas.
Properties that have had multiple reinvasion events within a single season — where a new gopher appears within weeks of the previous one being removed — almost always benefit from monthly rather than quarterly service.
Who Needs Quarterly Service
Quarterly maintenance — service every three months — is appropriate for properties with moderate rather than high reinvasion pressure. If you have had one or two gopher infestations per year that required professional treatment, quarterly service will typically catch new activity before it becomes established and prevent the damage that accumulates over a full single-gopher season.
Properties in standard suburban neighborhoods without immediate adjacency to large green space or institutional grounds typically fall into the quarterly category. You have some pressure from neighboring properties and local parks but not the continuous high-volume pressure of a golf-course-adjacent or open-space-adjacent property.
No Long-Term Contracts
Rodent Guys maintenance agreements — monthly or quarterly — do not require long-term contracts. You can cancel any time. The agreements exist for your convenience, not to lock you in. If you switch to quarterly after starting with monthly because pressure turns out to be lower than expected, that is easy to arrange. If you want to pause service over a low-activity period, that is also fine.
What Maintenance Service Includes
Each maintenance visit includes a full property check for active tunnel systems, treatment of any new activity found, and review of the property's current gopher status. If no new activity is found on a maintenance visit, the visit is still completed — confirming that the property is clear is itself valuable information. All maintenance visits are covered by the same guarantee as initial service.
Related Articles
- Why Gophers Keep Coming Back After Treatment
- Gopher Control Cost Guide
- Why Gopher Activity Spikes in Spring
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Maintenance plans are flexible and can be adjusted based on observed activity levels. There are no penalties for changing your service interval.
We still complete the visit and confirm the property is clear. No activity found is a good outcome — it means the maintenance plan is working.
For properties that would otherwise require two or more new initial services per year, maintenance plans are typically more cost-effective than paying full initial service rates each time activity returns.
Call 909-599-4711 to discuss which maintenance plan is right for your property.