Gopher Tourism
"Gopher tourism" is making inroads across the southern grainbelt, with some farmers offering free room, board and even free ammunition to anyone willing to kill the voracious gophers gobbling up their crops.
Farmers near Swift Current, Sask., are looking for tourists with guns to combat an infestation they say is especially bad near Aneroid, Ponteix and Hazenmore.
Les Jordet, a mixed crop farmer near Hazenmore, has opened his home to host visitors from Manitoba as well as a group from B.C.
"They drove 17 hours to get here. They just totally went on a real hunt," Jordet said. "They would drive to where they seen a pocket of gophers and sit out, and walk. They'd shoot for hours and hours in spots."
Local officials welcome the gun-toters so long as they save farmers' crops.
Jordet said the out-of-towners shot thousands of gophers a day, and even worried they would run out targets. He assured them that was not the case.
Granted, I never thought of turning it into a tourist attraction, but I remember trapping the little beggars for the bounty farmers would pay for them. I also recall hanging on while we swerved across the highway to run one down in a car. Farmers really don't like them, which is understandable given the problems they cause.
It does make me wonder at the type of people who would drive for hours for a chance to shoot at them. They're not exactly big game. if I remember correctly, the preferred weapon for taking them down was a pellet gun. Even a .22 is overpowered for such a small animal. Oh well, I guess it beats shooting targets at a range.
