SALINA, Kan. (AP) Gophers have been causing problems for Salina, where the furry rodents are digging burrows in the city’s flood-control levee.
The Salina Journal reports that the gophers have been digging burrows and tunnels that could create problems in the city’s 21-mile levee. Mike Fraser, Salina’s director of public works, says if the gophers create enough holes in the levee the structure could fail under stress from floodwaters.
Fraser’s levee staff have been fighting the gophers with traps and have killed 369 gophers since 2009.
Jack Goates, the city’s flood control supervisor, said the Corps of Engineers mandates that the city have an animal control program.
Fraser said letting the grass grow would limit the problem, but it isn’t possible because of levee regulations.
