Lanny Gower (center) demonstrates how to set a trap, while attendees (left to right) watch: Dallas Boge, Sheryl Olander, Sharon Hundley, and Joyce Sauber. Photo: Chas Hundley
GALES CREEK – The Gales Creek Chamber of Commerce met on Tuesday, Feb. 18 for the first time in 2020 to discuss the business of the organization.
Items on the agenda included board nominations, planning for the annual Gales Creek Strawberry Festival, and a presentation by local Gales Creek resident Lanny Gower, who has waged a small war on the moles, voles, and gophers who’ve tunneled through his property along Gales Creek.
(Disclosure: This journalist serves as president of the all-volunteer Gales Creek Chamber of Commerce)
According to Gower, his attempts to keep fruit trees and other plants alive were failing due to the rodents destroying the plants’ root structures, as well as damage to his lawn and acreage.
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After extensive research, Gower settled on a mechanical spring trap that rests inside the rodent tunnels, and after 18 months, he’s caught more than 150 gophers and moles on his property, along with other rodents such as voles.
Gower demonstrated how to set the traps and discussed his method for placing them in the rodent holes, and then outlined his plans — including a fruit orchard — for his property.
The Gales Creek Chamber of Commerce meets monthly on the third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Gales Creek Church of God in downtown Gales Creek.
All meetings are open to the general public.
The chamber, in addition to regular chamber type activities, helps run a variety of community events throughout the year, including the Gales Creek Strawberry Festival and the Gales Creek Holiday Bazaar.
More information can be found at www.galescreekchamberofcommerce.org.
The traps used by Gower can be found at www.traplineproducts.com.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
