Today I had a call to get rid of some moles at 3 adjoining homes. While I was there the owner of an estate next door came over and wanted me to give him a price on a 15 acre field where he keeps his prize cattle. The mounds from moles and gophers cover the field about 15 feet apart. What a challange. Have any out there faced something like this and any suggestions on how to proceed? Pricing isn't my main concern as I will charge by the acre, but not sure how much yet.

What is your normal rate?

For moles I break it down to 1 acre parcels, figure 3 to 5 moles per acre and go from there. It's the gophers that worry me. How many are there. Last fall I took 61 off of a 2 1/2 acre lot. Allright you gophers, attention! count off!

Seeing you have no idea how many gophers there are, I would set a set-up fee and that would cover X amount of gophers, anything over that the customer has to pay per gophers. That would give you a starting point. You have to do what you feel in right. But do not cut yourself short!

That would be the way I would normaly do it but I want a year around contract to trap on this estate. Having monthly contracts keeps me from having highs and lows in income and lets me budget better. If I have x amount of dollars comming in whether I get any calls or not keeps me happy. Any one time jobs are then just icing on the cake.

Why not go for a short term contract to get the feel of the place then go from there. Go for a higher cost 30 day contract to get the feel of thing,if you do not get them all. Go for a yearly contract. Is this a good time of the year for gophers in OR?.

Sometimes it can be tough to know how many pocket gophers are in an area