Pocket gopher decline?

Around here, they appear to be on the decline. Several think the anhydrous ammonia farmers put in their fields is killing them.

Not only that but it seems like less townships are paying a bounty on them.

They are thriving here and some townships have raised their bounty on them. They certianly kept me busy this summer!

My township pays $1.50 per tail I think. That is the most I've heard of. Used to be the farmers would kick in a little, too. Right now most farmers around here lack extra $, and don't have the pocket gophers like they used to.

We do not have huge numbers of pocket gopher here but we do have more then people like. Grass seed farmers here hate them as much as the moles. One can get $20 and up for a gopher from the grass seed guys.
The dry summer we had made for larger then normal numbers also. 200 may not seem like a lot to some but that is more then double what I have normally caught. Another problem is there is no trap I have found that is designed to really fit the tunnels well. All but the large size Cinch trap have way to narrow a jaw spread. The big Cinches do better then most but only part of the time. They also make for as many smart,next to impossible to catch, gophers as they kill. Small foot traps just get buried.
Am working on the trap solution and would welcome any ideas here.
The gopher here is called the Camas Pocket Gopher. It only lives in the Willamette Valley here in Oregon and is the largest pocket gopher in the country on an average.

Ted