Good post Cowperson, so very true. There is little support or options for those that don't want to kill the animals, and it almost always comes down to trapping or poisoning.
Poisoning works on a small scale if you monitor the holes and remove the gopher IMMEDIATELY after its dead. If not, Magpies or Crows may swoop in and kill themselves and whatever else comes in contact with their carcass. The best thing to do would be to make sure the gopher has gone down their hole, put the poison in, and use a big rock to plug it + cover it with dirt, sealing it as best you can (all entrances+exits). I lost a family dog because of an idiotic neighbor who didn't monitor the open holes he poisoned, so you have to be careful.
The pocket gopher traps work very well and are more humane than poisoning, I've been using them for years. One could try them in Richardson gopher holes as they have worked for me, but most of the time the gopher just pushed the trap out (somehow?) or doesn't use that exit.
You can pick the pocket gopher traps up at the Rocky view Municipality offices off of 32nd ave N.E.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...169.57,,1,1.85