Gophers causing mayhem in Glendale neighborhood, costing residents thousands of damage

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Mounds. Holes. A lot of headaches.

A Glendale neighborhood is in the throes of a serious gopher problem as the critters are stirring up a major concern for homeowners.

This is a nightmare for the residents, requiring time, energy and lots of money.

Considering how prevalent it is, the residents want some help.

"I have no help. No hope. No one is doing anything. No one is listening to me," an emotional neighbor named Lori Dunkel said.

The gophers are everywhere on her Glendale property near 76th Lane and Camelback Road.

"The biggest issue happened last month where they ate through a water line, and caused a leak under the house. So I had to have a plumber come out and completely re-plumb that area, and it cost me $5,000," Dunkel said.

It’s why she called everyone she could, including a gopher expert.

German Calderon has the same issue.

"You spend a lot of money trying to maintain your yard, and then for them to come and destroy it," he said.

He describes his battle with the gophers as a headache.

A few blocks down, Keith Frazee, also has a gopher problem.

"Nuisance. A total nuisance," he said. "When I go out and mow, I mow over three, four mounds."

They're seemingly everywhere, and are apparently breeding like crazy.

"We had a gopher expert come through here and assess all of our properties. She estimated at least a thousand, and without some sort of coordinated effort, some kind of plan, some kind of help from the city, I don’t know what to do," Dunkel said.

She hopes some kind of coordinated help comes, and comes fast.

Dunkel is working on organizing some kind of community meeting with gopher experts to address this problem.