So who has any Ideas about Gopher problems short of a thermonuclear device
I do NOT recommend this, but it is highly entertaining and seems to be a legitimate product: http://www.rodenator.com/. No quite a thermonuclear device, but about as close as realistically possible.
Depending on how large of an area you are dealing with this solution may or may not work. I used a garden hose. It works well to push the dirt back into the tunnels. If you run plenty of water into the tunnels, it should also get rid of the gophers. I had a problem in my yard and it worked very well. Better than bates or traps. It is also environmentally friendly.
Dean's Garden hose solution is very effective as I learned from my dad many years ago. I have used this method several times myself. I remember one memorable time, when for some reason, the hose started crawling -- perhaps being "pulled" by an enraged super gopher? -- into the hole. All the pulling at our end was of no avail and my dad had to cut what remained of the hose. My dad was not amused at losing a hose. It never happened again but the mystery remains.