Gophers have become a problem for four schools in Portage la Prairie.

North Memorial, La Verendrye, Yellowquill and Ecole Crescentview Schools all have reported high numbers of the pest and their holes across the fields, which can be potentially dangerous for children playing.

"It seems for some reason the gopher population is up as it was reported to our operations by our principals earlier this week," says Todd Cuddington, Portage la Prairie School Division Superintendent. "In the past, it's been common practice for the division to apply a pesticide, so we're going to be using Poulin's. They'll be coming by (Friday) afternoon, late, after students are off the grounds and they'll do an application on Saturday as well."

The playgrounds will be treated with a granular gopher bait which should not be ingested. Signage will be placed around the playgrounds, indicating that rodenticide has been applied down the gopher holes in the school grounds. All gopher holes will receive applications of rodenticide, therefore, students should be advised to avoid touching or digging in the ground around gopher holes.

"Certainly it is harmful if it's ingested so we want to put out a warning out to alert the public," adds Cuddington. "There are flags posted indicating the product has been applied to the school programs. For pet owners, even though animals aren't supposed to be permitted on our playgrounds they do stray on there occasionally with an owner, and we want to make sure pet owners can be responsible and make sure their animals don't eat the stuff."

Ensure your children know the dangers of the pesticide this weekend.