OK, so I would like some advice on managing pests and vermin around our house. I've got two issues.

First, every summer the ant colonies swarm all over the exterior of the house when it gets very hot, and they invariably explore their way into the house. This has been a nuisance in the past, but now that we have a toddler it's a real problem. What's the best way you've found to keep ants out of the house?

Second - and even much more vital - is how to deal with gophers. I would love some advice on getting rid of them. We used to have an empty field at the end of the block on which we live, but that has been developed into a large apartment complex. As such developments do, this involved excavating all the dirt in the field to a depth of 30 feet, which effectively deprived a large gopher colony of its home. They have since migrated into our neighborhood, and regularly devour our plants. I have shoveled out one of our flower beds and our vegetable garden to line them with wire mesh, but that is an impractical solution for the entire front and back yards. I've used poison, but there seem to be two gophers for every one I manage to poison. We've tried flushing them out with water, whereupon I've killed them with a spade (not a pleasant experience, let me tell you). edit: I should also say that lately we can't flush them out any longer, because they've excavated so many tunnels that any amount of water trickles away into the abyssal depths where the balrogs live. I've also tried subterranean gopher traps, which skewer the little devils when they're triggered...or at least they're supposed to do that. The only one I've managed to get that way happened to be a few inches down the hole when I set the trap (all the others have been triggered harmlessly, piercing the walls or ceiling of the tunnel). I'm very frustrated, and all of our plants are dying from the infestation. Any tips or advice would be appreciated.