Trapping called the most effective way to get rid of gophers.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

MONTEREY, Calif. _ Truer words were never spoken than in the movie "Caddyshack," by demented greenskeeper Carl Spackler:

"To kill, you must know your enemy," mused Spackler, played by Bill Murray. "And in this case, my enemy is a varmint."

Thankfully, few of us have resorted to blowing up a golf course to get rid of the creature, as Spackler did.

But many gardeners can sympathize with gopher rage.

Professionals who deal with these plant-pilfering rodents say it is possible to control gophers through two big "ex" words _ extermination and exclusion.

"I've learned a lot of little tricks to get them," said Marco Pennisi, whose business, Monterey County Wildlife Management, works on all kinds of troublesome critters.

Most pest control services don't go for gophers, but Pennisi will.

"Gophers are a piece of cake, once you've got the knack for it," said Pennisi.

But even he gets the occasional gopher in his Pacific Grove, Calif., yard.

Thomas Wittman, who recently taught a gopher control class at the University of California at Santa …