9-year-old gopher-trapping boy raking in cash in Minnesota

BIG LAKE, Minn. (FOX 9) - This summer in Sherburne County, some homeowners are turning to an unorthodox solution in their fight against destructive rodents.

"I’ve caught more than 10 gophers," 9-year-old Dylan Harapat told FOX 9 on Wednesday. "I think I have about $78."

Dylan’s curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit have made him the next big thing in Big Lake.

"Dylan is my new best friend, he’s amazing," homeowner Jennifer Clotter said. "I just [didn’t] have a yard anymore. They’re just tearing it up inside and out. You literally fall through the ground. My house is a disaster. The kids can’t come out because they’re falling through and hurting their ankles."

Clotter is talking about a gopher problem in her backyard. The burrowing rodents are tunneling underground and wrecking the grass.

"All of a sudden I saw a little head perk out, and I was like oh my gosh," Clotter explained. "I immediately called Dylan."

Dylan has answered the call again and again, and likely saved homeowners hundreds of dollars on exterminators.

"It was two dollars per gopher, right now it’s five dollars per gopher," Dylan said.

"Everybody goes through me, because he’s only 9, he doesn’t have a Facebook," Dylan’s father Aaron finished. "He sits down with a clipboard and we try to organize our customers on a spreadsheet. If I had to guess, Dylan’s probably booked out for at least two weeks."