Page 90 - AG 7-2011 Revised 2016

Gopher Gopher

Photo Courtesy of J.T. Eaton Co. Photo Courtesy of J.T. Eaton Co.

Life Cycle Gopher

Pocket gophers reach sexual maturity in the spring following their birth.
In the northern part of their range they have 1 litter per year. In the
southern part they may have 2 litters per year. Litter sizes range from 1
to 10 but typically average 3 to 4. Average life span of gophers varies
from just over 1 year to nearly 3 years.

6“

Drawing by Andrew Schaible

Actual size 6 “

Pocket gophers are burrowing rodents, named “pocket” because they have fur-lined pouches
outside of their mouth, one on each side of the face. These pockets are used for carrying
food. Pocket gophers range from about 5 to nearly 14 inches. Adult males are larger than adult
females. Their fur is very fine, soft, and highly variable in color, which ranges from nearly black
to pale brown to almost white. Pocket gophers have a short neck and are powerfully built in
the forequarters. The forepaws are large-clawed, and they also have large incisors to provide
excellent gnawing and digging behavior. Gophers have small external ears and small eyes.
They thrive in looser, fairly deep, light-textured soils with good herbage production, especially
when that vegetation has large, fleshy roots, bulbs, or tubers. Fields, parks and lawns make
great habitats. Pocket gophers are strict herbivores, eating roots, grasses, shrubs, and trees.
They feed on plants in three ways: 1) they feed on roots that they encounter when digging; 2)
occasionally they go to the surface, venturing only a short body length or so from their tunnel
opening to feed on above ground vegetation; and 3) they pull vegetation into their tunnel from
below.
Burrows are made up of a main tunnel, generally 4 to 18 inches long below and parallel to the
ground surface, with various numbers of lateral tunnels from the main one. These end at the
surface with a soil mound or sometimes only a soil plug. There are also deeper branches off the
main burrow that are used as nests and food caches. The maximum depth of some portions
of a burrow may be as much as 5 or 6 feet. The diameter of a burrow is typically 3 inches. A
single burrow system may contain up to 200 yards of tunnels. Typically, there is only one gopher
per burrow system, except when mating occurs and when the female is caring for her young.
Damage caused by gophers includes consumption of vegetation, destruction of underground
utility cables and irrigation pipe, and smothering of surface greenery by dirt mounds. Gophers
damage trees by stem girdling and clipping, root pruning, and root exposure caused by
burrowing. Soil brought to the surface in mounds becomes more susceptible to erosion.
Gophers are a neighborhood problem, as old tunnels will be taken over by new gophers from
adjacent areas.

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