Gophers and Gopher Control - Part 7 of 11 - Gopher Damage

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Gophers, if left unchecked, can cause extensive damage to household utility items as well as plant life. The pocket gopher has been known to chew through irrigation lines and utility cables as well as undermine and weaken a home foundation. The plant damage they may cause can include stem girdling and clipping, root pruning, and even root exposure. There also is the danger the gopher may smother some plant life when piling soil over it when creating its mound.

Soil brought to and deposited on the surface by the pocket gopher has a greater chance of erosion by rainwater.

Gophers who live in canal and ditch banks tend to ruin the integrity of the banks in which they live and may cause complete failure of the retention system resulting in great disaster.

Acknowledgment:


• Case, R. M., 1994. Pocket gophers: Prevention and control of wildlife damage. Department of Forestry, Fisheries
  and Wildlife. University of Nebraska
  
  
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology - Animal Diversity Web
  
  

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Gophers and Gopher Control - Part 6 of 11 - Gopher Facts

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• The gopher is often confused with the mole and vole due to habitat overlap and similar eating habits — Control methods differ for these three species; many people misidentify their target and often use improper techniques in their abatement efforts.
  
• Gophers expel the soil they excavate from the burrow in a fan shape radiating away from the burrow opening. They will use both their claws and teeth while digging, pushing the soil and debris behind them with their hind claws, then flip over in a somersault motion and push the material out of the burrow with their forefeet and chest.
  
• A single pocket gopher can dig a burrow system consisting of up to 200 yards of tunnel in a year displacing as much as 2 ¼ tons of soil.
  
• Pocket gophers do not hibernate and are active throughout the year. They are most prolific in their mound building spring through fall, though some species will be less productive during summer months.
  
• Contrary to popular belief, studies have shown that gophers are active throughout the day.
  
• The pocket gopher’s burrow system will typically consist of a main burrow with a number of laterals branching off from it. Systems found to be linear rather than branched are believed to belong to male gophers searching for a mate.
  
• Burrow diameters tend to be around 3 inches; areas larger than this diameter are believed to be resting or feeding areas.
  
• The nesting area of the gopher will be filled with grass and other plant debris that the gopher has formed into a ball — Some as deep as 5 or 6 feet underground.
  
• Pocket gophers live solitary lives. Exceptions to this rule occur during mating season, and when the female is raising her young.
  
• Gophers that reside in the more northern locations generally have 1 litter per year. Pocket gophers living in southern locals usually have 2. Some gophers found in California may breed year—round.
  
• Litter sizes can range from 1 to 10 but usually average 3 or 4 young per litter. In areas where the gopher has more than one breeding cycle per year, the litter sizes tend to be smaller.
  
• The teeth of the pocket gopher continuously grow to accommodate the near constant wear and tear exerted upon them.
  
• Gophers can exert up to 18,000 pounds per square inch with their bite
  

Acknowledgment:


• Case, R. M., 1994. Pocket gophers: Prevention and control of wildlife damage. Department of Forestry, Fisheries
  and Wildlife. University of Nebraska
  
  
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology - Animal Diversity Web
  
  

Gophers and Gopher Control - Part 5 of 11 - What Gophers Eat

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Pocket gophers are voracious herbivores; although they tend to prefer forbs and roots the gopher will eat nearly any type of plant it comes across including grasses, shrubs, seedlings, and trees. Any animal matter consumed in its diet would most likely have been ingested by accident.

Pocket gophers are most likely to consume your plants in one of the following ways:

• Root feeding on plants they come across while foraging for food or searching for a mate. The gopher commonly will clip the roots off below the surface where the damage done is not apparent. Occasionally the gopher will clip the base of a plant to just above the surface.
  
• Pulling your plants down into their tunnel from below.
  
• Occasionally the gopher will venture up to a body length from its burrow opening to consume surface vegetation. This activity only seems to happen during the growing season.
  

Acknowledgment:

• Case, R. M., 1994. Pocket gophers: Prevention and control of wildlife damage. Department of Forestry, Fisheries
  and Wildlife. University of Nebraska
  
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology - Animal Diversity Web
  

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Gophers and Gopher Control - Part 4 of 11 - Where Gophers Live

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Gophers exist in a wide range of living conditions: pocket gophers are found in geographical elevations ranging from lowland costal areas, to mountains in excess of 12,000 feet amidst a wide array of soil types and climate conditions.

Gophers cannot survive in dense, heavy clay or continuously saturated soils. They require light-textured or loose conglomerate soil types that will allow gases to pass and water to drain. The transfer of exhaled gases to the surface and the introduction of fresh air to the burrow through the soil are a necessity for gopher survival. In very sandy soil conditions the pocket gopher will tend to dig its tunnels to a depth where there is sufficient moisture in the soil to preserve the integrity of the burrow.

The pocket gopher can reside in a fairly rocky habitat; burrowing around rocks greater than 1 inch in diameter while pushing smaller rocks to the surface. In this particular environment, the area the gopher inhabits will tend to not have more than 10% rocks in the top 8 inches of soil.

Environments that do not provide more than 4 inches of soil may limit the presence of gophers for two reasons: the lack of enough soil to provide an insulating layer may prove too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter (in areas without snow to provide insulation) for the pocket gopher to tolerate.

Soil type and consistency greatly influence the size and distribution of gophers. Many of the larger types of pocket gopher are generally only found east of the Rocky Mountains where soil tends to be composed mostly of sand and silt. Gophers appear to be "built" for the conditions they reside in and are not inclined to wander or mingle with other gopher genera. As a rule, usually only one species of gopher will be found to reside in a geographical location.

Acknowledgment:


• Case, R. M., 1994. Pocket gophers: Prevention and control of wildlife damage. Department of Forestry, Fisheries
  and Wildlife. University of Nebraska
  
  
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology - Animal Diversity Web
  
  

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Gophers and Gopher Control - Part 3 of 11 - Gopher Geography

This article may be viewed in its entirety on our website Vole control, Mole control, Gopher control: Crittergetteronline Home. Select your desired link from the "Critter Confused" navigation box on the left.

Pocket gophers are found only in the Western Hemisphere ranging from Panama in the south to Alberta in the north.

• Plains pocket gophers (Geomys bursarius) are found in the central plains from Canada south through Texas and Louisiana.
  
• Botta’s pocket gophers (Thomomys bottae) are found in most of the southern half of the western United States
  

• Northern pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides) range throughout most of the states in the northern half of the western United States
  
• Yellow-faced pocket gophers (Pappogeomys castanops) occur form Mexico, along the western edge of Texas, eastern New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, and into the panhandle of Oklahoma.
  

• Southeastern pocket gophers (Geomys pinetis) are found in northern and central Florida, southern Georgia, and southeastern Alabama.
  
• Southern pocket gophers (Thomomys umbrinus) range primarily in Central America, but occur in extreme southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
  
• Desert pocket gophers (Geomys arenarius) occur only in southwestern New Mexico and the extreme western edge of Texas.
  
• Mazama pocket gophers (Thomomys mazama), mountain pocket gophers (Thomomys monticola), and Camas pocket gophers (Thomomys bulbivorus) have more limited distributions in the extreme western United States.
  

Acknowledgment:


• Case, R. M., 1994. Pocket gophers: Prevention and control of wildlife damage. Department of Forestry, Fisheries
  and Wildlife. University of Nebraska
  
  
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology - Animal Diversity Web
  
  

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Gophers and Gopher Control - Part 2 of 11 - ID Your Gopher

This article may be viewed in its entirety on our website Vole control, Mole control, Gopher control: Crittergetteronline Home. Select your desired link from the "Critter Confused" navigation box on the left.

Gophers are often referred to as pocket gophers due to the presence of fur lined pouches found on either side of their mouth. The gopher has the ability to turn these pockets inside out and uses them to carry food. Their small eyes and ears leave them with extremely poor sight and sound attributes and heavy dependence on their sense of touch. The gopher’s whiskers function as a part of this sense of touch; they are very sensitive and aid them in their subterranean travels. The gopher’s bald tail also helps the gopher in its navigation when it moves in reverse. The tail also has the secondary function of helping it to regulate its body temperature.

Gophers range in size from about 5 to 14 inches long with males typically larger than females. Gopher fur is very soft, fine, and can be found in a wide range of colors from black to brown to very nearly white. The wide range in coloration and size is attributed to the gopher’s adaptation to its immediate surroundings and its lack of desire to leave them – The gopher does not travel and tends to live a solitary life.

The United States is home to 13 species of gopher that hail from three genera (the locations where these particular gophers live can be found on our Gopher Geography page. The sketches below display and point out the differences between these three pocket gopher genera.

Thomomys

• Smooth-faced incisors
  
• Small forefeet with small claws
  
• Thomomys talpoides are 6.5 to 10 inches long and typically have yellow-brown fur that is pale on the underside of their body
  
• Thomomys bottae vary in size from 5 to 13.5 inches long and may be found in any color from white to black.
  

Geomys

• Two grooves on each upper incisor
  
• Large forefeet with large claws
  
• Geomys bursarius vary from 7.5 to 14 inches long and color from brown to black
  
• Geomys arenarius 8.5 to 11 inches long and always found with brown fur
  
• Geomys personatus 8.5 to 13 inches long, also always found with brown fur
  
• Geomys pinetis 9 to 13.5 inches long and may have various shades of brown colored fur.
  

Pappogeomys

• Single groove on each upper incisor
  
• Large forefeet with large claws
  
• Typically have yellow fur on face
  
• Vary in length from 5 ½ to 7 ½ inches long
  
• Coloring varies from pale yellow to dark reddish brown
  
• Some hair on back and top of head may be dark tipped
  

Acknowledgment:


• Case, R. M., 1994. Pocket gophers: Prevention and control of wildlife damage. Department of Forestry, Fisheries
  and Wildlife. University of Nebraska
  
  
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology - Animal Diversity Web
  
  

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Gophers and Gopher Control - Part 1 of 11 - The Gopher

This article may be viewed in its entirety on our website Vole control, Mole control, Gopher control: Crittergetteronline Home. Select your desired link from the "Critter Confused" navigation box on the left.

The gopher is often confused with the vole or the mole because of the similarities they share in their burrowing technique, however, all of these creatures leave their own exclusive calling cards that can be used to differentiate between them. The gopher’s calling card can be found in the way the gopher creates its mounds. A gopher mound will typically be found in a fan shape radiating outward from a focal point that is usually readily apparent.

The gopher is a voracious herbivore; it is often the usual culprit when it comes to plant damage and the definite perpetrator when plants disappear. The majority of mole species only cause plant damage when foraging for insects and grubs near the plants roots but will not eat the plant itself. Voles will often stop to "snack" on vegetation found in the creation of their burrow, but foraging for food underground is not their typical practice.

Gophers can be found from sea level up to 12,000 ft, residing in a wide range of soil conditions varying from rocky to loose conglomerate, but will avoid wet, saturated, or heavy clay settings. Depending on soil conditions, a single pocket gopher can dig a burrow system consisting of up to 200 yards of tunnel in a year displacing as much as 2 ¼ tons of soil.

Like moles and voles, gophers do not hibernate, and are active throughout the day.

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