Pocket Gophers

Identifying Pocket Gophers

• Four to twelve inches in length.
• Yellowish-brown to black fur on top; the underside is often a lighter shade, almost white in color.
• Large front claws and large incisors, both used for digging.
• Short tail and small, nearly naked ears.
• Often noticed by their fan-shaped soil mounds that lead to the burrow system, generally four to eighteen inches below ground. They are usually three inches in diameter but can vary with the size of the gopher.
• Eat roots, plants and other vegetation they encounter while digging or pull into their tunnels from below. Alfalfa is one of the most nutritious foods for pocket gophers.
• Gophers are active throughout the day.
• Reproduction begins the spring after birth with a one-month gestation period.
• Typically one litter per year with two to six young; occasionally two litters per year have been noted in the South.