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Arizona Cooperative Extension Home
: Counties: Yavapai County Home: Horticulture: Pocket Gopher Pages |
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 Pocket Gopher Biology  
IntroductionPocket gophers are probably the most common vertebrate garden pest encountered by Arizona gardeners. Of the three species of pocket gophers found in Arizona, the Valley Pocket Gopher is most common. To be sure you are dealing with a pocket gopher, look for a fan-shaped mound of loose soil that has a smaller plug of loose soil in the center or to one side within the main mound. If you do not see this characteristic mound, then you may have another pest such as a rock squirrel or vole. Description Pocket gophers live their entire lives in the soil, leaving only to occasionally feed above ground, to travel to a new area, or to get around an obstacle. They usually are five to seven inches long (without the tail), have pale to dark brown fur, wide headed, have enlarged front feet (the better dig with), have long upper and lower front teeth (the better to eat roots with), and a short tail with tactile hairs to allow them to feel their way when traveling in reverse. Pocket gophers are named for their fur-lined pouches outside of the mouth, one on each side of the face. These pockets are capable of being turned inside out and used for carrying food and moving soil. 
ReproductionPocket gophers have one or two litters per year. These consist of between one and ten (usually three or four) offspring per litter. Their burrows are between 4-18 inched deep, may be linear or branched, and usually have deeper side branches that serve as nests or food caches. The previously described characteristic mounds are at the ends of tunnel branches and each gopher can push up one to three mounds per day. The mounds give an indication of areas with the greatest feeding or nesting activity. Feeding Feeding occurs in three ways: 1) feeding on roots they encounter while digging; 2) surface feeding a body length or so from their tunnel opening; and 3) pulling vegetation into the tunnel from below. Their diet can include herbs, grasses, bulbs, shrubs, and trees. Alfalfa and dandelions are preferred foods, although other tap-rooted weeds can attract gophers. Property Damage Aside from consumption of landscape plants and creating mounds of soil, pocket gophers can destroy property in urban landscapes. They chew through wiring, PVC irrigation pipe and conduit, and disrupt irrigation effectiveness by inadvertently channeling water underground away from target areas. Pocket gophers are not protected by Arizona law thus no permit is required to control them. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences , in Tucson, Arizona. |
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