Pocket gophers are rodents, medium to small in size, which burrow, spending 99% of their lifespan in underground tunnels and nests. Gophers have external fur-lined cheek pouches located on the outside of their mouths in which they store food which is brought to the nest in order to feed their young. There are many different species of pocket gophers in North America. They are powerful diggers, have front paws with large claws which make them the enemy of many home owners with well manicured lawns. The pocket gopher is well suited for digging holes and tunnels because the generally live underground, and when over populated, pocket gophers become difficult to control.
Pocket gophers eat roots of grass, forbs, shrubs, and even someitmes small trees. Gophers are very destructive for tree plantations. In fact, each year the Forestry Service contracts pest control professionals to manage pocket gophers in order to safeguard new tree seedlings. These animals are herbivores, loving to eat all manner of plants in yards, lawns, gardens, and flowerbeds. The burrow systems they dig ave many different braches and individual gophers tend to be quite territorial. During studies in California, where radio collars were placed on gophers, some gophers were tracked moving 200-300 ft per night. Just one gopher might dig up to 250 mounds per year, moving almost 4 tons of soil within a few weeks. Burrows constalty change and evolve, with some tunnels sealed off and new ones created. How many sizable tunnels and burrows are created? No one can really say but gophers cause serious damage for property owners.
Pocket gophers work year round, during the winter, the summer, even during heavy snow fall. In alfalfa fields, gophers are often watched feeding above ground. Generally, gophers cruise along their tunnel systems and eat roots from plants growing directly above the tunnels. An simple way to figure out if a pocket gopher occupies a tunnel system is to simply dig open the tunnel. If gophers are active then they will fill in that hole, in this case, you have gophers.
Gophers are one of the most difficult to manage in the U.S. EPA approved traps and baits are for the most part used to deal with gopher infestations and their impact on the environment. Some baits include active ingredients like strychnine, diphacinone, chlorophacinone, and zinc phosphide. {Tablets and cartridges containing fumigants are good ways to handle a gopher infestation}. But, due to the length of the tunnel system, fumigants might not be as effective.
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