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The pocket gophers are considered to be medium to small in size in the order Rodentia. Baird's pocket gopher has a cylinder shaped body with most of its weight carried near its head. The zygomatic arch is shorter than the width of the mouth, meaning the dorsal of the animal exceeds the jugal bone. The neck is a little thinner but the heaviest ...
A long-term controlled study of tunnel excavation by plains pocket gophers found that the rate of tunnel construction ranges from a high of 2,059 cm/week of new tunnels to a low of none over several weeks during the summer. About 30 to 50 m (98 to 164 ft) of tunnels were open at any one time.
Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. [2] The roughly 41 species [ 3 ] are all endemic to North and Central America. [ 4 ] They are commonly known for their extensive tunneling activities and their ability to destroy farms and gardens.
Northern pocket gophers rarely appear above ground; when they do, they rarely venture more than 2.5 feet (0.76 m) from a burrow entrance. Underground, however, they often have tunnels that extend hundreds of feet where they live, store food, and give birth to their young.
They will live and roam between 0.008 and 0.012 hectares, with tunnel systems anywhere from 200-2,000 square feet. [3] These gophers prefer there to be vegetation above their tunnels and cause heaps of dirt to rise where they surface. [4] In summer, the gophers tunnel where the groundwater supply is about 4.3 feet below the surface.
The southeastern pocket gopher is rather smaller than the plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius), with a total length of 260 mm (10.2 in) including a tail of about 86 mm (3.4 in). Males are larger than females and average 176 g (6.2 oz) in weight while the females average 136 g (4.8 oz).
Desert pocket gophers prefer areas of well-traveled, loose soil, or sandy riverbanks; places that are easy to tunnel into and make a burrow. [2] They are commonly found near open water like rivers, ponds, or irrigation canals. The areas they inhabit are usually skirted by rocky plains or desert. [2]
[3] [5] [6] This pocket gopher is well adapted to burrowing, which is evident in the characteristic stocky build, fusiform shape, powerful jaws and incisors, large powerful forelimbs, and reduced hind limbs and hips often observed in this species. [4] The diet of this species includes roots of xerophytic shrubs, grasses, and forbs. [3]