How Gophers Change the Landscape

The gopher (Thomomys spp.) is a member of the rodent family, which also includes squirrels, chipmunks, voles and moles. It lives out its life primarily below the soil in complex structures composed of interconnecting tunnels and dens that serve different purposes. Gopher activity changes the landscape in several ways, not the least of which is the creation of holes and mounds often found in the least desirable of places.

The most common species of gopher is the pocket gopher, so named for the pouches located in its cheeks, used for carrying food and materials used for nest-building. Most measure 6 to 10 inches long and have grayish-brown to brown fur that does not clump in wet soil, and powerful front legs and equipped with large claws. Gophers have small ears and eyes and sensitive facial whiskers that help them move through their dark tunnels. A gopher's lips fold back behind its four large sharp teeth to keep soil out of its mouth while burrowing.

One of the primary ways that gophers impact the landscape is by the mounds they create while tunneling and the holes they open along their network of tunnels. The entrance and exit mounds are crescent-shaped if viewed from above, and one gopher can construct several in one day. As the gopher penetrates the soil, it carries dirt back to the opening of the hole and deposits it to one side. A single gopher can create a system encompassing up to 450 feet of tunnels in a very short time.

As a gopher burrows, it eats whatever roots, bulbs or fleshy stems it finds along the way, killing the plants in the process. A gopher eats primarily what it finds below the soil, but it sometimes eats plants growing very close to a tunnel opening and that it drags down into the burrow. Called a feed hole, this opening lacks the characteristic dirt mound seen near other holes. In this manner, gophers are capable of destroying lawns, flower and vegetable and gardens and ornamental shrubs and trees.

Gopher impact is evaluated based on where it occurs. On well-manicured lawns, in gardens and on golf courses, the impact is obviously detrimental and not appreciated. In other areas, however, such as on farmlands, gopher activity can actually be a boon to agriculture, as their tunnels help to aerate the soil and trap rainwater that would otherwise cause erosion. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, a single pocket gopher can move about a ton of soil to the surface every year. Tunnels abandoned by the gophers eventually fill up with soil, incorporating all the waste left behind in nests, droppings and food pockets as deep fertilizing materials. Mounds bury plants where they decay and add to the soil's fertility over time.