WESTERN POCKET GOPHER 



piece of sod should be placed over the top of the hole, clear of 

 the trap, to shut out the light. Poisoned baits may also be 

 used to rid gardens of these troublesome rodents. 



Gophers have many enemies and in spite of everlasting 

 vigilance are caught in great numbers by Hawks, Owls, and 

 snakes, as well as by predatory mammals. Since Gophers 

 are active day and night they run the gamut of all preying 

 creatures, and momentary as is the appearance at the entrance 

 of the burrow. Hawks and Owls seem to have no difficulty in 

 catching them. Snakes enter the burrows and are certain of 

 a meal. 



The tail of the Gopher seems to possess an important tactile 

 function and in narrow quarters, where the Gopher can not 

 turn, the tail serves as a feeler when he runs backward. 



One might expect that, since Gophers live underground to 

 such an extent, there would be little variation in the color of 

 the pelage. This is not the case, for the color of Gophers 

 varies as much as that of Chipmunks or other rodents. 

 Pocket Gophers have become distributed in very many dif- 

 ferent environments, practically everywhere where suitable 

 food is to be found, and the color of the pelage varies accord- 

 ingly from black to very light sandy gray. In general, the 

 Pocket Gophers of the humid districts are dark-colored, and 

 those of the deserts pale, as we should expect. There is a 

 variation in size as well, from the very large bidhivorous of the 

 Willamette Valley, where food is abundant, to the very small 

 forms, such as pygmceus, which live under more adverse condi- 

 tions. 



Pocket Gpphers are active summer and winter. A winter 

 pelage, in most forms fairly distinct from that of summer, is 

 assumed and the new coat appears gradually, so that speci- 

 mens may be taken which show both pelages. The replace- 

 ment by the new fur creates a distinct line on the body of the 

 animal, which usually follows a definite order beginning at the 

 nose and head and then moving toward the base of the tail, 

 until finally the pelage is all of one type and the line of differ- 

 entiation disappears. 



Pocket Gophers are prolific and have from four to eight 

 young. The life- history of this group is not very well known, 

 but there is evidence to show that, throughout much 'of the 

 range of Thomomys, there are several litters of young a year. 

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