CIRCULAR 



i, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Figure 3. — The Dalles pocket gopher. 



has a ragged appearance. Fur-lined cheek pouches, into which one 



may easily place a thumb, on each side of the jaws, are used for 



carrying food. They extend from immediately back of the incisors 



to just in front of the ears. The dental arrangement is incisors 



1.0 ,1,3 



— molars 

 1. 



grow continuously from the base. 



- canines -^ premolars y molars -^ = 20. As in all rodents, the incisors 



Range 



The range of Dalles pocket gopher in relation to that of other kinds 

 of pocket gophers in Oregon is shown in figure 4. Dalles pocket gopher 

 is relatively common in most of the sagebrush plains and bordering 

 mountain areas of eastern Oregon. Its range extends into northwestern 

 Nevada, northeastern California, and southern Washington. This 

 gopher is most abundant along streams and in valley bottoms, especially 

 on meadowlands where there is some moisture and green vegetation, 

 and is absent from wide stretches of arid uplands. It prefers the more 

 open places and shuns densely forested areas. As the forests are opened 

 up by logging, however, the pocket gophers move into them. 



Burrowing Habits 



The Dalles pocket gopher lives in a burrow made up of underground 

 runways and cavities. Where snow persists burrow systems may be ex- 

 tended above the ground into the snow. Usually each adult gopher has 

 its own burrow system, not connected with those of its neighbors. 



Runways are 2 to 3 inches in diameter and vary up to several hundred 

 feet in length. Main runways are roughly parallel to the ground surface, 



