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The smooth-toothed pocket gophers, ... Size varies among species, but commonly ranges from the size of a smaller mole to a larger rat. ... they create tunnels through ...
Botta's pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae) is a pocket gopher native to western North America. It is also known in some areas as valley pocket gopher , particularly in California. Both the specific and common names of this species honor Paul-Émile Botta , a naturalist and archaeologist who collected mammals in California in 1827 and 1828.
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.
Tunnel systems constructed by the camas pocket gopher can be complex, with some tunnels exceeding 240 m (260 yd) in length. About 90 mm (3.5 in) in diameter, the tunnels are up to 0.91 m (3.0 ft) deep. [ 10 ]
Pocket gophers are solitary outside of the breeding season, aggressively maintaining territories that vary in size depending on the resources available. Males and females may share some burrows and nesting chambers if their territories border each other, but in general, each pocket gopher inhabits its own individual tunnel system.
Heterogeomys are a small genus of rodents commonly known as pocket gophers, though the term applies to all genera within the family Geomyidae. [1] The name pocket gopher was earned for this family because of their fur lined cheek pouches that can be used for carrying food. These pouches can also be turned inside out.
Biologists estimate that one pocket gopher can move the equivalent of a ton of soil per year, which helped bring beneficial bacteria and fungi that survived the eruption closer to the surface.
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. [2]