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Pocket Gophers range in size from about 170 mm (for example, H. cherriei and H. underwoodi) to around 280 mm (such as H. heterodus and H. cavator). [9] Tails can range in length from 80 to 160 mm depending on the species.
Botta's pocket gopher skull and teeth from Elliot 1901. Botta's pocket gopher is a medium-sized gopher, with adults reaching a length of 18 to 27 cm (7.1 to 10.6 in), including a tail of 5 to 6 cm (2.0 to 2.4 in).
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.
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.
Shallow tunnels near roots and other food sources are used for foraging, whereas the deeper tunnels are used as nesting sites and food storage. The average depth of a burrow inhabited by P. bulleri is 19.9 cm, with a mean tunnel diameter of 8.9 cm. [ 7 ]
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.
There are a number of subspecies of the southern pocket gopher and they vary in details of their size, the proportions of their skull and their coloring. Adults are commonly between 200 and 250 mm (8 and 10 in) long, with females being generally smaller than males. The upperparts are cinnamon-brown fading to yellowish-buff on the flanks.