How many Gophers will on average live in one communitie, or system of tunnels?
November 17th, 2008
Calab B asked:
I’ve killed 5 gophers in my back yard, which is about two achers large, and I’m wondering how many more I could look forward to trapping.
I’ve killed 5 gophers in my back yard, which is about two achers large, and I’m wondering how many more I could look forward to trapping.
The critters normally called gophers in most of North America are not actually gophers. The only ones properly called gophers are the pocket gophers (Family Geomyidae), such as the northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides). These are little fossorial (burrowing) mammals that are usually incorrectly called moles in most of their range, and are one of the best examples of the difficulties of using common names when referring to critters.
Pocket gophers tend to be more or less solitary, but I doubt that you actually have gophers. It is far more likely that you have ground squirrels on your property.
However, to know the average number in a community, it is neccessary to know exactly what kind of ground squirrel you have.
If you have a golden-mantled ground squirrel (Spermophilus lateralis) or a thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) you may have nothing to worry about. If it’s a black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) they can live in colonies of millions of individuals.
However it’s likely that what you have is the Richardson’s ground squirrel (Spermophilus richardsonii), the critter most commonly called a gopher (even though it isn’t). In ideal habitat, Richardson’s ground squirrels can reach a population density of about 20 animals per acre – so you could have as many as 40 squirrels on your property. Although unless you’ve seen large numbers of them, and your yard is riddled with holes, the number is probably smaller.