Earth Almanac: March/April 2005

Tunnel Vision

You'll be lucky to see one of these excavators, but early spring is the time to admire the work of pocket gophers—stout, bucktoothed, short-legged, seemingly neckless little rodents named for the external, fur-lined pockets that extend from each side of the face to each shoulder and are used to transport food and nesting material. Thirty-five species of pocket gophers live under open or sparsely wooded habitat, from the Canadian prairies to Panama and from our entire Pacific Coast to South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Before new growth gets started, look for the eskers the gophers leave as they tunnel through moist soil with their long claws and yellow incisors, which protrude beyond closed lips. Pocket gophers have enlarged tear ducts that wash dirt from their tiny eyes, and they feel their way through their burrows with long whiskers and sensitive, nearly hairless tails. If threatened, they can turn a quick somersault and reverse direction or run backward with no significant loss of speed. If you see a plant suddenly vanish into the earth, you're not in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. A pocket gopher has pulled it down for food.