Pocket gophers were once the bane of farmers in Iowa.  Their large mounds of soil marred perfectly planted fields of alfalfa and made the haying process bumpy and uncomfortable.  Back when much of Iowa's agriculture consisted of a patchwork of hayfields, pastures, and croplands, gophers were a commonly persecuted "varmint".  Today, we don't see much evidence of gophers, mostly because Iowa's agriculture is dominated by large monocultures of corn and soybeans that don't provide habitat for gophers.  

Formerly a common species found throughout the state, pocket gopher populations today are found in scattered, isolated patches of habitat like some of our few native prairie remnants and Wildlife Areas. 

The Plains Pocket Gopher (Geomys bursarius) is the only species of gopher found in Iowa and are unlike any other mammal found here.  Well designed for a subterranean lifestyle, gophers have small eyes and ears, but a well developed sense of smell and rapacious front claws used for digging.  Gophers have large, fast growing front incisors that are used for eating tough roots as well as digging.  Their namesake "pockets" are large, fur-lined cheek pouches that are stuffed with plant materials when feeding.  

Pocket Gophers eat a wide variety of plant materials including grasses, forbs, seeds, and roots.  They can be found in nearly any soil type, but thrive in sandy, loamy soils.  They avoid saturated soils and do best in grasslands as tree roots inhibit digging.  As you can imagine, gophers are fantastic diggers.  Burrows over 380 feet long have been recorded!  Their burrow systems are quite extensive with shallow foraging burrows connecting with deeper nesting and food storage burrows all with a just a few mounds of soil on the surface to suggest what lurks below! 

Gophers are loners except for spring breeding season after which females have litters of 1-5 young in deep nest burrows.  Many animals use gopher burrows and mounds for habitat while some plants thrive by taking advantage of the soil disturbance.  Other than badgers, few predators can access gophers while in their burrows, however one Iowa snake, the Bullsnake or Gopher Snake, commonly preys on gophers!    

Pocket gophers are an example of a once common Iowa species that isn't common anymore.  Hopefully most people will tolerate pocket gophers as they are an important part of grassland communities by providing habitat for many wildlife and plant species as well as improving soil health by improving soil mixing, water infiltration, and aeration.  

We would like to know where gophers are still found in Iowa!  If you have recently seen gopher mounds, please let us know where you found them by emailing the locality information to:

paul.frese@dnr.iowa.gov

Please put Gopher in the message subject line.  

Thank you very much!