Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia/Corbis
Northern Pocket Gopher
Thomomys talpoides rufescens
Subspecies of Pocket Gopher
April 9, 1805, at the mouth of the Knife River, North Dakota.
Color varies greatly: often rich brown or yellowish brown, but also grayish or closely approaching local soil color. White markings under chin.
Usually, good soil in meadows or along streams; most often in mountains, but also in lowlands.
Southern British Columbia to southern Manitoba, and south to northeastern California and northern Nevada, through most of Colorado to isolated portions of northern Arizona and northern New Mexico; east to western Nebraska and through most of North and South Dakota.
The northern pocket gopher seldom appears aboveground; when it does, it rarely ventures more than 2.5 ft (0.75 m) from a burrow entrance.
