Types of Gophers

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).

The plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius) is one of 35 species of pocket gophers, so named in reference to their externally located, fur-lined cheek pouches. They are burrowing animals, found in grasslands and agricultural land across the Great Plains of North America, from Manitoba to Texas.

The non-venomous constrictors mainly prey upon pocket gophers. — sara sneath, NOLA.com, "Louisiana constrictor snake granted protection under the Endangered Species Act," 6 Apr. 2018 The snakes spend much of their time underground in the burrows of their pocket gopher prey.

The northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) was first discovered by Lewis and Clark on April 9, 1805 at the mouth of the Knife River, North Dakota. These animals are often rich brown or yellowish brown, but also grayish or closely approaching local soil color and have white markings under chin.

These are the "true" gophers, but several ground squirrels in the distantly related family Sciuridae are often called gophers, as well. The origin of the word "gopher" is uncertain. French gaufre, meaning waffle, has been suggested, on account of the gopher's tunnels resembling the honeycomb-like pattern of holes in a waffle.

The smoky pocket gopher (Cratogeomys fumosus) is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae.It is endemic to Mexico ().Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. Molecular phylogenetics has revealed that this species also includes the animals formerly separated as C. gymnurus, C. neglectus, C. tylorhinus and C. zinseri.. Sources

The Mazama (Western) pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama) is the only pocket gopher in most of western Washington—in the Olympic Peninsula and the southern Puget Sound area. Adults measure 8 inches in length, including their 2½-inch tail (see “Mazama Pocket Gopher Conservation”).

The yellow-faced pocket gopher (Cratogeomys castanops) is a species of pocket gopher that is native to shortgrass prairies in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. It is the species that lives north of the Southern Coahuila Filter-Barrier (SCFB).