Botta's pocket gopher

Mountain Gopher

The mountain gopher ( Thomomys bottae ) is a living in western North America rodent species from the family of pocket gophers ( Geomyidae ). She lives mainly underground and feed on plant parts, which she eats mainly underground. Have been described numerous species.

Features

Mountain pocket gophers are compact, with a large head, short legs and powerful claws. The animals have a head-body length of 177-267 mm and a tail length of 48-85 mm. The coat is of medium length. The coat color of the top is very variable depending on the distribution and often served to delineate species. In some populations the coat color also changes seasonally.

Distribution and habitat

The mountain gopher lives in the western part of the United States, and northern Mexico. It comes from the south of the State of Oregon to Baja California, east to and including the central Great Basin and south to the plains of northern Mexico before. In the U.S., the area of ​​the type includes the states of Arizona, California, Colorado and Nevada ( there possibly extinct), New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Utah. In Mexico, the states of Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sinaloa and Zacatecas are part of the distribution area.

The species inhabited different habitats such as open grassland, prairie, deciduous and coniferous forests and desert-like areas. In these areas it is found in open areas with deep soils, it also occurs in agricultural areas.

Way of life

Mountain pocket gophers live mainly underground and outside the breeding season territorial loners. Males have larger territories than females. The animals are diurnal and nocturnal, the main activity time is in the afternoon and early evening.

The animals dig with large incisors, the loose soil is being cleared with the head or the front legs. The construction of a mountain gopher is usually from one or more piles of dirt, which consist of the costs incurred while digging material, shallow tunnels beneath the earth's surface, which are used for foraging and deeper areas in which reside the animals permanently. Here are storage and living chambers. The foraging tunnels running parallel to the soil surface.

Nutrition

The mountain gopher feeds on a wide range of underground and above- ground parts of plants such as roots, tubers, bulbs, grasses, leaves to cacti in winter bark. In agricultural areas, the animals also eat crops.

Reproduction

Pocket gophers throw in areas with a good supply of food throughout the year and up to four times a year, in the northern part of its range and at higher altitudes the breeding season is limited to the spring. The gestation period is about 18 days. The litters comprise 1 to 12 pups. Females can already throw in the first year of her birth in food ecologically favorable areas.

Threat and protection

The species is classified ( Least concern ) as a " threatened " by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( IUCN) due to the large distribution area and population size. It is also adaptable and occurs in different habitats, a decrease in inventories and a greater threat to the species are not known.

In agricultural areas, the mountain - Gopher is viewed as a pest.