Camas Pocket Gopher (Thomomys bulbivorus),
Rodent Family

Description

The Camas pocket gopher has a white patch surrounding its bottom two incisors. Pocket gophers are fossorial rodents named for their fur-lined cheek pouches. (A fossorial animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground.)

Habitat and Range

This animal lives in open areas that are dominated by grasses and wildflowers. Out at the arboretum you can see their burrows out in the open meadows, under the large oak trees and in the transition zones along the edge of the forest.

This gopher is endemic to the Willamette Valley.

Diet

Roots, tubers, and the occasional aboveground plant.

References

The National Wildlife Federation (website).

Quick Reference:

Habitat: Oak-savanna areas, farm fields or pastures

Photo Location:
Mt. Pisgah Arboretum
Eugene, OR