The southeastern pocket gopher (''Geomys pinetis'') is a species of

pocket gopher Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They are ...

that is native to the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

. It occurs in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where it is the only pocket gopher.

Description

The southeastern pocket gopher is rather smaller than the

plains pocket gopher 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 ...

(''Geomys bursarius''), with a total length of including a tail of about . Males are larger than females and average in weight while the females average . The dorsal fur is cinnamon brown with the underparts rather paler and tinged with buff or reddish-yellow. The feet and tail are white or pale buff. As with other members of this family, the external

cheek pouch Cheek pouches are pockets on both sides of the head of some mammals between the jaw and the cheek. They can be found on mammals including the platypus, some rodents, and most monkeys, as well as the marsupial koala. The cheek pouches of chipmunks ...

es can be turned inside-out for grooming purposes. It is well adapted for living underground with large, protruding

incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...

teeth, used for tearing at roots, and powerful claws on the forefeet for digging.

Distribution and habitat

This gopher is restricted to the southeastern part of the United States, where it occurs in

and

. It occupies several different dry, sandy habitats; it occurs in sand-hill country with

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

(''Pinus palustris'') and

turkey oak Turkey oak is a common name for several species of oaks and may refer to: *''Quercus cerris'', native to southeastern Europe and Asia Minor *''Quercus laevis ''Quercus laevis'', the turkey oak, is a member of the red oak group of oaks. It is n ...

(''Quercus laevis''), and it also occurs in slightly moister

hammocks A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a wove ...

(low mounds) among the sand-hills with ''

Quercus virginiana ''Quercus virginiana'', also known as the southern live oak, is an evergreen oak tree endemic to the Southeastern United States. Though many other species are loosely called live oak, the southern live oak is particularly iconic of the Old Sou ...

'' and other hardwood trees. Away from the sand dunes, it occurs in longleaf pine woodland and scrubby

sand pine ''Pinus clausa'' is a species of pine endemic to the Southeastern United States. Its common names include sand pine, Florida spruce pine, Alabama pine, and scrub pine. Distribution The tree is found in two separate locations, one across central ...

(''Pinus clausa'') habitats. Its presence in any area is obvious because of the numerous piles of sandy soil it pushes to the surface.

Ecology

''G. pinetis'' is a solitary animal and creates shallow tunnels above which are a series of mounds of excavated material. The soil is pushed upwards by the front limbs and chest and creates a fan-shaped mound with the tunnel at one side. The burrow entrance is immediately blocked with soil. These shallow tunnels are connected to a deeper tunnel system by a spiral "staircase". Down below are the food chambers and a nest chamber which may contain dried vegetation and plant fibres. Breeding takes place in spring and summer, peaking around February/March and June/July. The gestation period is about four weeks and the average litter size is two. Despite this low level of fecundity, the southeastern pocket gopher is a common animal, implying that there is good survivability of the offspring. The presence of green forage in the diet and the fact that

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s sometimes feed on them show that the gophers do emerge above ground sometimes. However, predators underground are few, the chief dangers being

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

s and

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender b ...

s. The southeastern pocket gopher is active throughout the year. It feeds on roots and rhizomes below ground, and on green plants such as grasses, sedges and weeds which it can reach from near the entrance to the burrow. Large quantities of vegetation are gathered and carried back to store chambers in the burrow. Because its burrows promote plant growth, a case can be made that they are farmers. A number of

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...

s share the burrows with the gophers, including about fourteen species that are found nowhere else. The gophers are attracted to cultivated land, particularly sweet potato crops, and can also be a pest in

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

and

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

crops, and sugarcane plantations.

Description

Distribution and habitat

Ecology

References

Further reading