Gopher message

Brief information about the gopher, a representative of the squirrel family, a small rodent and a pest of farmland, is described in this article. The gopher report can be supplemented with interesting facts.

Gopher message

Gopher: description

Depending on what species the animal belongs to, its sizes range from medium to small. The body length is 14-40 cm, and the tail 4 is 25 cm. The front legs are shorter than the hind legs. Interestingly, the 4th finger is slightly longer for the 3rd. The gopher has slightly pubescent, short, small ears that protrude slightly from the fur.

The body of the animal is covered with a fairly dense hair. In the summer, it becomes shorter, less and coarser, and in winter the fur becomes dense and long. The color of the animal is not uniform and prone to diversity. The fur is darker above the body, and grayish yellow below. On the back there may be spots of a whitish or yellowish tone. There are gophers with a dark color, less often with gray-brown and reddish color of fur. Their distinguishing feature is the white lines on the sides of the body, which are limited to dark ends.

Where does the gopher live?

They can be met in the Northern Hemisphere.

The animal lives in holes that he himself digs. Branching, arrangement and length of dwellings differ depending on the species of the animal, the geographical features of their location. They can be more than 3 m deep and 15 m long. Mostly gophers dig holes in sandy soils, as it is harder to dig on clay soils.

These animals live in colonies, equip nesting and pantry chambers covered with dry vegetation. A couple of gophers always stand on the guard of safety: when they feel threatened or see the enemy, they immediately hide in a hole and warn their relatives about the danger by whistling.

What does the ground squirrel eat?

The diet of the animal is composed of ground and underground parts of grasses growing near their housing. Some species also eat animal food - insects. It is typical for them to stock up food for the winter in their pantries. Typically, these are cereals and grass seeds.

How many gophers live?

In the natural habitat, the animal lives up to 3 years, and if it is domesticated, it can live up to 8 years.

Gopher breeding

The mating season begins in gophers after they woke up after a long winter. It lasts 11 days, after which 29 days later the females are born in the female. In one litter there can be from 3 to 16 babies.

Gopher: interesting facts

• They like to sit in a column.
• They have poor eyesight.
• Like humans, ground squirrels have lacrimal glands. They wash their face with tears from dust and dirt.
• On the tip of the tail near the animal there are special sensitive endings that allow them to navigate in the underground passages of their holes.
• They are not afraid even of poisonous snakes, especially when it comes to protecting young ones.
• They eat 2 times a day: early in the morning and late in the evening, stuffing their cheeks to the dump with food.

We hope that the message about the ground squirrel 4 class helped you. And you can supplement the report about the gopher through the comment form below.