Because last month’s featured animal was the gopher snake, equal
time is demanded for the Botta’s Pocket Gopher.
Because last month’s featured animal was the gopher snake, equal time is demanded for the Botta’s Pocket Gopher. True, this little critter can cause considerable damage to lovely spring flower gardens and may eat a farmer’s carefully tended organic crops. The gophers chew through water lines and sprinkler systems. Their tunnels cause soil erosion and unsightly mounds in meticulously manicured lawns. And they do this all day, all year long, with no time off for hibernation.
With such a litany of offenses, it may take some creative thinking to find its good points, but the rodent can indeed be beneficial to our environment, serving as a tasty and nutritious survival meal for a multitude of native wildlife. Barn owls, hawks, snakes, bobcats, badgers, weasels, foxes, raccoons and coyotes are some of the wild animals that hunt the rodents. Pet and feral cats, too, are a prime predator, helping to keep the gopher population in check. Consequently, poison as a method of managing a rodent problem can result in the death of a multitude of other wild and domestic animals. Using safer methods of control will ensure the integrity of the “circle of life.”
The pocket gopher is a rather fascinating animal, once you look past its destructive tendencies. It gets its name from the cheek pouches that are used to carry food and nesting materials. The 7- to 9-inch long animal has strong forequarters and large-clawed front paws – perfect for digging and tunneling the burrows that can be as long as 6 feet below ground and can cover an area of up to 2,000 square feet. Because their eyes and ears are very small, they have extraordinarily sensitive whiskers that help them move through their dark tunnels.
WERC doesn’t admit rodents to its center – but because of unusual circumstances, it has rehabilitated two injured pocket gophers as educational ambassadors, which are special, nonreleasable animals that help to educate the public on the importance of our local native wildlife.
WERC’s first gopher was Pockets, who had an ear ripped off and her head grievously wounded from the talons of a hawk that attempted to carry her off. To add insult to injury, after the hawk dropped her, a cat picked her up and carried her home. Because her injuries prevented her from eating properly, her teeth had grossly curved and overgrown and needed much filing. Once Pockets had recovered, she was able to keep her teeth at the proper length by gnawing on a variety of “chew toys” in her enclosure, including PVC pipe. In the 6 years she lived at WERC, she delighted thousands of schoolchildren and adults as they watched her burrow in the enclosure and kick up mounds.
In February, a local family was proudly presented a gopher gift by their cat. Because Pockets had recently passed away, and since this new gopher had only superficial wounds and was a youngster, WERC determined that it would make an excellent animal to join its educational team. Named Patches for the new fur growing out on its old wounds, it will be given a complete physical examination by the veterinarian to certify its good health and determine whether it’s male or female. How do you examine a gopher? Very carefully!
WERC, the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, provides the community with rehabilitation services for orphaned, injured and sick native wildlife. Through its educational programs, WERC encourages a peaceful coexistence between civilization and our native wildlife. WERC does not receive operating funds from any government agency to care for wildlife and is not allowed to charge a fee for this service. It is supported solely by donations from businesses and the public. To contact WERC, call (408) 779-9372 or visit www.werc-ca.org.
