Saturday, May 3, 2014

Gopher Town

There are a few areas around town that could be called a Gopher Town. 
These cute little critters are about the size of squirrels and live in burrows dug into the ground. Its quite a elaborate system, they can shoot down one hole and pop up in another hole. When out of their burrows, they never stray far from a hole to duck into in case of danger.

Snoozing in the sun.



Gophers "bark" warnings to other gophers when they perceive some danger about. This little guy was sounding the alarm when he felt we got a little too close to him.




Caught scratching.

Farmers are not keen to have gophers in the field. Their holes are dangerous to step into. Horses and cows have broken legs  landing in a gopher hole. 
My niece broke her ankle a few years ago when she was out running during school PE. She probably doesn't thing they are as cute as can be!

8 comments:

sandyland said...

fascinating creatures gophers

Gemma Wiseman said...

Such adorable looking creatures. They remind me of a squirrel crossed with a meerkat.

SquirrelQueen said...

They are cute little things. I like the way he barked to his family when he realized you were too close.

Carol Blackburn said...

Such interesting photos. Love the explanations too.

Tamar SB said...

They're so cute!

Kmcblackburn said...

Much cuter than the boat load of squirrels I have running around my 'hood! :). T hanks for linking up to Song-ography!

Ida said...

Oh what a cutie. I know they can be destructive but how can you not say they are cute. The one snoozing in the sun was just adorable.

TheChieftess said...

Farmers, gardeners, and homeowners aren't all that keen on these cute little critters!!! How can such a cute critter cause such damage in a garden/field???