Camas pocket gopher

The camas pocket gopher (Thomomys bulbivorus), also known as the camas rat or Willamette Valley gopher, is a <a href="/facts/Rodent/mT4m8QJq">rodent</a>, the largest member in the <a href="/facts/Genus/m8EFjSms">genus</a> <a href="/facts/Thomomys/uozelFGH">Thomomys</a>, of the <a href="/facts/Family_(biology)/qTrn6E8E">family</a> <a href="/facts/Geomyidae/AtX6YVgX">Geomyidae</a>. First described in 1829, it is <a href="/facts/Endemic/xt4IpIsl">endemic</a> to the <a href="/facts/Willamette_Valley/pU7cTNwN">Willamette Valley</a> of northwestern <a href="/facts/Oregon/4Uq446Ko">Oregon</a> in the United States. The <a href="/facts/Herbivore/me4YFdQA">herbivorous</a> <a href="/facts/Gopher/AtX6YVgX">gopher</a> forages for vegetable and plant matter, which it collects in large, fur-lined, external cheek pouches. Surplus food is hoarded in an extensive system of <a href="/facts/Burrow/vgY0GpEH">tunnels</a>. The dull-brown-to-lead-gray <a href="/facts/Coat_(animal)/z08eERp6">coat</a> changes color and texture over the year. The <a href="/facts/Mammal/phSwTzBo">mammal</a>'s characteristically large, protuberant <a href="/facts/Incisor/GSvkE9Tg">incisors</a> are well adapted for use in tunnel construction, particularly in the hard clay soils of the Willamette Valley. The gophers make chattering sounds with their teeth; males and females make purring (or crooning) sounds when they are together, and the young make twittering sounds. Born toothless, blind and hairless, the young grow rapidly before being weaned at about six weeks of age.
Although the camas pocket gopher is fiercely defensive when cornered, it may become tame in captivity. While population trends are generally stable, threats to the species' survival include urbanization, habitat conversion for agricultural use and active <a href="/facts/Pest_control/0ADEUBaF">attempts at eradication</a> with trapping and poisons. It is <a href="/facts/Predation/JEGdrX3f">prey</a> for <a href="/facts/Raptor_(bird)/AAfSeYT3">raptors</a> and <a href="/facts/Carnivore/q6h6aSqe">carnivorous</a> mammals, and <a href="/facts/Host_(biology)/L6mop0kh">host</a> to several parasitic <a href="/facts/Arthropod/JKJLTFzp">arthropods</a> and worms. Scientists believe that the gopher's evolutionary history was disrupted when the <a href="/facts/Missoula_Floods/TVCRbSVM">Missoula Floods</a> washed over the Willamette Valley at the end of the <a href="/facts/Last_glacial_period/mIYwj8e9">last ice age</a>. The floods almost completely inundated its geographic range, which may have caused a <a href="/facts/Genetic_bottleneck/VB5DY1jG">genetic bottleneck</a> as survivors repopulated the region after the waters receded.

Camas pocket gopher open-in-new

Camas pocket gopher