Pocket gophers prefer above ground portions of vegetation when it is green and succulent. Plains pocket gophers prefer succulent forbs in spring and summer but also feed on grasses. Alfalfa is preferred by gophers. Many trees and shrubs are clipped just above ground, especially under snow cover. Biology, Reproduction, and Behavior Pocket gophers construct burrow systems by loosening the soil with their claws and incisors.
Gophers then use their forefeet and chest to push the soil out of the burrow.
The soil is deposited in fan-shaped mounds 12 to 18 inches wide and 4 to 6 inches high. Burrow systems consist of a main tunnel generally 4 to 18 inches below the soil surface and a variable number of lateral burrows extending from the main. Lateral bur-rows end with a soil mound or only a soil plug at the surface. Burrows are about 3 inches in diameter, depending on size of the gopher. A burrow system may be linear to highly branched, may contain 200 yards of tunnels, and may have several mounds.