Gophers do not hibernate and may be active at any hour of the day. Gophers usually live alone within their burrow system, except for females with young or when breeding, and may occur in densities of up to16 to 20 per acre. Gophers reach sexual maturity at about 1 year of age and can live up to 3 years. Litters usually average five to six young. Pocket gophers are herbivores, feeding on a wide variety of vegetation, but generally preferring herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees to grasses.
Gophers use their sense of smell to locate food.
Most commonly they feed on roots and fleshy portions of plants they encounter while digging. However, sometimes they feed aboveground, venturing only a body length or so from their tunnel opening. They are identified by the absence of a dirt mound and a circular band of clipped vegetation around the hole. Gophers will also pull entire plants into their tunnel from below. In snow-covered regions gophers may feed on bark several feet up a tree by burrowing through the snow.