In Canada an individual Thomomys talpoides was observed swimming across a river 90 meters wide. The burrow systems are often extensive and are usually marked aboveground by a series of mounds of earth, the entrances of which are often closed with dirt. The excavated soil is brought to the surface through an inclined lateral tunnel, instead of a vertical shaft such as those made by moles, and thus the mounds are not conical in shape. Digging is accomplished mainly by the strong foreclaws, but the large upper incisors are used to loosen the soil and rocks and to cut roots. When a considerable amount of loose earth has been accumulated, it is held between the chest and forearms and pushed to the surface.
Pocket gophers can run backward in their burrows almost as fast as they can run forward.
They may arch the tail when traveling backward, so that the inverted tip is almost in contact with the ground. The occupied or abandoned burrows of these rodents are used extensively by other animals for shelter or foraging. Pocket gophers do not hibernate, though they may become quite inactive during winter in the colder parts of their range. They sometimes travel in the snow. When the snows melt in meadows inhabited by pocket gophers, rolls or cores of earth are seen crossing one another.