Pocket gophers are common and destructive rodents found throughout the agricultural zones of the Prairies. Pocket gophers, commonly called moles, are burrowing rodents that feed on the roots of vegetation. Pocket gophers are greyish-brown in color with short legs and stout bodies. Their bodies are 12 to 15 cm long with a 6 cm nearly naked tail. They have large claws on the front feet and chisel-like front teeth, both ideal for digging and gnawing.
Pocket gophers have small eyes set far apart and their ears are almost absent.
Their lips close behind the teeth, allowing them to cut roots or dig burrows without getting soil in their mouth. They get their name from the fur-lined cheek pouches they use to carry food and nesting material. Each pocket gopher has its own extensive burrow system containing tunnels, a nest and a food storage area. A single pocket gopher burrow system may include as much as 240 metres of tunnels that are 6 to 12 cm in diameter. The feeding tunnels are generally 10 to 20 cm below the surface but nesting and food storage areas may extend 2.5 metres below the surface.