### animal | vertebrate | mammal | rodent | rat:

Pocket gopher
* All pocket gophers use their claws and teeth while digging.
* Most pocket gophers eat vegetation.
* Most pocket gophers feed on crops
  - plants
* Most pocket gophers have necks
  - short necks
* Most pocket gophers occupy habitats
  - rocky habitats
* Most pocket gophers reach maturity
  - survive in climates
* Some pocket gophers consume taproots
  - dig tunnels
* Some pocket gophers have cats
  - different feed habits
* Some pocket gophers occupy hemispheres
  - western hemispheres
  - occur in areas
  - vary in length
* are a major herbivore in many habitats in North America.
* are active day and night all year round
  - throughout the year
  - capable of swimming
  - fossorial and prefer a soil conducive to digging
  - found only in the Western Hemisphere
  - greyish-brown in color with short legs and stout bodies
  - named for their external fur-lined pouches that are used to carry food
  - rodents and have different feeding habits than moles
  - solitary, except during the breeding season
  - the most highly fossorial rodents found in North America
  - typically territorial and solitary
* are very aggressive and they often have scars from fighting with other gophers
  - fond of carob roots, and rabbits and deer graze on the young trees
* attain the highest densities on light-textured soils with good herbage production.
* can cause costly damage to native range, pasture and hay fields
  - run backward in their burrows almost as fast as they can run forward
* dig through the ash and kick original soil to the surface.
* eat a variety of plants including broad-leafed weeds, crop plants, and grasses.
* eat forbs, grasses, shrubs, and even small trees
* feed largely on roots, tubers, and some surface vegetation.
  - primarily on the taproot and often kill plants
* find their food by sense of smell.
* graze the roots of seedlings and young trees.
  - small eyes set far apart and their ears are almost absent
  - stomachs
* invade yards.
* kill plants by eating roots.
* leave soil mounds on the surface of the ground.
* live one to two years and the majority of the population consists of young adults.
* mix and aerate soils and provide habitat and food for other animals.
* prefer above ground portions of vegetation when it is green and succulent
  - alfalfa
* reach sexual maturity in the spring following their birth
* rely on extensive networks of tunnels under the snow.
* spend nearly their entire lives underground.
  - short whiskers and tails to help navigate tunnels
+ Pocket gopher, Behavior: Geomyoid rodents :: Agricultural pests
  * All pocket gophers are burrowers. They are larder hoarders, and their cheek pouches are used for transporting food back to their burrows. Gophers can collect large hoards. Their presence is unambiguously announced by the appearance of mounds of fresh dirt about 20 cm in diameter. These mounds will often appear in vegetable gardens, lawns, or farms, as gophers like moist soil. They also enjoy feeding on vegetables.

### animal | vertebrate | mammal | rodent | rat:

Roof rat
* Most roof rats have ears
  - senses
  - prefer arboreal habitats
  - require water
* Some roof rats live in attics
  - trees
  - prefer fruit
* are destructive to citrus groves, since they live in citrus trees and gnaw on the fruit
  - identifiable by their long tails, which have a scale-like pattern
* are the most common rat encountered in Texas homes
  - opposite, choosing to nest in trees or high places above ground
  - worst rodent pest in the state of Florida and most abundant
* build nests in attics, trees, and overgrown shrubbery or vines.
* dig burrows.
* enter buildings
  - larger ears than Norway rats, and tails longer than their bodies
  - to feed on fruits, nuts, ivy, and pet food commonly found in residential areas
* seek out locations in trees, shrubbery, attics or crawl spaces