Texas mammals

Desert Pocket Gopher in Texas

Geomys arenarius

Native to Texas S2 Imperiled in Texas

Not listed as nonindigenous in Texas by USGS NAS; native to its Texas range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

NT – Near Threatened

Close to qualifying as threatened in the near future.

Desert pocket gopherAI-generated image: Desert pocket gopher half-emerged from its burrow in white sand. No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracyAI-generated image: Desert pocket gopher pushing sand at its burrow mouth. No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracy
Photo: National Park Service · Public domainDesert pocket gopherAI-generated image No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracyDesert pocket gopher half-emerged from its burrow in white sandAI-generated image No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracyDesert pocket gopher pushing sand at its burrow mouth

Desert Pocket Gopher in Texas, by the numbers

Rare in Texas 134th most recorded of 197 mammals logged in Texas

193 occurrence records
3 with iNaturalist photos
May 12, 2023 Last seen in Texas

Records from 2000–2026.

193 total records count every Texas occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 145; the monthly chart covers the 145 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Desert Pocket Gopher in Texas

Most sightings fall in March.

145 Texas occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Texas records (table)
MonthRecords
January34
February6
March36
April10
May10
June11
July1
August23
September1
October6
November6
December1

Monthly desert pocket gopher occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Texas, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Texas, with recorded sightings peaking in March, with a smaller rise in August and January.

Occurrence map

Where Desert Pocket Gopher has been recorded in Texas

145 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

145 Texas records mapped

Where it's recorded in Texas

CountyRecords
El Paso County 124
Hudspeth County 19
McCulloch County 2
Other localities 48

The complete county distribution, spread across 3 Texas counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Desert pocket gopher records in Texas cluster in the Trans-Pecos, with Big Bend, the Guadalupe Mountains, and the Davis Mountains carrying the record set, desert and river-valley country with the loose, diggable soil this burrowing rodent needs. Of 193 Texas records, only 3 come from iNaturalist photos, which tracks: pocket gophers spend nearly their entire lives underground and are rarely seen above ground, so almost every record here traces back to trapping surveys rather than casual sightings.

January and March together hold 70 of the 193 records, likely reflecting when field surveys ran rather than any real seasonal surge in gopher activity.

NatureServe ranks it S2, Imperiled, in Texas, and the IUCN lists the species Near Threatened globally, a rare case where both the state and global pictures point to genuine conservation concern rather than just a data gap.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Desert pocket gopher
Full species profile Desert Pocket Gopher Geomys arenarius Size 17.7 cm7 in Weight 186–226 g6.6–8 oz Lifespan Up to 12 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Texas in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries