The Idaho pocket gopher carries the state’s name for good reason: Idaho anchors its core range, and the 67 records mapped here near the Deer Flat and Camas national wildlife refuges and the Snake River corridor represent a real share of everywhere this species is documented. Its overall range barely extends beyond Idaho and neighboring Montana and Utah.
Reports climb through early summer and peak in July, with 33 of the 67 records, before dropping off by fall. Pocket gophers rarely leave their tunnels, so that midsummer bump almost certainly tracks when fresh mounds are easiest to spot on softened soil, not a burst of activity above ground.
NatureServe ranks the species S4, Apparently Secure, in Idaho, and it’s native throughout its mapped range here. Given how narrow this gopher’s total range is, Idaho’s record count carries more weight than a similar number would for a widespread species.
Full species profile
