Washington mammals

Mazama pocket gopher in Washington

Thomomys mazama

Native to Washington S2 Imperiled in Washington

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

IUCN Red List status

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

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Live Yelm pocket gopher (a Mazama pocket gopher subspecies) peering out of its burrow entrance amid grass, South Puget Sound region of WashingtonLive Mazama pocket gopher at its burrow entrance in grass
Photo: USFWS / Z. Radmer · Public domainLive Yelm pocket gopher (a Mazama pocket gopher subspecies) peering out of its burrow entrance amid grass, South Puget Sound region of WashingtonPhoto: USFWS - Pacific Region · Public domainLive Mazama pocket gopher at its burrow entrance in grass

Mazama pocket gopher in Washington, by the numbers

Rare in Washington 105th most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

556 occurrence records
9 with iNaturalist photos
Apr 27, 2026 Last seen in Washington

Records from 2000–2026.

556 total records count every Washington occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300.

When to look for the Mazama pocket gopher in Washington

Most sightings fall in April to May.

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

Monthly Washington records (table)
MonthRecords
January47
February38
March42
April86
May62
June36
July29
August51
September41
October20
November32
December72

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in April–May, with a smaller rise in December.

Occurrence map

Where Mazama pocket gopher has been recorded in Washington

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Washington records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Daniel J. Evans Wilderness Area 26
Olympic-Willapa Hills-South Puget Sound Wildlife Area Complex 1
Mount Rainier National Park 1

Protected places with the most mazama pocket gopher sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Washington

CountyRecords
Thurston County 242
Pierce County 222
Mason County 49
Clallam County 31
Wahkiakum County 11
Walla Walla County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 6 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

In this state overlay, mazama pocket gopher appears in 556 combined occurrence records. A feed comparison finds 9 iNaturalist records against 553 in GBIF, with duplicates reconciled in the combined figure. That evidence yields a Washington atlas rank of 95 out of 126.

The time series rises highest in April (86) and is thinnest in October (20). Suggested locations span Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, but no site-level counts compare them. Observer access, surveys, and archives shape this pattern, so it should not be called abundance.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Live Yelm pocket gopher (a Mazama pocket gopher subspecies) peering out of its burrow entrance amid grass, South Puget Sound region of Washington
Full species profile Mazama pocket gopher Thomomys mazama Size 22.5 cm8.9 in Weight 87–105 g3.1–3.7 oz Lifespan Up to 5 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Washington 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
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"