Mountain Pocket Gopher in Nevada

Thomomys monticola

Native to Nevada

Not listed as nonindigenous in Nevada by USGS NAS; treated as native to its mapped Nevada range.

IUCN Red List status

NE – Not Evaluated

Not yet assessed against IUCN Red List criteria.

Photo: Steve Woodward · CC0Live mountain pocket gopher sitting alert at a burrow entrance amid bare soil and small flowersPhoto: Irene · CC0Live mountain pocket gopher facing the camera at its burrow entrance in bare soil, with low green plants in the foregroundPhoto: August Frisk · CC0Live mountain pocket gopher peering out of a burrow entrance among grass stems and oak leaves on a sunny slope

Photo: Steve Woodward · CC0Live mountain pocket gopher sitting alert at a burrow entrance amid bare soil and small flowersPhoto: Irene · CC0Live mountain pocket gopher facing the camera at its burrow entrance in bare soil, with low green plants in the foregroundPhoto: August Frisk · CC0Live mountain pocket gopher peering out of a burrow entrance among grass stems and oak leaves on a sunny slope

Mountain Pocket Gopher in Nevada, by the numbers

Rare in Nevada 114th most recorded of 142 mammals logged in Nevada

3 occurrence records

3 with iNaturalist photos

May 29, 2021 Last seen in Nevada

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Mountain Pocket Gopher in Nevada

Most sightings fall in October.

3 Nevada occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly Nevada records (table)

Month	Records
January	0
February	0
March	0
April	0
May	1
June	0
July	0
August	0
September	0
October	2
November	0
December	0

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

Seasonality

Sparse observation record in Nevada; presence confirmed but timing of activity not well documented.

Occurrence map

Where Mountain Pocket Gopher has been recorded in Nevada

3 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

3 Nevada records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Toiyabe National Forest	2

Protected places with the most mountain 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 Nevada

County	Records
Washoe County	2
Douglas County	1

The complete county distribution, spread across 2 Nevada counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Nevada has just 3 mountain pocket gopher records from 2000 to 2026, 2 from Washoe County and 1 from Douglas, and 2 of them fall in Toiyabe National Forest. Three records are far too few to show a season or say anything about how many gophers live in the state.

The file combines 3 research-grade iNaturalist records and 3 GBIF records; with the overlap between them removed, that’s 3 distinct records. It’s native to Nevada. Nevada doesn’t specifically list it under the state’s conservation framework, and the IUCN hasn’t evaluated its global risk.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Full species profile Mountain Pocket Gopher Thomomys monticola Size 30.5 cm12 in Weight 80 g2.8 oz Lifespan Up to 5 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Nevada 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
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"