Moles and pocket gophers are subterranean mammals often confused, but they have fundamentally different diets that dictate their impact on a landscape. Moles are insectivores, focusing on protein-rich invertebrates found underground. Pocket gophers are herbivores whose dietary focus is exclusively on plant matter, particularly the roots and fleshy parts of vegetation. Understanding this core difference is the first step in identifying the true culprit behind yard and garden damage.
Dietary Habits of Moles
The diet of a common mole is dominated by earthworms, which serve as the primary food source. Moles possess a high metabolism, often requiring them to consume between 70% and 100% of their body weight in food daily to sustain constant tunneling activities. Their sensitive snouts and tactile hairs allow them to efficiently detect earthworms and other prey moving through the soil.
Beyond earthworms, moles actively consume a variety of subterranean arthropods, including grubs, beetle larvae, and ants. These high-protein food items are captured as the mole tunnels through the soil during foraging. Moles utilize specialized saliva containing a toxin to paralyze earthworms, storing them alive in underground caches for later consumption.
Plant consumption is not a significant part of the mole’s diet, and any damage to roots is considered accidental or secondary. When moles tunnel, they may disturb or dislodge plant roots, but they do not consume them. If roots appear chewed, it is likely the result of the mole pursuing an insect larva that was already feeding on the root, rather than the mole eating the plant material itself.
Dietary Habits of Pocket Gophers
Pocket gophers are dedicated herbivores whose entire diet is composed of vegetation, making them a primary concern for gardeners and farmers. Their strong preference is for succulent plant parts, including large taproots, tubers, and bulbs, which offer concentrated energy and moisture. They are named for their fur-lined cheek pouches, which they use to transport forage back to their burrows for storage.
Gophers access their food using several methods, often feeding on roots and tubers entirely from beneath the soil surface. They also forage near burrow entrances, pulling entire plants, such as grasses or garden vegetables, down into their tunnel systems to eat. Pulling an entire plant underground is a clear indication of gopher activity.
The specific plants a gopher consumes can vary seasonally and geographically, but their feeding remains focused on high-calorie, fibrous vegetation. In agricultural settings, crops like alfalfa and other large-rooted forbs are highly preferred, sometimes making up over 90% of a gopher’s diet. Unlike moles, gophers rarely eat invertebrates, dedicating their time to finding and storing plant matter.
Identifying Pests Based on Feeding Evidence
Mole activity is characterized by the presence of raised surface runways, which appear as soft, spongy ridges across a lawn. The mounds created by moles are typically conical or volcano-shaped, formed when the animal pushes soil straight up from a deep tunnel. These mounds rarely show a distinct entry hole.
Gopher activity is identified by fan-shaped or crescent-shaped mounds of dirt. These mounds are created when the gopher pushes excavated soil out of a lateral tunnel, resulting in a mound where the entrance hole is usually plugged with soil and located off to one side. Definitive evidence is the direct damage to plants, where entire roots are severed or plants are completely pulled below the surface.