Burrowing animals can wreak all kinds of havoc around your home and yard. The most common pests that create holes and burrows in your yard are gophers, groundhogs, and moles. When you first experience animal holes in your yard, it’s difficult to know which pests are digging up your yard.
Gophers
Adult pocket gophers generally measure between five and 14 inches in length and weigh about a pound. Gophers are built for burrowing and living underground, with long claws on their front feet, small eyes and ears, and sensitive whiskers that help with navigation. Their sparsely furred tails are also highly sensitive and useful for guiding the burrowing rodents through the darkness of subterranean soil.
Moles
The defining features of moles are their massive forefeet, sharp claws (relative to their body), small teeth, small eyes, pointed snouts, and a lack of ears. They typically weigh between 2.5 and 5 ounces and average just over 6 inches in length.
Groundhogs
Groundhogs (also called Woodchucks, or Whistle Pigs, for reasons that this video makes clear) are a large species of rodent found exclusively in North America. Related to squirrels, groundhogs are cat-sized creatures with stocky bodies, small heads, short ears, and strong claws. They are exceptional diggers and create burrowing systems that can go as deep as six feet and have multiple entrances.
Gopher vs Mole vs Groundhog
All three of these critters spend most of their time underground so it makes it difficult to identify them by appearance.
The best way to tell the difference between a groundhog, mole, and gopher are the holes in your yard.
Gopher vs Mole vs Groundhog Holes
Mole Mound (Molehill)
Moles build extensive tunnel systems to find insects and earthworms to eat. Although the critters primarily eat bugs, they may enjoy a meal from your garden or landscape if available.
Mole hills are identified by their circular and conical shape. These hills are typically a foot wide and up to 2 inches tall. In addition to these hills, you may also spot raised tunnel tracks across your lawn.
Groundhog Mound
Groundhogs dig holes 10 to 12 inches in diameter and create an extensive underground system of tunnels that can measure up to 65 feet. The critters can damage underground watering systems and wiring. Plus, the series of holes could lead to human injuries while working in the yard.
Gopher Mound
Gophers create burrows up to 18 inches below ground with a mainline that shoots off multiple branches. As they settle into an area, they can create a tunnel system of up to 600 feet.
You can easily spot gopher activity if you find mounds of dirt 12 to 20 inches in diameter surrounding small holes.
Gopher vs Mole vs Groundhog Damage
Their burrow systems can create extensive damage in your yard, but each animal creates unique problems too.
Mole tunnels tend to cover more area underground than gopher tunnels. Gophers can produce up to 200 mounds in a year, using their claws and forefeet to construct their burrows, manipulating soil with their powerful legs and broad chests.
Gophers and groundhogs generate more damage above ground than moles. While the pests’ food sources are similar, gophers feed on mostly roots and tubers. Even one can quickly mow down an entire garden row, leaving vegetation on the surface intact while destroying plants from below. Since groundhogs spend more time on the surface, they are more likely the cause damage to leaves, bark, or fruits
How to Control Burrowing Pests in Your Yard
Mole control, groundhog control, and gopher control have some similarities. Each pest can be difficult to identify and without proper training pest control for burrowing animals is almost impossible.
It is possible to install exclusion devices around specific parts of your yard and property. In some cases, trying to install a skirt around your entire property might not be feasible.
Call the professionals at Trutech Wildlife Service. We can effectively get rid of the burrowing animals from your yard.
