How big does a Baird’s pocket gopher get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Baird’s pocket gopher (Geomys breviceps) reaches an average size of 15 cm (0′ 6″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 136 grams (0.3 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Baird’s pocket gophers have 2 babies about 1 times per year. The Baird’s pocket gopher (genus: Geomys) is a member of the family Geomyidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
Baird’s pocket gopher or the Louisiana pocket gopher (Geomys breviceps) is a species of pocket gopher that is native to the southern United States. In total, there are three almost identical species of eastern pocket gopher; Geomys attwateri, G. bursarius, and G. breviceps. G. breviceps is larger in size, G. attwateri is medium-sized and G. bursarius is a bit smaller. Other than by size variation they are not identifiable by external features. Baird’s pocket gophers are small rodents with most of their weight on the top half of their bodies.Baird’s pocket gopher is native to eastern Texas, western Louisiana, eastern Oklahoma and southwestern Arkansas. It is a burrowing creature, meaning it digs tunnels and generally lives underground, except during the rainy seasons. It has sharp, long, curved front claws designed specifically for digging. Generally, it is safe from predators since it lives underground, though other burrowing rodents such as badgers and long tailed weasels may pose a threat. Baird’s pocket gopher has bacteria in its digestive system, allowing it to digest various grasses and it is able to re-ingest fecal pellets. It is polygamous and has a high reproductive rate, which is one of the main reasons for its survival. On average, Baird’s pocket gopher has two to three babies per litter. It lives about 1 to 2 years in the wild.
Animals of the same family as a Baird’s pocket gopher
We found other animals of the Geomyidae family:
- Variable pocket gopher with a weight of 615 grams
- Yellow-faced pocket gopher with a size of 19.2 cm (0′ 8″)
- Merriam’s pocket gopher with 1 babies per litter
- Smoky pocket gopher with a size of 19.2 cm (0′ 8″)
- Smoky pocket gopher with a size of 21.4 cm (0′ 9″)
- Smoky pocket gopher with a weight of 150 grams
- Smoky pocket gopher with a weight of 150 grams
- Knox Jones’s pocket gopher with a size of 15.4 cm (0′ 7″)
- Desert pocket gopher with a size of 17.2 cm (0′ 7″)
- Chiriqui pocket gopher with a weight of 650 grams
Animals with the same size as a Baird’s pocket gopher
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Baird’s pocket gopher:
- Black-tailed mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 13.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- Asian garden dormouse with a size of 13.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- Cerradomys subflavus with a size of 16 cm (0′ 7″)
- Silky anteater with a size of 17.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Sulawesi stripe-faced fruit bat with a size of 16.5 cm (0′ 7″)
- Edible dormouse with a size of 16.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Big-eared kangaroo rat with a size of 12.7 cm (0′ 5″)
- Alpine pika with a size of 17.5 cm (0′ 7″)
- Garden dormouse with a size of 13.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Lesser hamster-rat with a size of 14.9 cm (0′ 6″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Baird’s pocket gopher
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Baird’s pocket gopher:
- Dobson’s shrew tenrec
- Island fox
- Southern brown bandicoot
- Desert woodrat
- Black-shouldered opossum
- Highland tuco-tuco
- Cape fox
- Serval
- Dark-footed mouse shrew
- Slender rat
Animals with the same weight as a Baird’s pocket gopher
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Geomys breviceps:
- Black-tailed gerbil bringing 123 grams to the scale
- European water vole bringing 120 grams to the scale
- Giant roundleaf bat bringing 115 grams to the scale
- Botta’s pocket gopher bringing 123 grams to the scale
- White-eared cotton rat bringing 132 grams to the scale
- Stephen’s woodrat bringing 149 grams to the scale
- Lesser hedgehog tenrec bringing 160 grams to the scale
- Common treeshrew bringing 132 grams to the scale
- Short-furred dasyure bringing 161 grams to the scale
- Northern flying squirrel bringing 138 grams to the scale