It is hard to guess what a Baird’s pocket gopher weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Baird’s pocket gopher (Geomys breviceps) on average weights 136 grams (0.3 lbs).
The Baird’s pocket gopher is from the family Geomyidae (genus: Geomys). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 15 cm (0′ 6″). On average, Baird’s pocket gophers can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 2.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
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:
- Mountain pocket gopher with a weight of 81 grams
- Southeastern pocket gopher with a weight of 201 grams
- Plains pocket gopher with a weight of 179 grams
- Merriam’s pocket gopher with a weight of 420 grams
- Michoacan pocket gopher with a weight of 474 grams
- Alcorn’s pocket gopher with a weight of 150 grams
- Camas pocket gopher with a weight of 360 grams
- Underwood’s pocket gopher with a weight of 250 grams
- Desert pocket gopher with a weight of 206 grams
- Yellow-faced pocket gopher with a weight of 266 grams
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:
- Palawan spiny rat bringing 159 grams to the scale
- Philippine tarsier bringing 116 grams to the scale
- Tate’s woolly mouse opossum bringing 112 grams to the scale
- Echigo mole bringing 163 grams to the scale
- San Joaquin antelope squirrel bringing 160 grams to the scale
- Lesser hedgehog tenrec bringing 160 grams to the scale
- Papuan bandicoot bringing 158 grams to the scale
- Hinde’s rock rat bringing 141 grams to the scale
- Gorongoza gerbil bringing 119 grams to the scale
- Woolly giant rat bringing 116 grams to the scale
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:
- Mindanao mountain rat with a size of 12.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Uinta chipmunk with a size of 12.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Luzon striped rat with a size of 17.3 cm (0′ 7″)
- Dusky bushbaby with a size of 16 cm (0′ 7″)
- Steppe pika with a size of 15.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Rajah spiny rat with a size of 16.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Ernst Mayr’s water rat with a size of 12.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Mountain spiny rat with a size of 16.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Southern marsupial mole with a size of 13.4 cm (0′ 6″)
- Whitehead’s spiny rat with a size of 16.7 cm (0′ 7″)
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: