Around Idaho
Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.
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Local gopher information
Gopher control in Idaho
Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.
Gophers in Idaho: what to know
What to note
Where you see gophers, how long it has been going on, and anything you’ve already tried are the most useful details to mention.
A useful next step
Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to identify the problem yourself before getting in touch.
Local research
Gophers in Idaho: what the public record shows
Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which gophers actually live in Idaho, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.
One of Idaho's most prevalent and destructive vertebrate pests
Pest ranking in Idaho
Extension lists four control routes: excluding gophers from high-value plants, flooding burrows, trapping, and poisoning.
University of Idaho ExtensionPresent and native in Idaho; State Conservation Rank S4, Global G5
Northern pocket gopher status
Regularly occurring year-round across much of Idaho, the state's common gopher.
Idaho Department of Fish and GameA second species, Thomomys idahoensis, present and native; State Conservation Rank S4, Global G4
Idaho pocket gopher
Its range covers parts of central and southern Idaho, so species identification matters before control.
Idaho Department of Fish and GameGopher species recorded in Idaho
- Northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) — Smallest and most widespread western species; all of eastern Washington and Oregon east of the Cascades.
- Townsend's pocket gopher (Thomomys townsendii) — Malheur and Owyhee river valleys in Oregon.
When gophers are busiest in Idaho
Active year-round; irrigated lawns and hay ground keep soil workable through the season.
Idaho Fish and Game ranks both Idaho gopher species as apparently secure, so control is a damage question, not a listing question.
Rules that apply in Idaho
For context, nationally
- 14 species in 3 genera (Thomomys, Geomys, Pappogeomys) — Pocket gopher species in the U.S.. Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management
- 200 to 2,000 square feet — Botta's pocket gopher burrow system. UC IPM (University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources)
Sources: University of Idaho Extension; Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management; UC IPM (University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources); Living with wildlife: Pocket gophers; Pocket gophers. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources
Explore Idaho cities
Boise
Semi-Arid Continental · urban setting
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Caldwell
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Coeur d'Alene
Humid Continental · suburban setting
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Idaho Falls
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Lewiston
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Meridian
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Moscow
Warm Summer Continental · suburban setting
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Nampa
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Pocatello
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Post Falls
Humid Continental · suburban setting
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Rexburg
Warm Summer Continental · rural setting
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Twin Falls
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Jerome
Semi-Arid Continental · rural setting
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