Around Pennsylvania
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 Pennsylvania
Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.
Gophers in Pennsylvania: 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 Pennsylvania: what the public record shows
Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which gophers actually live in Pennsylvania, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.
None
Pocket gophers in Pennsylvania
The Game Commission's current list of 66 wild mammals in Pennsylvania contains no pocket gopher of any species; the only tunneling insectivores listed are the eastern, hairy-tailed and star-nosed moles.
Pennsylvania Game Commission3 mole species: eastern, hairy-tailed and star-nosed
What is actually digging
Deep runways sit 12 to 18 inches down; shallow feeding tunnels are 1.25 to 1.5 inches across and raise the turf.
Penn State ExtensionMolehills are circular mounds of dirt surrounding a vertical shaft
Molehills versus gopher mounds
A fan-shaped or crescent mound with a plugged side hole would indicate a gopher, and that does not occur in Pennsylvania.
Penn State ExtensionWhen gophers are busiest in Pennsylvania
Mole activity in Pennsylvania runs year-round, heaviest in moist spring and fall soil.
No pocket gophers occur in Pennsylvania. Gopher-branded baits and probes sold nationally have no target here.
Rules that apply in Pennsylvania
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: Pennsylvania Game Commission; Penn State Extension; Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management; UC IPM (University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources). Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources
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Lebanon
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Philadelphia
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Pittsburgh
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Pottstown
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Reading
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Scranton
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State College
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Wilkes-Barre
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Williamsport
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York
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