We do not have gophers in the North-east, where I grew up, and continue to spend most of my time. I have never lived with a gopher infested lawn or garden patch, so I know gophers only by reputation. We did have woodchucks, lots of woodchucks, which look to me to be giant gophers, where I grew up in up-state New York, but they are more of a problem in pastures than in lawns and gardens. According to the range maps, I might have seen gophers in New Mexico in the 12 years I lived there, but I can not honestly say I remember seeing any. New Mexico favors Prairie Dogs.

So I could really enjoy my first close encounters with Pocket Gophers on this last trip to San Diego. I saw them first at Famosa Slough right in town, but this specimen is from Mission Trails Park, near Old Mission Dam. He was busy pushing dirt around and let me approach close enough for portraits.

They have, I find in a little research this morning, a reputation for being mean-tempered and likely to bite most anything or anyone that puts them in a corner, but here in their natural habitat with nothing to threaten them, I think they look sort of cute.

Canon SX50HS. Program with iContrast and Auto Shadow Fill. –1/3EV exposure compensation. 1800mm equivalent field of view (1200mm optical zoom plus 1.5x Digital Tel-converter). f6.5 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 400. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.