Short-distance Translocation as a Management Option for
Nuisance Maritime Pocket Gophers
Tara P. Hansler, Scott E. Henke, Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso, Jon A. Baskin, and Clay Hilton
Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 16, Issue 4 (2017): 603–613
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22001177 SOUTHEASTERN NATURALIST 1V6o(4l.) :1660,3 N–6o1. 34
Short-distance Translocation as a Management Option for
Nuisance Maritime Pocket Gophers
Tara P. Hansler1, Scott E. Henke2,*, Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso2,
Jon A. Baskin1, and Clay Hilton2
Abstract - Geomys personatus maritimus (Maritime Pocket Gopher) is a genetically distinct
subspecies of pocket gopher that occurs only in deep, sandy soils located in Nueces and
Kleberg counties of southern Texas. The US Fish and Wildlife Service considers it a species
of concern. Pocket gophers are considered a nuisance because they dig burrows and create
mounds in landscaped areas. Lethal control options are not advised because of the Maritime
Pocket Gopher’s rarity status and recent public attitude disfavoring lethal methods. However,
short-distance translocation might be a management option, but research to determine
its viability is lacking. We captured 15 Maritime Pocket Gophers from athletic fields and
commercial properties in Corpus Christi, TX. For all captured gophers, we subcutaneously
or intraperitoneally implanted a radio transmitter, translocated the animals to private property
within 2 km from their capture site, and radio-tracked their movements for ≤4 months
to determine if their behavior and activity differed from 4 control gophers. Subcutaneous
transmitters implanted in the scapular region were lost by 86% of the gophers (n = 12 of
14), while 100% (n = 5) of the gophers retained intraperitoneal-implanted transmitters. Relocated
Maritime Pocket Gophers did not return to their site of origin. Gopher movements
generally were away from their homing lines (i.e., an imaginary line drawn between each
translocated gopher’s capture site and release site), and they did not become successively
closer to their respective sites of capture. Therefore, short-distance translocation has the
potential to be a management option for nuisance gophers.
Introduction
Geomys personatus maritimus Davis (Maritime Pocket Gopher) is a fossorial
rodent endemic to the coastal mainland of Nueces and Kleberg counties of southern
Texas (Davis 1940, Williams 1982). Presently, Maritime Pocket Gophers occur
on Naval Air Station–Corpus Christi property and in highly suburbanized areas of
Corpus Christi and northern Padre Island.
The Maritime Pocket Gopher prefers deep, sandy soils and avoids rocky, silt
loam, and clay soils because of difficulty in excavation (Cortez et al. 2013, 2015;
Kennerly 1958); the occurrence of these soils can create barriers for distributional
expansion. Urbanization and agricultural conversion have greatly fragmented this
already small tract of habitat, and invasion by exotic grasses has interfered with the
gopher’s preferred diet of native grasses (Davis and Schmidly 1994).
1Department of Biological and Health Sciences, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville,
TX 78363. 2Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Department of Animal,
Rangeland, and Wildlife Sciences, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX
78363. *Corresponding author - scott.henke@tamuk.edu.
Manuscript Editor: Michael Conner
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The Maritime Pocket Gopher is considered a subspecies of G. personatus
True (Texas Pocket Gopher); however, recent studies based on mtDNA (Henke
et al. 2014), cytochrome-b studies (Sudman et al. 2006), and nuclear and mtDNA
(Chambers et al. 2009) suggest that the Maritime Pocket Gopher could be a distinct
species. The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Defense have
designated the Maritime Pocket Gopher as a species of concern (Hafner 2000) and
a taxon at risk (NatureServe 2004), respectively.
Pocket gophers are considered a nuisance because they dig burrows and create
mounds in lawns, golf courses, athletic fields, city parks, land surrounding
air-traffic runways, and landscaped properties of local businesses. Kill traps and
poisons were once management options, but public opinion currently disfavors
such practices (Reidinger and Miller 2013). Also, if the Maritime Pocket Gopher
gains recognition as a distinct species, its status will change, they will have legal
protection, and lethal methods for nuisance control will no longer be an alternative.
Short-distance translocation, the transport of an animal to a location near its present
home range (Hardy et al. 2001), may be a useful conservation option for species
occurring in areas of development where human–wildlife conflict is unavoidable
(Brown et al. 2009, Germano and Pearson 2009, Sealy 1997). However, research
is lacking to determine the viability of short-distance translocation for Maritime
Pocket Gophers. To our knowledge, the only attempt at pocket gopher translocation
was employed for Thomomys mazama Merriam (Mazama Pocket Gopher), which
was deemed successful despite significant mortality rates of translocated gophers
(Stinson 2013). The navigational abilities of Maritime Pocket Gophers also are unknown
but assumed to be comparable to other pocket gopher species. For instance,
home range and average daily movements for male Thomomys bottae (Eydoux and
Gervais) (Western Pocket Gopher) were 256 m2 (Howard and Childs 1959) and 113
m (Williams and Baker 1976), respectively. Typically, males travel farther than
females (Williams and Baker 1976). In addition, Thomomys talpoides (Richardson)
(Northern Pocket Gopher) was shown to use magnetic and olfactory cues in
navigation (Cousins 2013). It is unknown if Maritime Pocket Gophers demonstrate
homing ability, which, if they do, would negatively affect the success of translocation
as a nuisance-control option. Therefore, our objective was to determine the
efficacy of short-distance translocation as a non-lethal option to control property
damage caused by Maritime Pocket Gophers.
Field-site Description
We captured Maritime Pocket Gophers in grasslands alongside roads and in
manicured lawns of parks and private property in the Flour Bluff area of Corpus
Christi, Nueces County, TX. The release site was a 16.2-ha residential property
(27°38'33.92''N, 97°19'12.90''W) located in the center of the capture sites (Fig. 1).
Mean capture-site distances from the release site (R) were: northeast (C1) = 421
m, southeast (C2) = 1704 m, southwest (C3) = 452 m, and northwest (C4) = 1588
m (Fig. 1). We selected this study-area configuration to be able to demonstrate that
gophers were truly homing and not potentially moving due to the Earth’s magnetic
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field or by the position of the sun and stars. The area consisted of fine sandy–
loam soil and was mainly a grassland consisting of Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.
(Bermuda Grass), Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walter Kuntze) (Saint Augustine
Figure 1. Location of capture sites (C1–C4) and the release site (R) for short-distance translocated
Maritime Pocket Gophers in the Flour Bluff area of Corpus Christi, Nueces County,
TX, during autumn 2014.
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Grass), Cenchrus ciliaris L. (Buffelgrass), Sorgham halepense (L.) Pers. (Johnson
Grass), Panicum maximum Jacq. (Guinea Grass), and Cenchrus spinifex Cav.
(Coastal Sandbur) with mottes of Quercus virginiana Mill. (Live Oak) interspersed
throughout. The study site borders a 274-ha property owned by the US Navy (NALWaldron
Field).
Methods
We identified active gopher burrows by the presence of newly established
mounds. We set 9 x 9 x 23-cm Sherman live traps upside down in gopher burrows
at the first bifurcation of the tunnel. We placed a moistened layer of soil on the
bottom of each trap and baited the traps with cantaloupe to entice gophers to enter
them. During September 2014, we trapped 15 Maritime Pocket Gophers—10
for relocation and 5 as controls—that ranged in weight from 206 g to 340 g
(Table 1). We captured 3 gophers each from localities southeast and northeast of
Table 1. Demographic data of Maritime Pocket Gophers used in short-distance translocation study
during autumn 2014 in the Flour Bluff area of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, TX. Capture sites for
Martitime Pocket Gophers were in grasslands and manicured lawns located northeast (C1), southeast
(C2), southwest (C3), and northwest (C4) of the release (R) site. Control gophers were captured and returned
to their site of capture (R). Implant types were (1) Sub-Q = subcutaneous within the post scapular
region of the back or (2) IP = intraperitoneal in the abdomen. Release types were (1) hard = placed on
the ground (no starter burrow or cover), (2) soft = placed in a 0.3 m deep starter burrow with a wire mesh
cage placed over the hole, and (3) burrow = returned to their capture burrow within the ground. AED =
average Euclidean distance between all possible pairs of gopher locations, based on calculation of Conner
and Leopold (2001). * indicates gophers excluded from descriptive statistics for spatial parameters
because too few locations were acquired due to gophers losing transmitters.
Gopher Number
capture Implant Release Weight of AED
site Animal status type type Sex (g) locations (m)
1 C2 Translocated Sub-Q Soft F 209.3 15 6.0
2 C1 Translocated Sub-Q Hard F 278.6 17 4.2
3* C2 Translocated Sub-Q Soft F 293.0 6
4 C1 Translocated Sub-Q Hard F 229.6 46 2.3
5 C2 Translocated Sub-Q Soft M 273.7 13 4.6
6 C4 Translocated Sub-Q Hard F 215.2 19 3.8
7* C3 Translocated Sub-Q Soft F 252.4 8
8* C1 Translocated Sub-Q Hard M 242.4 9
9* C3 Translocated Sub-Q Soft F 255.4 4
10 C4 Translocated Sub-Q Hard M 280.8 16 1.3
11* R Control Sub-Q Burrow M 340.1 10
12 R Control Sub-Q Burrow F 232.9 42 3.1
13 R Control Sub-Q Burrow M 302.1 52 2.6
14 R Control Sub-Q Burrow M 205.5 23 13.6
15 R Control Sub-Q Burrow F 232.4 64 1.1
16 C1 Translocated IP Soft M 285.7 70 2.6
17 C2 Translocated IP Hard M 291.3 70 2.7
18 C3 Translocated IP Soft F 245.2 70 3.2
19 C4 Translocated IP Hard F 290.3 70 4.0
20 C1 Translocated IP Hard F 257.5 70 3.8
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the release site, and 2 gophers each from locations northwest and southwest from
the release site (Table 1, Fig. 1). We weighed, determined gender of, and placed
all captured gophers in 114-l aquaria for individual transport to a nearby lab for
transmitter implantation.
We anesthetized the gophers with 3−5% isoflurane mixed with oxygen via a facemask
and implanted subcutaneously 5-g, 8 mm x 18mm cylindrical radio transmitters
(4-month life span; Wildlife Materials SOPI 2190, Wildlife Materials, Inc., Murphysboro,
IL) in the post-scapular region (Connior and Risch 2009, Rado and Terkel
1989), and closed the incisions with surgical glue. Surgery time varied from 4.5 min
to 8.5 min per gopher. We maintained the gophers in aquaria for 24 hr post-surgery to
verify that the incision remained sealed and then transported them to the release site.
During captivity, gophers were provided Purina Rabbit Chow (Land O’Lakes, Inc.,
St. Louis, MO), alfalfa hay, and water ad libitum. Due to the quantity of translocated
gophers that lost transmitters from their scapular region within 2 weeks of release,
we captured 5 additional gophers (2 males and 3 females), ranging in size from
245 g to 291 g, and intraperitoneally implanted similar transmitters as previously
described. Surgical procedures and recovery were similar as previously described
except that we made a 0.5-cm incision into the abdomen, inserted the transmitter,
sutured the musculature of the abdominal wall, and sealed the skin with surgical glue.
Surgery time for this group ranged from 7.5 min to 10.5 min per gopher.
We selected the release site based on soil structure and habitat characteristics as
determined by Cortez et al. (2013, 2015). Briefly, we chose a release site (1) with
soils that consisted of ≥60% sand; (2) that was predominantly composed of native
vegetation, Bermuda Grass, Buffelgrass, or Saint Augustine Grass; and (3) that
was consistently mowed. In addition, because the release site contained resident
gophers, we released translocated gophers in areas >40 m from recent mounds.
Translocated gophers were released either on the surface (i.e., hard release; n = 8)
or in a 0.3-m deep starter burrow (i.e, soft release; n = 7) with a wire cage placed
over the hole (Table 1). Control gophers were returned to the tunnel where they
were captured (n = 5). We recorded the time elapsed from release to when gophers
began to dig and were completely buried.
We located Maritime Pocket Gophers with a TRX-1000S receiver with a 3-element
folding Yagi directional antenna (Wildlife Materials, Murphysboro, IL).
Gophers were located 3−4 times per week in random order of four 6-hr time blocks/
day. We separated our location efforts by >40 h to ensure independence between successive
observations (Swihart and Slade 1985). We tracked gophers for 4 months
(life span of transmitter) or until transmitters were lost. We dug to retrieve potentially
lost transmitters (i.e., unchanged locations for several consecutive monitoring attempts).
We assumed that Maritime Pocket Gophers were directly under the strongest
signal received on the ground surface. We recorded these locations with a hand-held
Garmin etrex Venture GPS unit (accuracy less than 3 m; Garmin, Lenexa, KS).
We used location data to estimate distance among individual locations and the
capture site as well as the distance between successive locations. We calculated
mean and standard error for the distance between the capture site and gopher
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location for each translocated gopher. Translocation distances were not the same for
each gopher. To calculate what we termed the average location distance (ALD), or
the difference between (i) the average distance between a gopher’s relocations and
its capture site, and (ii) the initial distance between capture and translocation sites,
we used the formula
ALD = di̅ - dit ,
where dit is the distance the ith gopher was moved from its capture site to its translocation
site, and di̅ is the average distance between a gopher's relocations and its capture
site (or average relocation distance), calculated with the equation
mi di̅ = [Σdij] / mi ,
j = 1
where dij is the distance between the jth relocation and the initial capture location
for the ith gopher (i = 1, 2, ..., n (number of gophers), j = 1, 2, …, mi (number of
relocations for the ith gopher). We also calculated what we termed the last location
difference (LLD), or the difference between the translocation distance and the last
relocation distance for the ith gopher:
LLD = dit - di1 ,
where dil = the distance from the last relocation to the capture site for the ith gopher.
Negative values for ALD and LLD indicate a gopher moving toward their initial capture
site. In addition, we drew a line between each translocated gopher’s capture site
and release site, which we defined as the homing line. We analyzed location points
for angle deviations from the homing line. We subtracted from 360o all angle-ofdeviation
points with values between 180o and 360 o because angles approaching 360o
were returning to the homing line. Gophers were considered to be homing if distances
from location points to original site of capture became successively smaller and if
angles to the homing line approached zero. We calculated the average Euclidian distance
(AED) between all possible pairs of gopher locations as a measure of animal
dispersion. For the majority of gophers, our sample size was less than 25 locations/gopher;
thus, average Euclidean distance is considered a more appropriate measure because
it is more precise and less biased than home range estimates (Conner and Leopold
2001). We employed spatial parameters of average daily movement, average angleof-
movement from the homing line, AED, ALD, and LLD for descriptive purposes.
We used a Student’s t-test to assess the effects of release type (i.e., soft versus
hard) on time elapsed from release to when completely buried. We evaluated homogeneity
of variances among treatments with the Bartlett’s test (Steel and Torrie
1980) and tested distributions of residual errors for normality via the Shapiro–Wilk
test. We utilized chi-square analysis to test for differences in the frequency of transmitters
lost due to body placement. We set significance at α < 0.05 for all tests.
Results
Of the 20 captured gophers (8 male, 12 female), we translocated 4 male and 7
female gophers for inclusion in analysis of movements. Five of 15 translocated
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gophers lost subcutaneous transmitters within 2 weeks of release and were not
included in analyses. Gophers that were provided a soft release (n = 7) were
quicker (F2,17 = 4.84; P < 0.031) at burrowing and burying themselves (mean =
2.6 ± 0.7 min) than control gophers (mean = 7.6 ± 1.7 min; n = 5) or gophers that
experienced a hard release (mean = 6.2 ± 0.7 min; n = 8). No gopher experienced
mortality during the release process. All of the original translocated gophers
lost their transmitters within 4 months of implantation (mean = 36.2 ± 5.7 days;
range = 20–112 days); only 2 of the 4 control gophers (χ2 = 5.91, df = 1, P less than
0.025) lost their transmitters (mean = 73.5 ± 22.3 days; range = 30–120 days).
The 5 translocated gophers that were intraperitoneally implanted did not lose
their transmitters.
Translocated Maritime Pocket Gophers did not appear to exhibit homing or
directionality toward capture sites (Table 2, Fig. 2). The LLDs varied from 63 m
closer to 30 m farther. Tracked Maritime Pocket Gophers moved less than 5% of the distance
needed to return to their capture sites. Average LLD were further from their
respective capture sites than ALD measurements (Table 2). Deviation angles from
the homing line varied from 90o to 138o (Table 2). Average daily movements appeared
consistent between gophers except for the 2 female control gophers, which
moved ~3 times the distance of the other gophers. Dispersion among gopher locations
contained much overlap between treatments and gopher gender (Table 2).
Table 2. Comparison of spatial parameters between treatments (i.e., short-distance translocation and
control) and gender (male and female) for Maritime Pocket Gophers during autumn 2014 in the Flour
Bluff area of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, TX. Spatial parameters consisted of average daily movement
(m), average Euclidean distance (AED) between all possible pairs of gopher locations, average
deviation angle of movement from the homing line (degrees), average difference between the initial
translocation distance from distances of gopher locations and capture site (ALD), and the difference
between the initial translocation distance from the distance of the last gopher location and capture
site (LLD). Because control gophers were not relocated, measurements for deviation angles, ALD,
and LLD were not possible. Distances are listed as toward (T; closer) or away (A; farther) from initial
capture site.
Male Female
Spatial parameter Mean SE Min–max Mean SE Min–max
Translocated gophers (n = 4 M, 7 F)
Daily movement (m) 7.8 2.9 4.0–16.4 10.2 1.1 6.0–13.1
AED (m) 2.8 1.7 0.4–8.0 3.9 1.4 0.8–9.9
Deviation angle (°) 108.2 7.6 90–127 115.8 8.0 90–138
ALD (m) 6.6 (T) 14.8 50.5 (T)–13.2 (A) 18.7 (T) 9.3 63 (T)–2.3 (A)
LLD (m) 3.8 (T) 19.4 60.0 (T)–28.7 (A) 15.2 (T) 11.3 63(T)–18.0 (A)
Control gophers (n = 2 M, 2 F)
Daily movement (m) 9.1 4.6 4.5–13.6 29.5 5.2 24.3–34.7
AED (m) 8.1 6.2 1.9–14.3 2.1 1.3 0.8–3.4
Deviation angle (°) - - - - - -
ALD (m) - - - - - -
LLD (m) - - - - - -
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Discussion
Translocation of Maritime Pocket Gophers appears to be a viable management
option to deal with nuisance gophers. Translocated Maritime Pocket Gophers did
not exhibit behaviors consistent with homing. Deviation angles demonstrated that
gophers tended to move away from their homing lines. In addition, distances from
location points to original sites of capture did not become successively shorter,
as indicated by the LLD values, which were greater than the ALD measurements.
Translocated gophers tended to remain near their release sites, suggesting that
habitat needs were met at the release sites, and thus, gophers did not require great
movements to fulfill their habitat requirements. We selected the release site because
it had habitat characteristics preferred by Maritime Pocket Gophers, as outlined by
Cortez et al. (2013, 2015). Obvious barriers, such as areas of clay soil, underground
pipes, and highly developed areas that would preclude movement of gophers were
not present except for those gophers captured at site C2 (Fig. 1). We selected this
site to determine whether, if gophers did attempt to home, they could navigate
around a barrier, such as an airfield runway. However, because gophers did not appear
to “home”, we were unable to make this determination.
Male gophers are known to travel substantially more than female gophers
(Williams and Baker 1976), yet we found female gophers within our control group
Figure 2. An example of 4 months of movements for a translocated Geomys personatus
maritimus (Maritime Pocket Gopher (Geomys personatus maritimus) during 2014 in the
Flour Bluff area of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, TX. The pink area is the home-range
estimate determined by the 95% minimum convex polygon method, as calculated using
BIOTAS 2.0a (Ecological Software Solutions) and used for descriptive purposes to highlight
gopher movement; the pushpin is the translocation release site; and the line represents
the homing line (the straight line direction to the original site of capture for the gopher).
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displayed greater daily movements. This finding could be an anomaly caused by
the small sample size within our control group. Conversely, gophers, especially
individuals in the genus Geomys, are fiercely aggressive and are considered a
high-stress mammal (Baker et al. 2003). Gophers were present at the release site
prior to our study. Perhaps another gopher usurped the burrow system of the female
control gophers during their surgical absence, which caused the female control
gophers to patrol their burrows more than the other gophers, thus resulting in
greater movements.
Subcutaneous implantation of transmitters within the scapular region is not
recommended for Maritime Pocket Gophers. The majority (86%) of gophers lost
their transmitters. Perhaps such placement of transmitters caused irritation or inhibited
movement, especially digging behavior, which led to loss of transmitters.
It is noteworthy that 3 gophers caught 3−5 months post translocation within the
relocation site had scars within their scapular region, providing circumstantial
evidence that at least some gophers survived the loss of their transmitters. In contrast,
no gopher lost transmitters that were intraperitoneally implanted. Although
intraperitoneal placement of transmitters reduced signal strength, such placement
was necessary to conduct telemetry on this fossorial species. Thus, we recommend
intraperitoneal placement of transmitters for future telemetry studies of
Maritime Pocket Gophers.
Our study provides evidence that short-distance translocation of Maritime Pocket
Gophers has potential as a management option to contend with nuisance gophers.
We observed no mortalities, and translocated animals tended to remain in the area
of their release, at least in the short term. Longer-term studies of their survival,
persistence, and successful reproduction in the release areas are needed to fully evaluate
translocation as an option for nuisance Maritime Pocket Gophers, especially if
Maritime Pocket Gophers receive species status and potentially are federally listed as
threatened or as a species of concern. At that point, lethal removal of Maritime Pocket
Gophers will no longer be a management option, and translocation of nuisance
gophers will be needed to reduce human–gopher conflicts.
Acknowledgements
We thank the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research
Institute for financial support. We are also grateful to C. Hoskinson, J. Plata, and A.
Flores for assistance with implantation surgeries and data collection. Collection and use of
animals in this study were approved by the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Animal Care
and Use Committee (ACUC 2009-04-29A) and by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
(Scientific Permit No. SPR−0993−636). This is contribution number 17-118 of the Caesar
Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute.
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