What Is The Difference Between A Gopher And A Groundhog

Homeowners are most likely to actually observe groundhogs as gophers spend very little time aboveground.

But what is the difference between a groundhog and a gopher. Sciuridae whereas there are 36 species of true gophers in the family. What is the difference between gopher and groundhog. Gophers are considerably smaller than groundhogs at only about 2 or 3 pounds.

They feed on the underground parts of plants such as the roots and tubers. Groundhog is many times larger than any gopher species. Unlike groundhogs who spend lots of their time above ground eating the leaves and fruits of plants gophers rarely come out of their burrows. Despite their similarities gophers and groundhogs belong to two different classes of rodents.

Furthermore gopher has yellowish teeth which can be seen even when their mouths are closed while groundhog has white color teeth which can only be seen when they open their mouth. Thus a groundhog has fewer natural predators while the gopher is on the menu of a larger number of bigger animals. The main difference between gopher and groundhog is that gopher is smaller and lighter whereas groundhog is larger and heavier. Groundhog is one particular species of the family.