Mole, Vole or Pocket Gopher?

Three different animals are blamed for the same yard, and the three leave signs that are not much alike once you know what separates them. This page sets out what university extension services say about each sign. It answers one question — which animal made the mark — and it stops there.

The Three Animals

The first split is not about damage at all. Two of the three are rodents and one is not. UC IPM states that, contrary to popular belief, moles are not part of the rodent family, and identifies the mole as Scapanus species, a small insect-eating mammal. UC ANR says the same: moles are mammals, not rodents, eating worms, ants and grubs. The University of Wyoming classifies moles as insectivores. By contrast UC IPM describes voles as mouselike rodents somewhat similar in appearance to gophers, and pocket gophers, Thomomys species, as burrowing rodents that get their name from the fur-lined, external cheek pouches they use for carrying food and nesting materials. UNL Extension puts the consequence plainly: gophers are rodents and have large incisors, like squirrels and mice, that they use to gnaw on the taproots of plants.

Size, as each source gives it

• Mole. UNL Extension gives 4 to 6½ inches long, not including the short tail. UC ANR gives five to seven inches. The University of Wyoming gives 4 to 6 inches and calls them slightly smaller than pocket gophers. UNL Extension gives the weight as 3 to 5 ounces. The three length figures are reported as stated; only UNL Extension says whether the tail is included.
• Vole. UC IPM gives 5 to 8 inches long including the tail. UC ANR gives three to nine inches depending on the species. The University of Wyoming gives 5 to 10 inches, with small eyes and ears and a short tail. Three ranges, none preferred here.
• Pocket gopher. UC IPM gives 6 to 10 inches long including the short tail, and UC ANR agrees at six to ten inches, calling them larger than either moles or voles. OSU Extension Service compares them to the size of ground squirrels.

What each one eats

• Mole. UC IPM states that the mole’s main diet consists of earthworms and insects. Iowa State University Extension describes moles as predators that use their exceptional sense of touch to capture invertebrates. The University of Wyoming states they can consume 70 to 100 percent of their body weight in insects, larvae and worms each day. UNL Extension states that moles seldom eat roots, bulbs, or other plant materials, and that plant parts are eaten only occasionally.
• Vole. UC IPM states that voles are mostly herbivorous, feeding on a variety of grasses, herbaceous plants, bulbs, and tubers. UC ANR states that voles are herbivores that gnaw on the bark of trees and shrubs, or simply eat the roots.
• Pocket gopher. OSU Extension Service states that gophers favor bulbs and roots and will even eat whole plants. The University of Wyoming states that pocket gophers are rodents that feed on roots and vegetation.

One sentence from UC ANR is worth quoting because it is a fact about diet that doubles as a check on identification: “Treating the soil with an insecticide would have no impact on gophers or voles because they feed on plant material, not insects.” Two of the three do not eat insects at all.

The Mound Test

Start with the vole, because the vole settles itself. The University of Wyoming states that voles do not create tunnels, but rather runways or tracks that are open. UC IPM draws the same line from the other direction, contrasting open burrow entrances with closed pocket gopher mounds. If there is a mound, it is not a vole.

Mole mounds

• Iowa State University Extension describes volcano-shaped mounds of soil with no entrance or exit holes, pushed up from deep below the soil surface.
• OSU Extension Service states that mole mounds are volcanic and rounded, and the OSU newsroom item gives the same, a volcanic, rounded shape.
• UNL Extension states that moles build small, conical-shaped mounds, usually less than 1 foot in diameter, by pushing soil out of vertical tunnels.
• UC IPM states that the margin tends to be circular, and UC ANR that mole mound margins tend to be circular.
• UC ANR states that the soil of mole mounds tends to be clumpier than gophers.

Pocket gopher mounds

• UC IPM states that mounds are typically crescent- or horse-shoe-shaped when viewed from above. UC ANR gives crescent, horseshoe, or fan-shaped. Iowa State University Extension gives large, crescent-shaped dirt mounds. The University of Wyoming gives horseshoe-shaped.
• OSU Extension Service and the OSU newsroom item both describe them as flatter on top, fan-shaped with the hole off to the side.
• UNL Extension states that gophers build relatively large, fan-shaped mounds, greater than 1 foot in diameter, by pushing soil out of inclined tunnels.
• PlantTalk Colorado states that the mounds usually have closed entrances, and describes mounds of soil with no apparent hole.

Now the part where the sources do not agree, and it falls on the exact detail most often quoted. UC IPM describes mounds of loose dirt that are half circles with a plugged hole that is off to one side of the mound. UC ANR gives a hole that is off to the side and usually plugged. The University of Wyoming puts the entrance plug on the edge. Iowa State University Extension says the opposite: crescent-shaped dirt mounds which often have a 1 to 3 inch wide plug in the middle. The middle is precisely where UC IPM, UC ANR and the University of Wyoming place the plug of a mole mound. This page does not pick a side. Four sources say off to one side or on the edge, one says in the middle, and a reader standing over a mound should know that before relying on the plug alone.

There is a second reason not to lean on any single feature. PlantTalk Colorado describes gopher mounds as fan-shaped to round, and round is the word every other source uses for a mole. The tests that no source disputes are the shape family — crescent, horseshoe or fan against volcano, conical or circular — and the size, where UNL Extension separates them cleanly at about a foot across.

The Tunnel and Runway Test

Mole

• UC IPM states that surface tunnels appear as ridges that the mole pushes up by forcing its way through the soil. UNL Extension states that burrows occur when moles search for food near the surface, causing the soil to be raised in ridges. Iowa State University Extension describes raised linear ridges of soil running through the grass of lawns. UC ANR notes a raised soil ridge above a mole feeding tunnel.
• UC IPM makes the contrast itself: unlike gophers, moles commonly make feeding burrows just beneath the surface, leaving a raised ridge to mark their path.
• Iowa State University Extension states that soil around ridges and mounds feels soft and spongy, and that mounds and ridges are most common in the shaded portions of lawns.
• UC IPM states that more permanent tunnels are deeper underground and are usually about 2 inches in diameter and 8 to 12 inches below the surface, and that you will find only one mole per tunnel.

Vole

• UC IPM states that the clearest sign of their presence are their well-traveled runways that connect burrow openings, and UC ANR gives the same: look for aboveground runways that connect burrow openings.
• UC IPM states that a protective layer of grass or other ground cover usually hides the runways; UC ANR states that grass usually covers the burrows.
• PlantTalk Colorado gives 1 to 2 inch wide runways through matted grass with open 1 to 2 inch holes and spongy soil. UC IPM gives burrow openings each about 1½ to 2 inches in diameter.
• UC IPM states that fresh clippings of green grass and greenish-colored droppings about 3/16 inch long appear in the runways and near the burrows. UC ANR says to look for fresh grass clippings and fecal pellets around burrow entrances and along runways.
• Iowa State University Extension draws the line with the mole directly: meadow voles make narrow runways along the surface of grassed sites, which differ from mole runways beneath the soil surface.

Pocket gopher

• No raised surface ridge. UC IPM makes the point by contrast, describing the mole’s shallow feeding burrows as unlike a gopher’s.
• UC IPM states that the burrows are about 2½ to 3½ inches in diameter.
• Eskers. UC IPM states that in snowy regions, gophers create burrows in the snow, resulting in long, earthen cores on the surface when the snow melts. PlantTalk Colorado names them eskers, solid tubes of soil above ground when the snow melts in the spring. The University of Wyoming gives the same name for soil-filled tunnels seen above ground.
• UC IPM states that a single gopher can create several mounds a day, and that fresh mounds are the sign of an active gopher. The University of Wyoming notes a burrow system that may involve 200 yards of tunnels below the soil surface.

The Plant Damage Test

The mole is the odd one out, and the reason is its diet. Iowa State University Extension states that the damage caused by moles is primarily the result of tunnelling, not the direct consumption of plants. UC IPM states that by far the greatest damage from moles occurs through their burrowing activity, which dislodges plants and dries out their roots. UNL Extension states that mounds and surface burrows interfere with mowing and that the activities of moles may disturb root systems and kill grass. No source read for this page attributes gnawing or girdling to a mole.

For the two rodents, UC ANR gives the cleanest single sentence on the page: “Voles can girdle trees aboveground while gophers girdle trees belowground.”

• Vole. UC IPM defines the term: if voles gnaw completely around the trunk or roots, it will disrupt the tree’s flow of nutrients and water, a process known as girdling, and girdling damage on trunks and roots can kill trees. It states that voles eat bark and roots of trees usually in fall or winter. UC ANR lists yellowed and wilting plants, missing bulbs, and teeth marks around the bottom of trees and shrubs.
• Vole gnaw marks, where the two figures differ. UC IPM gives marks about 1/8 inch wide and 3/8 inch long, in irregular patches and at various angles. PlantTalk Colorado gives about 1/16 to 1/8 inch wide. Both are reported as their sources state them and neither is preferred.
• Pocket gopher. UC IPM states that most girdling damage to trunks and large roots occurs belowground, and that in snow-covered regions gophers can feed on bark several feet up a tree by burrowing through the snow. PlantTalk Colorado gives suddenly wilting plants due to root damage as a main sign. OSU Extension Service and the OSU newsroom item both quote the same rule of thumb: if you see a plant disappear, it is a gopher. UC IPM and UC ANR both note gnawing damage to irrigation lines and drip tubing.

When Each Is Busiest

None of the three stops for winter. UC IPM states that moles are active throughout the year, that voles are active day and night year-round, and that gophers do not hibernate and are active year-round, at all hours of the day and night. Iowa State University Extension states that moles do not hibernate. UC ANR states that voles are active both day and night and do not hibernate. PlantTalk Colorado states that voles remain active all year round.

• Mole. UNL Extension states they burrow year-round, peaking May through June. Iowa State University Extension states that rainy days during late spring and summer usually trigger the greatest level of activity. UC IPM notes that surface activity slows or is absent during periods of extreme cold, heat, or drought.
• Vole. PlantTalk Colorado states that most damage occurs in the winter when voles move through their grass runways under the protection of snow. UC IPM states that in areas with winter snow, voles will burrow in and through the snow to the surface.
• Pocket gopher. UC IPM states that in ground that is not irrigated, mound building is most pronounced during winter or spring when the soil is moist and easy to dig, and that in irrigated areas digging conditions are usually optimal year-round, so mounds can appear at any time.

Sign by Sign

Each cell carries the source numbers it rests on. The numbers match the list at the foot of the page.

Questions

Sources

Every factual claim above names the source it rests on, in the sentence that makes it or in the text immediately adjacent to it, and every source named is listed below. Where sources give different figures for the same measurement, or place the same feature differently, all are reported and attributed rather than reconciled. Framing and ordering are our own judgement and are not a finding of any source.

1. UC Statewide IPM Program. Moles — Pest Notes, Home and Landscape (S1). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/moles/
2. UC Statewide IPM Program. Voles (Meadow Mice) — Pest Notes 7439 (S2). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7439.html
3. UC Statewide IPM Program. Pocket Gophers — Pest Notes, Home and Landscape (S3). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/pocket-gophers/
4. OSU Extension Service. How to identify and manage moles, voles and gophers in gardens (S4). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/how-identify-manage-moles-voles-gophers-oregon-gardens
5. OSU Newsroom. Moles, voles and gophers dig the garden — UNIVERSITY NEWS ITEM, not a peer-reviewed publication (S5). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://news.oregonstate.edu/news/moles-voles-and-gophers-dig-garden
6. PlantTalk Colorado, Colorado State University. Difference between vole damage and pocket gopher damage (S6). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/wildlife-issues/2310-difference-voles-damage-pocket-gopher-damage/
7. UC ANR, The Real Dirt. Serious Garden Pests: Voles, Moles, and Gophers — BLOG ARTICLE, not a peer-reviewed publication (S7). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://ucanr.edu/blog/real-dirt/article/serious-garden-pests-voles-moles-and-gophers-0
8. UC ANR, Pests in the Urban Landscape. FAQ: Moles, Voles and Gophers — BLOG ARTICLE, not a peer-reviewed publication (S8). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://ucanr.edu/blog/pests-urban-landscape/article/faq-moles-voles-gophers
9. University of Wyoming Extension. Correctly identifying landscape pests is critical, Barnyards and Backyards (S9). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://www.uwyo.edu/barnbackyard/_files/documents/magazine/2019/fall/0919gopherid.pdf
10. Iowa State University Extension, Natural Resources. Moles: Damage Management (S10). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://naturalresources.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/moles-damage-management
11. UNL Extension, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Moles and Their Control, G1538 (S11). Accessed 22 August 2026. https://extensionpubs.unl.edu/publication/g1538/na/html/view