Do Gophers Come Out at Night? Gopher Activity Patterns Explained

Homeowners dealing with gopher problems frequently wonder whether gophers come out at night — either because they hope to catch a glimpse of the animal or because they want to understand when activity is highest. The short answer is that gophers almost never come fully above ground at any time, day or night. They are fossorial animals that spend essentially their entire lives underground.

Gophers Are Rarely Seen Above Ground

Botta's pocket gophers — the species responsible for virtually all residential gopher damage in Southern California — surface only occasionally and briefly. Above-ground exposure makes them extremely vulnerable to predation from hawks, owls, coyotes, and domestic cats, so natural selection has strongly favored animals that minimize surface time. When a gopher does briefly surface — to push soil from a new mound or to investigate near a burrow entrance — it typically does so quickly and retreats underground almost immediately.

If you are regularly seeing a burrowing animal above ground during daylight hours, it is almost certainly not a gopher. California ground squirrels are active above ground during the day and are commonly mistaken for gophers by homeowners. If you can watch the animal for more than a few seconds, it is a ground squirrel.

When Are Gophers Most Active Underground?

Research on Botta's pocket gopher activity patterns shows that gophers are active in multiple short bursts throughout the day and night, with no strong preference for daytime versus nighttime. They are not nocturnal in the strict sense — they do not become active specifically at night and sleep during the day. Instead they have irregular activity patterns with multiple active and resting periods across the 24-hour cycle.

Mound-pushing activity — which is what homeowners observe as evidence of gopher presence — can occur at any time of day or night. Fresh mounds appearing overnight are common, but fresh mounds can also appear during daylight hours. The timing of mound appearance does not indicate when the gopher is most active; it simply reflects when the animal happened to push soil to the surface during one of its active periods.

What Affects Activity Level

While time of day has limited effect on gopher activity, several environmental factors do. Soil temperature significantly affects activity — gophers are more active in the cooler periods of the day during summer heat, which may make them appear more nocturnal in hot weather simply because daytime temperatures drive them deeper. Soil moisture after rain or irrigation triggers more active tunneling and feeding behavior. Breeding season in late winter and spring drives higher overall activity levels.

What This Means for Control

Because gophers are active at irregular intervals throughout the day and night, trap checks do not need to be timed to specific activity windows. Professional traps set in active primary tunnels will be encountered by the gopher during one of its regular tunnel traversals regardless of time of day. This is why checking traps every 24-48 hours is standard practice — the gopher will encounter a correctly placed trap on its own schedule.

Frequently Asked Questions

I see mounds every morning — does that mean gophers work at night?

Not necessarily. Gophers push mounds at irregular intervals throughout the day and night. Mounds visible in the morning could have been pushed at any time overnight or early morning.

Can I catch a gopher above ground?

Gophers surface so briefly and infrequently that catching one above ground is not a practical control method. Underground trapping in active tunnels is far more effective.

If I see an animal active in my yard during the day, is it a gopher?

Almost certainly not. California ground squirrels are active above ground during daylight and are frequently mistaken for gophers. Gophers almost never surface for more than a few seconds.

Call 909-599-4711 to schedule professional gopher control throughout Southern California.