What is the difference between squirrels and gophers?
Both groups are rodents and are fairly closely related. As a rule animals going under the name squirrels usually have a bushy tail and spend a lot of time in trees. Gophers usually have a smaller tail, don’t climb much, live in burrows and spend most of their time underground. What most Calgarians call a gophers are actually squirrels — Richardson’s Ground Squirrels and Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrels. Calgary’s most common gopher, the Northern Pocket Gopher, is rarely seen above ground and most people are unaware of its existence. Northern Flying Squirrels, meanwhile are exclusively nocturnal. While common in forested areas such as the Weaselhead, they are seldom seen and reported.