June 2023 - 44

is born each year, unlike other rodents that are
proliferate breeders.
Gophers create complex burrow systems that
can spread hundreds of feet underground. Each
adult gopher uses its claws and long, protruding
incisors to burrow, trim roots and move rocks
creating about one to three new mounds per
day. Pushing soil to the surface with their chest
and forefeet like a persistent linebacker, a single
gopher can move more than two tons of soil
to the surface every year. Each gopher assists
in creating a healthy mix of soils by improving
aeration, which allows greater oxygen and gas
exchange and improved water absorption in
plant roots. Gophers mix organic matter, help
lessen soil compaction and bring soil to the
surface where it is weatherized to create new,
nutrient-rich soil.
Living underground has its challenges for
Wyoming's wildlife. Several species develop
adaptations to low light, reducing or losing
vision and hearing and sometimes organs
required for perceiving light disappear. Vestigial
or nonfunctioning organs, like eyes, may lead
to other senses strengthening. For example, in
Wyoming's only mole species, the eastern mole,
vision is almost nonexistent. Most moles' eyes
are covered in thin skin where they can determine
changes in light but not details. With
reduced vision, moles rely on feeling vibrations
in the ground or their strong sense of smell
to avoid predators and find food and mates.
Similarly, of the 18 species of bats found in
Wyoming, most have vision adapted to darkened
skies. Some bats in the genus Myotis
and Townsend's big-eared bats roost in underground
caves in the Bighorn Mountains. Their
eyes, which can see better than most humans,
are packed with special photoreceptor cells
called rods that detect light and dark while
cone cells in the bats' retinas help determine
color. Bats also utilize echolocation or waves of
high-pitch sound that bounce off objects such
as cave walls, predators and even flying insects
to help the bat determine distances and shapes.
To be underground is to live with the pulse
of the Earth. Whether burrowing, tunnel
vision, caches or dens under the harshest
of situations, Wyoming's wildlife continues
to prevail.
- Britt Hays is a volunteer and hunter education
instructor for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
They enjoy being outside and hiking. This is their first
contribution to Wyoming Wildlife.
44 | June 2023
Wyoming pocket gophers are typically associated with habitats containing Gardner's saltbush (shown) and winterfat
with big sagebrush absent or sparse. (Photo by Britt Burdett/WGFD)
In 2018, bat biologists in Wyoming found several Townsend's big-eared bats roosting in underground caves in the
Bighorn Mountains. (Photo by Ellen Whittle/WYNDD)

June 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2023

June 2023 - 1
June 2023 - 2
June 2023 - 3
June 2023 - 4
June 2023 - 5
June 2023 - 6
June 2023 - 7
June 2023 - 8
June 2023 - 9
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