GOPHER, the name applied in North America to certain burrowing, squirrel-like rodents, as the pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius), of the Mississippi valley, and the northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides), common west of the Rocky Moun tains, both exceedingly destructive to crops. The gopher turtle (Gopherus polyphemus), native to the Southern States, likewise lives in burrows and often does great damage to crops.