Townsend's Pocket Gophers require deep, moist soils of river valleys and ancient lake beds. Other pocket gophers that are found in the same region, in the northern Great Basin, prefer different soil types: Botta's Pocket Gopher is usually found in more desert-like situations and the Northern Pocket Gopher lives at higher elevations. Learn more about the Thomomys townsendii, more commonly known as a Townsend's Pocket Gopher, in this easy-to-read species overview by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.