Relatively warm snow free winters make life easier for most species of wildlife. Deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, pheasants and other animals easily move around and find food on bare ground.
The pocket gopher is an exception. It prefers deep snow. During warm months this common animal tunnels through the soil seeking roots that form the bulk of its diet. Cold weather makes the ground as hard as armor plate. Since tunneling in frozen dirt is nearly impossible a hungry gopher must emerge above ground to find food.
That’s not a problem if there’s a heavy snow cover that enhances gopher safety. Few animals are as tasty to a hawk or owl as a plump gopher, but when the animals are under the snow they are invisible to even these keen eyed predators. During snow free winters a gopher foraging on the surface stands good odds of becoming a raptor’s lunch.
Snow probably doesn’t protect gophers from mammalian predators like red foxes or coyotes. These members of the dog family can detect movement and smell the tasty gopher trying to hide in the snow. They happily convert the hapless gopher into a meal.
As snow melts people sometimes find gopher snow tunnels, which often melt a little slower than surrounding snow.
