What is the difference between a Gopher and a Woodchuck?

Gophers and woodchucks are types of rodents, and they are rampant in the United States. Gophers will show up on people’s lawns, and golf courses, whereas woodchucks love to chew on the power lines and sometimes even our vehicles. Gophers are small in build compared to woodchucks.

Gophers have a rodent-like tail, while woodchucks have a fuzzy tail. Both types of animals love to gnaw and dig whenever and wherever they can. However, gophers are better diggers than woodchucks, while woodchucks have those big, silly teeth; they are tremendous at gnawing.

They develop impeccable mining structures with their teeth. Gophers, on the contrary, are not capable of building structures with their teeth.

Though some people may have them as pets, gophers and woodchucks are predominately seen as rodents. They share the love of gnawing and digging. Gophers dig in lawns, while woodchucks will gnaw on trees. Between the two, gophers are smaller in size.

They can grow between 5 inches and 7 inches, while woodchucks are much longer, growing between 16 inches and 20 inches. Woodchucks are also heavier, as they weigh around 6 pounds.

Both also share the love of food in common, but they do eat different things. Gophers eat fruit and insects. Woodchucks eat vegetables, bird eggs, and they also eat insects.

The various differences between a gopher and a woodchuck can be noticed when you compare their size, weight, certain physical features of the two animals, and their activities. In terms of size, woodchucks are bigger than gophers since they are usually around 16 to 20 inches in length, whereas gophers are approximately 5 to 7 inches in length. It is a no-brainer that this will also affect their weight.

For this reason, woodchucks weigh more than gophers. Depending on their size, woodchucks have a weight of 4 to 6 pounds. Although, both are usually classified as pests, however, woodchucks are very good at digging holes, whereas gophers can't surpass woodchucks when it comes to gnawing.

Both woodchucks and gophers look very similar in that their eyes are small, but the front teeth of woodchucks are not as big as that of gophers. Another difference is that gophers don't reproduce in the same proportion as woodchucks.