Police Point Park Nature Centre park interpreter explains the centre's gopher challenge. (CHAT News Photo/Bob Schneider)

By Chris Brown

Coming out of hibernation soon

Keep an eye out for the first gopher of the season

Jan 18, 2021 | 5:01 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The Interpretive Team at Police Point Park wants residents to be on the lookout for gophers this winter and spring.

On Groundhog Day, Nature Centre staff will launch a Glimpses of Gophers challenge, encouraging people to spend time outdoors spotting gophers as they end their winter hibernation.

“We thought that would give people an opportunity to get out and be looking for something new on their walks and encouraging them to get out and enjoy nature,” explains park interpreter Alicia Lew.

When you spot your first one, call or email it into the nature centre. They’ll create a map on Facebook and their website with photos of sightings of the prairie critters along with educational facts.

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“Typically we see them about the end of February but because of the really mild weather we’ve had this winter it`s possible that they may come out a little bit earlier,” says Lew.

Lew adds the early morning is the best time for gopher spotting, and you might not have to travel far.

“So open prairies is probably where you’re probably going to see most of the gophers and they’ll be, typically in a colony setting so they won’t be too hard to spot,” she says. “You might see them even from the road. They can be in urban areas as well. They’re not necessarily out in farmers’ fields. Sometimes they’re right in our communities here in town.”

Lew says gophers (also known as Richardson’s ground squirrels) spend up to two-thirds of their life hibernating in some cases, so spotting them is really exciting.

“You’ll kind of see a whole swath of them in the spring and then all of a sudden about mid- to late-June they start to sort of disappear and we don’t see them again.”

Get your first gopher sighting to the Nature Centre before April 15 to be entered in a draw for not-yet-determined but fun gopher-related prize, says Lew.