Do YOU know anything about gophers?

Botta’s Pocket Gopher

Rat-sized rodents with short, mostly hairless tails, minute eyes and ears, and large forelimbs with elongated claws. They weigh six to eight ounces and range in color from pale gray to russet to black, depending upon soil color. The lips close behind the large front teeth, which lets the animal dig without getting a mouthful of soil. On each side of the mouth is an external, fur-lined storage pouch.

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from:http://www.desertusa.com/mag01/jun/papr/gopher.html

What about carrying the chipmunk in your pocket and the two gophers on your head under a big hat?

Maybe a large purse or a backpack instead? Carrying three animals in one pocket seems pretty uncomfortable to me no matter how large the animals are. How well behaved are they?

OK, sentient animals, that changes things.

As for gopher size, I'm thinking about the size and weight of a guinea pig. Can the fairies change their size, too?

What's the temperature like? Is she wearing a jacket or sweater with large pockets? Some jackets are reversible which would give more pockets to use. If the jacket has a hood or handwarmer pocket (not sure of the name), maybe that might be large enough.

A strong backpack might still work. They can be in the largest pocket with the top unzipped for air and so they can see. Think Toy Story. Lots of purses have different compartments. Maybe a fanny pack?

I know everything I need to about gophers. I saw Caddyshack.

Esopha said:

The fairies can't change their size. The story's set in a parallel of the 1700s, just after the Industrial Revolution. She's wearing skirts, shirt and a vest.

I think the backpack is the best bet. Thanks for the help.

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The 1700s were about a century before the Industrial Revolution. Mind, in a fantasy world, I suppose things don't have to be the same as on Earth, but then it's not a parallel.

A wicker basket.

Could have a lid, but either way, lots of ventilation and fits the period.

Gophers are too big to fit in your pocket, even one.

A knapsack would work, if you could keep them from chewing or slithering out.

A super-padded gopher bra? (one gopher per cup).

Sorry. XD I would think a handbag would do the trick. She doesn't have to put anything else in it, and she keeps it on her arm, so she can make sure no one jostles into it.

There was a girl in my bio 101 class who brought her ferret with her every day. She carried it in a tall handbag (more like a cloth shopping bag really), so that when stretching up the ferret was just able to peek it's nose out without being able to easily escape. It was adorable. And the teacher never knew! (I also knew someone who brought one of their rats to class, in his jacket sleeve, but that's probably not what you're going for XD ).

Next time, please include the time period in the original question.

1700s? I second the wicker basket idea. She'd probably already have something like that for going to market.

A leather satchel might work, too.

Another possibility might be a patch pocket sewn to the outside of the skirt. Depending on the gopher's weight, this might not be feasible.

Milk buckets.

I don't know what kind of character she is, but she could carry a military-style haversack. Maybe she got it from an older brother or found it or something? It would be perfect for a couple of animals

http://www.18cnewenglandlife.org/18cnel/wallets.htm

http://reunion.omnica.com/ReferencePages/haversack.htm

They were basically the equivalent of today's messenger bags

This site here has pics of just about all of the various knapsacks, backpacks, shoulder bags, etc, that civilians and soldiers alike carried around that time period. Click on the drawings to get photos.
http://www.colonialmarket.com/casada/index.html

An apron with pockets might work, too.

( Insert Richard Gere joke here )

Tallymark said:

A super-padded gopher bra? (one gopher per cup).

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Gee, depending on how your protag looks, can I be one of the gophers?

Actually gophers can be quite large, I was just watching one at a golf course (no Caddy Shack joke intended) a month ago and it had to be over a foot long, although of course you can always write them in as being young and smaller. They're quite intelligent too, I used to work with a guy whom had a friend that found an abandoned baby gopher, nursed it back to health and kept it as a pet. In a sense it was like having a dog, it would sit on the couch with everybody and watch TV, scratch at the door when it wanted to go outside, etc.

Esopha said:

I'm worried that a wicker basket might be uncomfortable to carry for 5+ days. The last thing I want to do is have my MC complain about a sore arm.

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Fisherman's tackle basket. Various sizes and have a leather strap for slinging over the shoulder. Same wicker basket, but more convenient to carry.