RODENTS: SQUIRRELS. 49 



pouches full of nuts or grain, which they store up for 

 their food in winter, at which time they always remain 

 in their holes. 



The Striped Gopher, of Michigan and southward, is a 

 very beautiful animal, about the size of the Red Squir- 

 rel, of a dark brown color, with light lines and rows of 

 light spots. It lives in burrows, and when alarmed pops 

 into its hole with a chirp. The Prairie Dog is larger 



Fig. 89. Striped Gopher. Fig. 90. Prairie Dog. 



than the Striped Gopher, appearing somewhat like a 

 small woodchuck. It utters a sharp chirp, called bark- 

 ing, and hence its name. It lives in burrows, and large 

 numbers are found in the same locality, forming com- 

 munities called "Dogtowns." Before each hole is* a 

 little hill of earth, upon which is almost always a Prai- 

 rie Dog on the lookout for -intruders, and upon the 

 slightest alarm it dives into its hole, but soon appears 

 again. Their holes are also the home of the Burrowing 

 Owls and of Rattlesnakes. 



Beavers are about three feet long to the tail, and are 

 the largest of the Rodents, excepting an animal called 

 the Capybara which lives about the rivers of South 



