MAMMALS OF THE REGION 91 



week, and a dense patch of the plants may keep one 

 all summer with little extension of his burrows beyond 

 their protecting spikes. 



The plants are killed, of course, when thus eaten out, 

 but fortunately the gophers are not sufficiently numer- 

 ous to make much impression upon the miles of dense 

 growth of this important food plant. The roots and 

 bulbs and underground parts of many other plants are 

 also eaten along the gopher burrows, but some returns 

 are made to the plant economy by a constant stirring 

 and pulverizing of the soil and by burying the surface 

 vegetation under the gopher hills to decompose and 

 return its richness to the earth. 



This is a small gopher with the upper incisors un- 

 grooved, and with large, fur-lined cheek-pockets, very 

 small ears and eyes, and short, silky brown hair. The 

 front claws are long but relatively slender. 



CHESTNUT POCKET GOPHER 



Cratogeomys castanops (Figs. 32, 33, and 34) 



The big pocket gophers, with large, fur-lined cheek 

 pouches are abundant on the mellow and fertile soils 

 of the best farming land throughout the Pecos Valley. 

 Even in the town of Carlsbad they are found in the best- 

 kept lawns, and on vacant lots, and along the sandy 

 border of the river. One that I caught in the dooryard 

 of Carl Livingston's house in the heart of town had 

 been burrowing for a year or more, covering much of 

 the beautiful lawn with large unsightly mounds of clay. 

 I found a trap set in the mouth of a hole that had not 



