92 ANIMAL LIFE OF CARLSBAD CAVERN 



been opened half way down to the occupied tunnel, so 

 dug down and reset it in the tunnel, where it caught 

 the gopher in a few hours. None of these gophers was 

 found nearer than four or five miles from the great 

 cavern. Still I found many of their teeth and bones in 

 the great horned owl pellets and on the earth beneath 

 the owl nests in the mouth of the cavern. Under a 

 nest near the Pecos River their bones were also numer- 

 ous. Apparently these owls are one of the greatest 

 enemies of the gopher, and therefore one of the best 

 friends of the farmer, for the gophers are exceedingly 

 destructive to farm crops and fruit trees. They eat 

 the grain and alfalfa, cover growing crops with their 

 large mounds, eat potatoes and most other garden 

 vegetables, and injure or kill the fruit trees by gnawing 

 the roots and bark from underground. Their eradica- 

 tion becomes necessary in cultivated grounds, but in 

 waste places they do little harm and some good in 

 stirring and enriching the soil. 



These are the large valley gophers, about twice the 

 size of the little lechuguilla gopher, with single-grooved 

 upper incisors, and very heavy, front digging claws. 

 They are bufTy brown in color. 



JAGUAR 



Felis hernandesii 



These great, spotted cats, leopard-like in appearance, 

 but heavier and more powerful, live principally in 

 Mexico and the countries to the south. Occasionally 

 one comes over the border into Texas, New Mexico, or 

 Arizona, and wanders over the rough, unoccupied 



