THE MUSEUM. 



301 



materially assisting in propelling it 

 along. 



The strength of the fore legs is re- 

 markable, and with their other perfect 

 adaptation explains the ease with 

 which the animals excavates and makes 

 the sand fly. The muscles of the jaw 

 are also wonderfully powerful, enabling 

 the gopher to hola fast to an object 

 grasped with all the well-known tenac- 

 ity of the bull dog. 



Like all members of the order to 

 which it belongs, the gopher is without 

 true teeth, but the bony ridges along 

 the margins of the jaws are serrated 

 and very hard, answering the same 

 purposes. It feeds entirely upon 

 grasses and herbs and the leaves of 

 certain plants. They are extremely 

 fond of the leaves of the sweet potato 

 plant; if they can get into a field of 

 these — which seldom happens — they 

 do considerable damage, following the 

 rows and denuding the vines of leaves. 



The gopher rarely if ever leaves its 

 retreat at night, and does not common- 

 ly go out to feed even in the daytime 

 until the sun is high in the heavens, 

 usually about noon. The animal can 

 go for long periods without food, in 

 cold weather only foraging on warm, 

 sunny days, and in rainy weather sel- 

 dom going abroad. Its flesh resem- 

 bles beef somewhat, and is highly es- 

 teemed by some Northern residents of 

 the State. I never knew a native to 

 eat the meat, however> 



When speaking of the gopher's 

 tenacity of life, I omitted to say that 

 it is very hard to kill. I have known 

 the animal to walk several yards after 

 its head had been put off. Vivisection- 

 ists have proven that the heart of a 

 land tortoise will beat and. the blood 



circulate for as many as twelve days 

 after the head has been removed. 



The movements of the gopher are 

 slow and cautious; indeed, speed would 

 be almost useless to it. His impreg- 

 nable covering, into which he with- 

 draws his head and limbs when dan- 

 ger threatens, completely protects him 

 against his would-be emenies, with one 

 exception. When at a distance from 

 his retreat he cannot escape man; but 

 then, from the inoffensive character of 

 the animal, and its utter uselessness to 

 any one except those who have ac- 

 quired a fondness for its 'flesh, man sel- 

 dom molests it. 



Sometimes a fire in a thick scrub or 

 among fallen trees (which is of greater 

 intensity and duration than the ordin- 

 ary fire in the open pine woods, where 

 the gopher usually lives and moves) 

 overtakes and destroys him. But their 

 hold on life is so great that they some- 

 times escape from even these fierce 

 ordeals, but seldom without scars. I 

 have encountered several with only 

 three legs, one having evidently been 

 burned ofT, and with it a portion of 

 the shell. 



The animal has a perfect abhorence 

 of rain, and usually takes warning in 

 time to enter its hole long before the 

 drops begin to fall. Like our weather 

 prophets, however, he sometimes 

 "misses it," and is overtaken and 

 drenched while out foraging. At such 

 times, or on the rain's near approach, 

 he makes all possible haste by the 

 shortest open route to his home. 



Their comical appearance and plain- 

 ly evident haste, with head protruding 

 far out from the shell and legs trudging 

 as rapidly as their awkwardness will 

 allow, have caused me to burst into a 

 hearty laugh on several occasions 



