Striped Ground-squirrel 397 



Mountain. Sir John Richardson records^ that the species was 

 "in considerable numbers" at Carleton House, but not found 

 beyond north latitude 55°. 



The favourite surrounding of the Striped Ground-squirrel en- 



,. , ., . VIRON 



is dry virgin praine on a light soil. ment 



It is, or was, particularly abundant on the Big Plain xum- 

 around Carberry, Man. By abundant is not mearrt its num- 

 bers equalled those of the Yellow Ground-squirrel; of that I 

 have seen 50 within an acre, but of the Striped species 50 in a 

 1 0-mile drive would represent its greatest abundance in my 

 experience. At Grinnell, Iowa, it is much more plentiful. 

 J. H. Houghton counted 25 during a walk of a quarter of a 

 mile;^ I never heard of a place in Manitoba where it attained 

 such numbers. It is, however, more numerous than it seems, 

 as its colour enables it to hide so easily, and I should estimate 

 our present population of Striped-gophers at not less than 

 250,000. 



It has greatly decreased during the last twenty years. In 

 1882 one could see 30 or 40 a day without difficulty. One day 

 in the spring of 1884 I caught 13, all males, in our half-acre 

 garden. In 1892 it had become so rare that I seldom saw more 

 than 2 or 3 in a half day's tramping, and reports from all regions 

 under the plough, show that the Striped Ground-squirrel is 

 disappearing. In my notes for June 7, 1892, I find this: 



The natives- say that the large Ground-squirrels kill the 

 Striped species. I have seen no signs of actual encounter except 

 in cages, where the small ones were usually victorious, but it is 

 quite evident that the former are overrunning the country. 

 The farmers complain greatly of their ravages. * * * 

 I have no doubt that the chief enemy of the smaller species 

 is the plough. This Squirrel's home is the virgin sod; its 

 burrows are so superficial and small that they are destroyed at 

 once by the plough, whereas the large and deep burrows of 

 richardsoni are affected at the entrance only by the overturning 



' F. B. A., Vol. I, 1829, pp. 177-8. 



' Bailey's Rep. Pr. Gr. Sq., Bull. 4, U. S. Dep. Agr., 1893, P- 37- 



