i8o 



MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



prefer to dig deep tunnels underground, in which 

 they fix up very cosy quarters. They always 

 seek and prefer the open country. 



Crevices in rocks, and burrows similar to those 

 of Chipmunks, but larger, serve as homes for 

 the Ground Squirrels of the plains. Sometinles 

 the mound at the mouth of the burrow is several 

 inches high, but frequently it has been so beaten 

 down that there is scarcely any elevation at all. 

 but just a bare spot of earth a yard in diameter. 

 Often the mouth of a tunnel is under a root, the 

 base of a tree, or the lower edge of a boulder, 

 and little or no dirt is scattered about to indi- 

 cate its presence. Always, however, the sur- 

 rounding area for three feet or more is kept 

 bare, smooth and hard by the constant trampling 

 of little feet. 



These Spermophiles spend hours at a time 

 sitting or lying near the mouth of the burrow. 

 and rarely stray farther away than one hundred 

 yards. As a class, they are gregarious animals, 

 but the Picket-pin " Gopher " is much less so than 

 many of the others. Their burrows may be 

 scattered along a road for miles, all of them 

 several rods apart. In wide areas of open 

 grassy country, small colonies may be established. 

 In Wyoming, and in Colorado, the writer has 

 seen a few groups of ten or a dozen homes each. 

 Not more than half an acre was occupied in any 

 case. About camp sites they are particularly 

 numerous. These little animals make an inter- 

 esting group to watch, after a hard day in the 

 saddle, as they scurry about in search of waste 

 grain and camp refuse. The writer has never 

 seen a Spermophile in a dense forest or at a 

 greater altitude than 8500 or 9000 feet. In 

 northern Wyoming their lowest altitude seems to 

 be about 5000 feet. 



Like the Chipmunks, the Spermophile's food is 

 largely vegetable matter made up of seeds and 

 grasses, but it will not scorn animal food such as 

 grasshoppers and other insects. In former days 

 dead Bison were said to be favored as food. 

 They will attack growing grain, and store the 

 ripened grain in their underground chambers. 



From early fall until early or late spring, 

 according to the latitude, the Spermophile is 

 dead to the world, but, be the ground bare or 

 snow-covered, it appears at about the same time 

 in the spring in any given locality. 



As soon as hibernation is over the raising of 

 a family occupies its attention. Four to six 

 young to a litter appear in middle or late May 

 in Colorado. 



Small rodents seem to exist to furnish food 

 for the birds of prey and carnivorovis animals 

 large and small. To the Bear, the Coyote and 

 the Weasel, they are all acceptable, and the 

 Ground Squirrel is no exception to the rule. 



Mr. Merritt Cary. in " A Biological Survey of 

 Colorado." says: " The sage flats in Middle and 

 North parks are densely populated with these 

 Ground Squirrels, and ranchmen consider them 

 very injurious to the cattle range and to small 

 grain. Judging from my own observations the 

 damage inflicted is by no means slight, and when 

 the large territory inhabited l)y them is con- 

 sidered, it must be very considerable. During 

 July I often saw numbers in the rye fields eating 

 the green stalks, and not a vestige of grass re- 

 mained near their burrows. Ranchmen in the 

 Snake River Valley claim that this species 

 destroys fully a third of the rye crop, pulling 

 down the stalks to get at the heads. In North 

 Park I often saw them in the hay meadows, 

 whither they resort in the early morning, busily 

 engaged in pulling down and eating the tall grass 

 stems. This species hibernates very early in the 

 autumn.'' 



Close acquaintance with the Picket-pin 

 " Gopher " in the western plains shows how well 

 it deserves its name. Curiosity seems to require 

 that it sees as much as possible of every 

 strange object. At first it stands up in a 

 bent position like a Tree Squirrel, then 

 straightens u]), and finally fairly raises itself on 

 its hind legs, stretches to its full height, and 

 gazes with all its might with its twinkling, bright 

 black eyes. When in this position, with its arms 

 partly folded at its sides, the diameter of its 

 body seems to be about the same throughout, and 

 the term '' Picket-pin '' is the most apt that 

 could be applied, especially in a region where 

 horses are often tethered. A close or a sudden 

 approach will send the animal scurrying to its 

 burrow with a sharp, trilling whistling resem- 

 bling that of a Chipmunk. In a moment, if you 

 look down into the hole, you will see its head 

 appear in the blackness. Stand still, and the 

 little fellow will soon move out with short starts 

 and jerks. If you move backwards a few yards, 

 it will presently be looking at you in the regular 

 picket-pin style. Attracted by curiosity perhaps 

 two or three more from the same opening will 

 join the first. 



Richardson's Spermophile is a northern 

 neighbor of the Great Plains species. It is 

 about the same size, but of more yellowish hue, 

 so that it is hard to distinguish from the surface 



