NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



fierce little carnivorous creatures which hunt it 

 down so relentlessly. 



Although the Ground Squirrel is of no economic 

 value to man, yet it does him no harm, for its 

 home is far out on the Karoo, and the few bulbous 

 roots it devours are of little or no consequence. 

 The vegetable kingdom is compensated by the soil 

 being loosened and thus rendered more fertile. 



Indeed, the destruction of these unique little 

 creatures should be distinctly discouraged, if not 

 forbidden by law, for the reason that they con- 

 stitute one of the chief attractions of the Karoo- 

 veld to the tourist journeying over these vast plains, 

 which during the greater part of each year look 

 dry and arid, and the only animal life seen from 

 the windows of the train for hundreds of miles are 

 families of these Ground Squirrels sitting upright 

 on their haunches, or running off with their long, 

 hairy tails streaming behind. Sitting hour after 

 hour looking out from the train upon the unchanging 

 Karoo-veld, the sight of these lively little creatures 

 at intervals along the route is distinctly enjoyable, 

 and in addition furnish a lesson in the Natural 

 History of the country. As an article of food the 

 Ground Squirrel is not sought after by Europeans, 

 but in the past it afforded a welcome addition to 

 the fare of the pygmy Bushman, who, with his 

 stone tools and weighted digging-stick, was not 

 long in getting it out of its burrow. 



This genus of Squirrel occurs in South Africa 



66 



