FIELD BOOK OF MAMMALS 



to dart back like a flash at the first sign of danger. The cheek- 

 pockets are used for food storage, and animals taken feeding 

 at the mouth of the burrow nearly always have the food in the 

 pockets, showing that no time is taken to consume the 

 vegetation as it is cut. 



If one approaches an open burrow carefully it is possible to 

 get quite close to a Pocket Gopher, for the animal's sight is 

 poor. Vibration of the ground by careless steps will warn the 

 Gopher instantly, and so will a breeze blowing from the 

 observer toward the burrow, but if one stands motionless the 

 Gopher will bring out earth or gather food at a distance of only 

 a few feet from man. Earth is shoved up to the rim of the 

 hole by the chest and forelegs of the Gopher and the animal 

 appears for only an instant as a final push sends the load 

 falling down the sides of the "gopher-hill." It goes back at 

 once for more and may be gone for a minute or more, but is 

 generally back in a few seconds. Unless unduly frightened, 

 the Gopher will not go away for good and leave the burrow 

 open, so as long as the entrance is open the observer can be 

 sure the little digger will reappear soon. However, this animal 

 is very cautious and I have been deceived more than once by a 

 supposedly open burrow which a suspicious Gopher had plug- 

 ged shortly after I began to watch it, but left the plug several 

 inches below the surface of the ground where I would not see 

 it until directly at the hole. 



It is possible to catch a Gopher, when an open burrow is 

 found, by putting an open noose about the hole and standing 

 back with the end of the string until the head and shoulders 

 of the Gopher appear. A twitch of the cord and one has a 

 very angry captive, eager to bite and requiring careful hand- 

 ling. The Gopher disposition is surly and touchy, and, ex- 

 cept during the mating season, full-grown animals never seem 

 to be found more than one to a burrow. 



Gophers which get into a garden are very destructive and 

 the farmer will find them difficult to trap. The ordinary steel 

 trap is filled and sprung with earth oftener than by the animal 

 itself, but special Gopher traps have been devised which are 

 more successful. It is necessary to clean out the burrows well 

 when a trap is set, not only to remove earth which may be 

 pushed into the trap, but to avoid warning the inmate that 

 the runway has been tampered with. Finally, a board or 

 290 



