112 



RODENTS OF IOWA 



where of course it does most damage. However, not a single county 

 is blessed by the entire absence of the pest; and, if anything, its 

 numbers seem to be on the increase in spite of the rather sporadic 

 efforts made toward its control. In addition to cultivated fields, 

 the rights of way of railroads form one of the most generally in- 

 fested areas in most parts of the state. 



Fig. 29. 



-Apricot tree killed by Pocket Gopher. 

 Agriculture. ) 



(From U. S. Department of 



Food Habits, Economic Importa^ice, and Control Measures. — The 

 food of the pocket gopher consists, for the most part, of the roots 

 of various plants, which are usually attacked from below, and with- 

 out the animal's issuing from the burrow. In early days it fed 

 on the roots and stems of native plants, but upon the introduction 

 of cultivated plants by the settlers, it immediately turned its 

 attention to them, in many cases with disastrous results. In ad-, 

 dition, with the settling of the country, numbers of the natural 

 enemies of the gophers were destroyed and the soil more or less 



