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_ REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE, Nan 
-hole. The holes run down at an angle never far from 45°, and seem to go straight 
on at that pitch for about 8 or 10 feet at least. A piece of dirt will roll down them ~ 
- and can be heard rattling a long way down. The holes are usually smaller at the 
opening than farther down; the entrances are slightly flattened, so that the two 
diameters are not alike. Following are measurements in inches of the longest and 
a 
shortest diameters of several burrows, taken near the opening: 4 by 5, 4 by 5, 4 by 33, -. 
4by 84. Many holes have been dug larger by Skunks or Badgers. Ihavebeentoldthat = | 
Prairie Dogs never leave any excrement near the hoies, but I find it scattered all 
around, and most numerous near the holes, some even down inthe holes. The animals eA 
are very shy. When they see you they run to the nearest hole, and thensitup likea 
Gopher and watch until you approach within 40 rods; then they dodge down the hole, wr 
or sometimes crawl part cf the way in and continue to watch until you are quite close, 3 
but if shot then and killed ever so dead they will slide down beyond all reach. Itried j 
to dig them out, but after digging down 3 or 4 feet in the hard clay could see away 
down the hole, and gave it up. 1t still took more than a bushel of loose dirt to fill i 
the hole below, so that dirt would not slide down. When they are sitting up ata ar 
distance watching you they keep up a chippering that is almost exactly like the 
barking of a very smail dog, but is faster. While barking they keep their tails en 
fiapping up and down very fast, and also when running and when they start . — 
A down a hole. The motion is the same as that of Richardson’s Gopher (S. richard- aS 
soni), which they resemble much in all their actions. They feed mostly on a short, 
fine grass (buffalo grass) that grows all over the prairie. They dig it up and seem 
to eat the bottom part, for the ground is covered in places with the leaves and 
roots. In the excrement [I find traces of nearly every plant which grows near, sh 
especially of Artemisia frigida, knot-grass, and a small aster that is full of seeds. 
They are very fat. I cooked one and ate part of it. It was not cooked very tender, 
-  butwas perfectly sweet and free from any strong taste; was much like the flesh of a 
malard duck. There is not the least unpleasant smellabout them. There was adead 
horse in the dog-town, which I was told broke its leg by stepping into a Prairie Dog e 
hole when running. Iam told that a man about 40 miles from here has a machine. Ms 
for forcing sulphur smoke down the holes, and that he kills many by smoking them 
out. Glendive, October, 1887: On a prairie about 2 miles northof town there area 
few Prairie Dogs. I have killed 6, and there are probably as many remaining. 
There are many unused holes extending over about 1 square mile of land (per- 
haps 1,000 holes), and the dogs are said to have been numerous there last summer, 
but from some cause have disappeared. The people here think that the coid winter 
‘killed them off. Some persons say that a crust ot ice covered the ground for a long 
time, and the dogs starved because they could not get tothe ground for food. Last 
year was unusually dry, and vegetation, always scant here, was nearly all dried up. 
Then followed avery cold, stormy winter. Nearly all the cattle and sheep died, and 
probably the Prairie Dogs were likewise affected by the weather. In this colony there 
are four places, farapart, where from 2 to 4 dogs live together, each group occupying 
‘a 8 or 4 holes, but having 1 hole which seems to be home, and into which they gener- 
~ ally run when frightened. When they run into their holes I have not known them to 
come out within an hour, and sometimes they do not come out again for half a day. 
Their food seems to consist principally of the roots and the lower part of the stalk of 
the fine, short prairie grass, but nearly all of the surrounding plants are eaten more 
or less. Do they hibernate? The people here say they do not, but come out to feed 
on every warm day all winter. Along the stage road from Miles City to the Little 
Missouri dog-towns were frequently seen, but few of the holes seem to be occupied. 
Dakota.—¥ort Buford: Not present in this immediate vicinity, but there is said Y 
to be a large town about 60 miles northwest from here, on the Milk River. Rapid 
City, November, 18387: One of the ‘earliest settlers here, a Mr. Chase, says that 
when he came to this place, in 1877, Prairie Dogs were numerous where the 
town cf Rapid City now is, as well as over most of the surrounding prairie, Lit- | 
tle flat mounds, indicating where the holes were, still remain, but most of the Prai- 
rie Dogs have disappeared. About 2 miles eastof town there is a colony of about 
100, occupying probably 40 acres of land. I should think there were 200 holes, and 
evefy oneseems tobeused. Itisona level prairie near, and about 12 feet above, Rapid 
Creek. This prairie is fenced inat present and used fora horse pasture, though part 
of the ground has been plowed and a crop of millet was raised on it this year. 
About one-fourth of the Prairie Dog holes are in the field of millet stubble. The 
ground that has not been piowed is covered with short, fine grass, but near the holes 
r this grass has been dug up and eaten until killed out over a space 2 rods wide or less, 
around most of the holes. This space, where there is no grass, has grown up thick 
with knot-grass, which they do not seem to dig up. I think the stomachs sent will 
show that knot-grass seed now forms a large part of their food. Probably to it they 
owe much of their fat, 
