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WAN ee TAT ON 
sgh ry i Wet ab hy AP aE 
‘4 ra we ‘ Hea abies le y occupant I a we “A Vy siienn 
448 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
n~ ot 
| j i Nir bi etal 
at the inouth of ahole. . Just back of their shoulders there is a small elongated bare 
spot, which shows plainly from the wrong side of the skin, and seems to be com-— 
posed of little round glands or dots. : tae er 
POCKET GOPHER (Geomys bursarius). 
49h 
Minnesota.—Elk River, Sherburne County, November, 1887: Abundant; most 
numerous on the lightest and sandiest soil, and the poorer the soil the more they _ 
dig. They are considered a great pest. They do not destroy much grain by eating 
it, though sometimes they get into a shock of wheat and eat the heads of afew bun- 
dles. When their holes run through a hill of potatoes, they always clean out the 
bill. Sometimes they do noticeable damage in a patch of potatoes; I have seen 
where one Gopher had eaten the potatoes out of about a.dozen hills, never more. But 
the greatest damage they do is in covering small grain and grass with the earth 
which they throw from their holes; the damage donegin this way is often consider- 
able. I once counted the hills thrown up by three Gophers twelve days after a rain. 
The number of fresh hills was, respectively, 28, 35,and40. As nearas I could judge — 
without measurement, the hills averaged about 6 quarts of dirt each, and each coy- 
ered about 1 square foot of ground. Pocket Gophers work mostly by night. They 
sontinue throwing up hills all the time a crop is growing. One Gopher to the acre 
will cover a large area of grain, but probably they will not average one to the acre 
except where most numerous. 
%. 
Ceo Mary. dil 
Fre. 1. Poeket Gopher (Geomys bursarius). 1, Face, showing srooved upper incisors and opening of 
y. = L L 
external cheek pouches. 1a. Fore foot. : 
Fic.2. Gray Pouched Gopher (Thomomys talpoides). 2. Face, showing plane upper incisors and open- 
5 1 Zl y po 1 » 
opening of external cheek pouches. 2a. Fore foot. 
[Drawings from alcoholic specimens. ] 
In fields where the soil is shallow the continuous throwing up of the dirt below - 
the soil is said to injure the producing qualities of the land, but I do not feel certain 
that itisso. I think it probable that their plowing the land over and over for ages 
past has much to do with its fertility, at any rate with the depth of soil. They ~ 
have spent their lives in preparing the ground for man, and nov y he spends his time 
in trying to get rid of them. But this isnot hard to do, nor does it take much time, 
for of all animals they are the most easily trapped, as they live almost entirely under 
the ground, and extend their holes slowly. When all in a field have been caught, 
others do not get in itagainsoon. Inthe spring many of them leave their holes and 
travel above ground; these are probably the males, Sometimes they leave one hole - 
and start another, but usually I think one Gopher stays in its hole all sammer. Thave’ 
