242 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. XL 



and Buffalo counties; Jackson reports them from Pepin, Pierce and 

 Dunn counties il. c, 1908, p. 24), and in a later paper he states that they 

 are "exceedingly abundant in parts of the sandy country in the southern 

 two-thirds of Bayfield and Douglas counties" (/. c, 1910, p. 88). In 

 the southeastern part of the state they are rarely found, although 

 Dr. Merriam records specimens from Winnebago and Fond du Lac 

 counties (/. c, p. 120). 



The Pocket Gophers live in underground tunnels which they exca- 

 vate in loose alluvial soils. Their food consists mainly of roots of 

 various plants, but they also attack the roots of trees and often do con- 

 siderable damage to orchards. Lantz says,* "Originally they sub- 

 sisted on roots and stems of native plants, but they immediately turned 

 their attention to the cultivated plants introduced by the settler, includ- 

 ing succulent garden vegetables, alfalfa, and clover; they are indebted 

 to the settler also, for the destruction of many of their natural enemies 

 and for loosening the soil by tillage. Thus the gopher's environment 

 is greatly improved, and except where due vigilance has been exercised, 

 these pests have multiplied, and greatly extended their range in culti- 

 vated lands." In writing of its depredations the same author says: 

 "In attacking nursery trees the gopher takes the entire root, not merely 

 the bark. It does not eat the roots all at once but cuts them into 

 short pieces, packs them into its enormous cheek pouches, and carries 

 them away to its caches, or stores of food. It is these provisions for 

 the future that make its injury to young orchards, nurseries, and 

 gardens so extensive. The animal lays up far more than it ever con- 

 sumes. It is not uncommon to plow up stores of small potatoes or 

 roots of clover, alfalfa, or trees amounting to from a peck to half a 

 bushel at a place. As the stores are usually placed much deeper in 

 the ground, those uncovered by the ploughman are but a small portion 

 of those deposited by the animals" {I. c, p. 213). 



In writing of this species Kennicott says, "East of the Mississippi 

 it has been found in some parts of Indiana,! Michigan, and Wisconsin; 

 and on the great prairies in Central Illinois; also south and east of the 

 Illinois River it is constantly met with. . . . On the wild prairie, 

 the gopher throws up a mound of earth of considerable size, frequently 

 10 feet in diameter and from i^ to 2 feet in height, being highest on 

 the low ground liable to inundation. In this mound is his nest, in which 

 the young are bred; and from it, endless galleries are excavated in 

 various directions, a foot or two below the surface. These are com- 

 plicated, frequently intersecting and running together, and in short, 



* Pocket Gophers as Enemies of Trees. Yearbook Dept. Agr., 1909, pp. 210-2 1 1 . 



t Its range in Indiana appears to be restricted to the western portion of the 

 state. Hahn records it from Newton and Lake counties (/. c, p. 525). 



