LAKE TO FOREST OR PRAIRIE 



253 



(Fig. 380), ground squirrel, or thirteen-lined spermophile, and 

 Franklin's spermophile or gray gopher (Fig. 319), dig their 

 retreats here and scurry to them from their foraging trips. 

 The pocket gopher (Fig. 381) is also a resident of the high 



FIG. 376. Rattlesnake master, Eryngium yuccifolium 



prairie. The bulging cheek pockets stored with food character- 

 ize this little rodent. 



The field mouse, Microtus ochrogaster, builds its nest of grass, 

 sometimes hiding it under a log in the adjacent forest. It lives 

 by hunting for provender among the grasses. It is similar to 

 the Pennsylvania meadow mouse (Fig. 382) but has a gray- 

 brown back, while the Pennsylvania meadow mouse has a 

 dark brown back. The prairie deer mouse, 5.25 inches long, 



