1254 THE RODENTS 



common suslik are as much as from six to eight feet in depth, and have each but a 

 single entrance. When, however, these animals retire to the depths of their bur- 

 rows for their winter sleep, they excavate a second passage from the sleeping 

 chamber to within a short distance from the surface of the ground. On awakening 

 in the spring, an exit is made through this second passage, and the original en- 

 trance blocked up; and hence the length of time that a suslik burrow has been occu- 

 pied is indicated by the number of these deserted entrances around it. Within the 

 burrow a large quantity of food, such as roots, seeds, berries, etc. , is accumulated in the 

 summer and autumn for winter use. Susliks will, however, also eat mice and small 

 birds and their eggs. The young are born in the spring, and usually comprise from 

 four to eight in a litter. If captured sufficiently young, susliks can be easily tamed, 

 and their flesh is much esteemed by the peasants of Northeastern Europe and Siberia. 



In America all the more northern species pass the colder portion of the year in a 

 state of hibernation, but in the more southern portion of their range the period of 

 sleep is cons'iderably shortened, while the species in the extreme south remain 

 more or less active throughout the winter. The striped gopher seems to be more 

 decidedly carnivorous in its habits than the common suslik, devouring not only 

 field voles and other mice, but also some of the smaller species of squirrels, which 

 cannot even live in a district abounding with gophers. Dr. Hoy states that when 

 a squirrel is put into the same cage with a striped gopher, the latter ' ' will in a 

 moment be all animation and activity, darting at the intruder, inflicting a wound 

 and flying back with such rapidity as to leave but little chance of defense. As 

 soon as it has disabled its antagonist, it seizes it by the back of the neck and 

 instantly kills it." The gopher during the combat utters a low snarling growl, and 

 after the death of its victim feasts on the brain and blood. This gopher also fre- 

 quently robs hens' nests, while other species have been detected in carrying off 

 young chickens and turkeys. More remarkable is the circumstance that Richard- 

 son's gopher (S. richardsoni) was formerly in the habit of feeding on the flesh of 

 the innumerable carcasses of bison left by the hunters on the prairies. 



Writing of the habits of Parry's suslik (S. empetra], from the neighborhood of 

 Hudson's Bay and Behring Strait, a species closely allied to Eversmann's suslik 

 of Siberia, Sir J. Richardson observes that " it is found generally in stony districts, 

 but seems to delight chiefly in sandy hillocks amongst rocks, where burrows in- 

 habited by different individuals may be often observed crowded together. One of 

 the society is generally observed sitting erect on the summit of the hillock, whilst 

 the others are feeding in the neighborhood. Upon the approach of danger, he 

 gives the alarm, and they instantly betake themselves to their holes, remaining 

 chattering, however, at the entrances, until the advance of the enemy obliges them 

 to retire to the bottom." 



THE PRAIRIE MARMOTS 

 Genus Cynomys 



In addition to being the home of several species of true marmots akin to those 

 of the Old World, North America also possesses a closely allied, but somewhat 



