1256 THE RODENTS 



and one-half inches, and that of the tail, inclusive of the hairs at the tip, from four 

 to five inches. In color the upper parts are reddish brown varied with gray, and 

 the under parts yellowish or brownish white, the tail being colored like the back, 

 but with a brownish-black tip. The Columbian prairie marmot ( C. columbiamii) is 

 a smaller species distinguished by its much shorter tail, which is entirely white, and 

 by the more yellow tinge of the fur of the body. It occurs in the regions to the 

 west of the Rocky mountains, ranging at irregular intervals from Columbia through 

 Colorado and Arizona to the Sierra Nevada, and is a more mountain-dwelling 

 animal than the preceding, occurring at elevations of as much as ten thousand 

 feet above the sea. The Mexican prairie marmot (C. mexicanus) is the largest 

 of the three, and is distinguished from the common species of the plains by its 

 much longer tail, in which the black at the tip is darker and extends for a greater 

 distance. 



In general habits the prairie marmots very closely resemble the true 

 marmots, but it is stated that there is a distinct difference in this re- 

 spect between the common and the Columbian species, the burrows of the latter 

 being unprotected by a raised funnel-shaped entrance which is so characteristic of 

 those of the former. The following account of the habits of the Columbian prairie 

 marmot is taken from the travels of Lewis and Clark, who write that " these ani- 

 mals form large companies, like those on the Missouri, occupying with their 

 burrows sometimes two hundred acres of land. The burrows are separate, and 

 each possesses perhaps ten or twelve of these inhabitants. There is a little mound 

 in front of the hole, formed of the earth thrown out of the burrow; and frequently 

 there are three or four distinct holes, forming one burrow, with their entrances 

 around the base of these little mounds. These mounds, sometimes about two feet 

 in height and four in diameter, are occupied as watch-towers by the inhabitants of 

 these little communities. The marmots, one or more, are irregularly distributed on 

 the tract they thus occupy, at the distance of ten, twenty, or sometimes from 

 thirty to forty yards. When any one approaches they make a shrill whistling 

 sound, somewhat resembling tweet, tweet, tweet, the signal for their party to take 

 the alarm and retire into their intrenchments. They feed on the roots of grass, 

 etc." In Kansas the common prairie marmot appears only to retire for a few days 

 at a time during the most inclement portion of the winter, having been observed in 

 January as active as in summer. Further to the north these animals doubtless, 

 however, retire to their burrows for longer periods. 



Some of the burrows of the eastern species are commonly tenanted by a 

 small kind of owl, while others are occupied by rattlesnakes; and it is a com- 

 mon popular error that all these three animals live together in mutual associa- 

 tion and harmony. This, however, is far from being the true state of the case. 

 The owls, indeed, take up their abode in some of the deserted burrows, and do 

 no harm to their former owners, their food consisting mainly of insects and craw- 

 fish. On the other hand, the rattlesnakes resort to the colony for the purpose 

 of feeding upon the young marmots; and although they usually dwell in one 

 burrow, from which they have expelled the rightful occupants, they enter others 

 in search of food. 



