364 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



minutes to go over the field a second time. The few remaining gophers, 

 if any, may become wary, and in that case they should be trapped. 



A few experiments performed on a rather extensive scale seem to in- 

 dicate that a more acceptable bait than soaked corn is to be found in 

 finely chopped sweet potatoes. These potatoes are put in a box and cut 

 up with a sharp spade until the pieces average about the size of the end 

 of one's finger. They are then treated with poisoned syrup as in the 

 case of the corn. This bait should be put out when freshly made, as it is 

 likely to mold if left standing about for any considerable length of time. 



The best time of the year to poison gophers is when they are most 

 active in extending their burrows. This is usually in the late fall, for 

 they are then laying in stores of provisions for the winter. Spring is a 

 period of renewed activity, and poison may be successfully used at this 

 time also. In fact, it will pay to make war on pocket gophers at any 

 time when they are seen to be active. 



FUMIGATION. The use of carbon bisulphide vapor or the fumes of burn- 

 ing sulphur as agents for destroying the pocket gopher is not recom- 

 mended by this station. 



TRAPPING. Although somewhat slow, there is no surer method of 

 ridding one's premises of pocket gophers than by trapping. When you 

 have the animal fast in the jaws of a trap you are certain that his career 

 of uselessness is over. If the gopher were as wise as a rat we would not 

 be permitted to indulge this feeling very often, but a long series of ex- 

 periments has convinced me that he will blunder into almost any sort of 

 trap that is set for him, no matter how we set it. 



Summary. 



1. The prairie pocket gopher is most abundant in the central and north- 

 eastern parts of the state, particularly in the region drained by the Kan- 

 sas river and the lower courses of its main tributaries. The plains 

 pocket gopher is found in more scattering numbers in the western third 

 of the state and down the Arkansas valley to some distance east of the 

 great bend. Southeastern Kansas is comparatively free from gophers. 



2. The gopher digs extensive runways in the subsoil of wild lands and 

 cultivated fields, piling the excavated earth in mounds on the surface. 

 These runways have no exit above ground. A single animal will throw 

 up several mounds a day for weeks at a time. A gopher spends his en- 

 tire time in his underground burrow. 



3. Gophers breed in the late winter and early spring. Pregnant 

 females may be found from January to May, but the young are nearly 

 all born in March and April. There is but one brood a year. The num- 

 ber of young varies from three to six, and averages a little more than 

 four. 



4. The natural food of the pocket gopher consists of the fleshy roots 

 it encounters in extending the runways, with the addition of some suc- 

 culent vegetation drawn down into the burrow from above ground. Some 

 food is stored in underground chambers for winter use. 



