THE GRAY GOPHERS 



119 



The rapidity with which the animal works 

 is amazing. In his rare monograph on the fam- 

 ily Merriam assures us that a pocket-gopher 

 can make two hundred complete strokes with 

 his teeth in a minute. Its jaws are so arranged 

 that thirty-eight distinct single cuts are made 



SOUTHERN POCKET GOPHER (GEOMYS BURSARITS). 

 From a Painting by E. T. Seton. 



by the forward stroke of the jaw and twenty- 

 eight by the backward stroke. Thus, the little 

 creature's jaws may make a grand total of 

 13,200 cut a minute when in active opera- 

 tion! 



Large trees are sometimes entirely girdled 



