TUB MA If MOT. ; , , 



It* !>!( i- remarkably severe for so .small an animal, and it is of such a soar disposition that it 

 i- :iiways ready to -n.i\> at those who attempt to capture or handle it 



Si-i I:\IMI-HII i s is a genus eml. racing a few littli- animals, which are striped or spotted like 

 the preceding, Init aiv Inn- -Imdied and have a more slender and often shorter tail. The figure 

 of Hood's Marmot in this volume is quite ehara -t.-i -i-tir of the. group. They ha\<- \\.-ll 

 develojied cheek -|mi -lies. Tliey are routined to the colder ]>ortions of North America, and 

 Enrol :m<l A-ia. None are found east of the plains or pniirieM. They range westward to the 

 1'acilic roast, and southward to the plains of Northern Mexiro. Several sjiecies are remark- 

 able for their carnivorous propensities. -They devour mice and such small game. Tlte farmer* 

 are troubled by their carrying off small chickens. 



Murray's "Geographical I>istrit>ution of Animals" enumerates twenty-five species, of 

 which one i- extinct. Of these, nine are of the Old World, and fifteen North American. 

 Two only occur in Europe. Some of the species are, called Ground Squirrels. The Line-tailed 

 Sperm6philus is so called. Its habitat is Colorado and southward to Mexico. 



Franklin's Spenno]ihile or Gray-headed is common as far east as Illinois and Wiscon- 

 sin, though Audubon and Bachman seem to have overlooked it. Mr. Jillson, a veteran 

 taxidermist, informs us that this Sj>erm6phile wa-s introduced into Tuckerton, New Jersey, in 

 1S67, two pets having escaped. From this jiir the species has increased to great numbers, 

 and they are seen in several towns nine miles in different directions from Tuckerton. They 

 inhabit the fields, but never the woodland. They are proving a pest, as the loss of young 

 chickens and turkeys has been considerable since their introduction. 



THE BoBAC, or POI.ANP M \I:M"|. i> one of the true Marmot-, ami is a native of parts 

 of Northern KurojK* and Asia. 



It is larger than the preceding animals, and appears to be of still greater dimensions, 

 owing to the full coat of thick hair with which it is profusely covered. The color of this 

 animal is a tolerably uniform gray-brown, slightly tinged w ih yellow, and having a " watered " 

 appearance along the back. The length of the Bobac is rather more than twenty inches, the 

 tail U-ing about -i\ inches long. The Bobac is a gregarious animal, living in small bands of 

 thirty or forty in number, and being always found to prefer dry to moist soil. It does not 

 seem to be fond of elevated situations, but generally takes up its residence on the sides of 

 valleys, where the temperature is not so bleak as on the mountain-top. 



Liko many other burrowing animals, it lays up a store of provisions for the winter, and 

 generally chooses well-dried hay for that purpose. So hard does the animal lalx.r at amassing 

 this treasure, that in a single burrow there is generally found as much hay as will suffice a 

 horse for a night. It is slightly variable in color, some specimens being more brown than 

 others. 



THE common MARMOT is about the size of an ordinary rabbit, and not very unlike that 

 animal in color. The general tint of the fur is grayish yellow upon the back and Hanks, 

 deepening into black-grayon the top of the head, and into black on the extremity of the tail 



It is very common in all the mountainous districts of Northern Europe, where it associates 

 in small societies. The Marmot is an expert excavator, and digs very Urge and rather compli- 

 cated burrows, always appearing to reserve one chamber as a storehouse for the heap of dried 

 grasses and other similar substances which it amasses for the purpose of sustaining life during 

 the winter. The chamber in which the animal lives and >\>-<-\>- i> considerably larger than the 

 storehouse, measuring, in some cases, as much as seven feet in diameter. The tunnel which 

 leads to these chambers is only just large enough to admit the body of the animal, and is about 

 six feet in length. 



To these burrows the Marmot retires about the middle of September, and after closing the 

 entrance with grass and earth, enters into the lethargic liiln-rnating state, and does not .merge 

 until the beginning of April. Like other hi'N-rnating animals, they are very fat just l-fore 

 they take up their winter-quarters, and as their fur is then in the best condition, they are 



