PESTS ON THE FARM AND THEIR CONTROL 493 



The Beeckey ground squirrel is knowii to be a carrier of bubonic 

 plague. 



Control. — Poison for Columbia ground squirrels. — Mix one 

 ounce of powdered strychnine (alkaloid), one ounce of powdered 

 bicarbonate of soda, one teaspoonful of saccharin, and one-half 

 pound of dry powdered laundry starch, and stir enough cold 

 water to make a smooth, creamy paste. Apply to twelve quarts 

 of good, clean oats in a metal tub or other vessel, and stir thor- 

 oughly to distribute the poison evenly. When the poisoned grain 



Types of spt'fial pocket-gopher traps. — U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



is dry, scatter it, along squirrel trails or on hard soil on the sur- 

 face near the squirrel burrows. A quart of the grain should 

 make forty or fifty baits, and if properly distributed stock will 

 not be endangered by this quantity. 



Poison for Richardson ground squirrels. — Mix one table- 

 spoonful of laundry starch in one-half teacup of cold water, and 

 stir it into one-half pint of boiling water to make it a thin, clear 

 mucilage. Mix one ounce of powdered strychnine with one ounce 

 of powdered bicarbonate of soda, and stir the mixture into the 

 hot starch, making a smooth, creamy paste free from lumps. 

 Stir in one-cpiarter pint of heavj^ corn syrup and one tablespoon- 

 ful of glycerin, and, finally, one scant teaspoonful of saccharin. 

 Apply to twenty c^uarts of oats, and mix thoroughly to coat every 

 kernel. Each quart of the poisoned grain should make forty to 



