DESERT ANIMALS 



153 



all. Besides there is no evidence from an ex- 

 amination of his stomach that he ever eats any- 

 thing but dried grass, bark, and sage leaves. 

 But if the matter is a trifle doubtful about the 

 rabbit on account of his traveling capacities, 

 there is no doubt whatever about the ground 

 squirrels, the rock squirrels, and the prairie 

 dogs. None of them ever gets more than a hun- 

 dred yards from his hole in his life, except pos- 

 sibly when migrating. And the circuit about 

 each hole is usually bare of everything except 

 dried grass. There is no moisture to be had. 

 The prairie dog is not found on the desert, but 

 in Wyoming and Montana there are villages of 

 them on the grass prairies, with no water, root, 

 lobe, or leaf within miles of them. The old 

 theory of the prairie dog digging his hole down 

 to water has no basis in fact. Patience, a strong 

 arm and a spade will get to the bottom of his 

 burrow in half an hour. 



All the desert animals know the meaning of 

 a water famine, and even those that are pro- 

 nounced water drinkers know how to get on 

 with the minimum supply. The mule-deer 

 whose cousin in the Adirondacks goes down to 

 water every night, lives in the desert mountains, 

 month in and month out with nothing more 



Rock 

 squirrels. 



Prairie 

 dogs and 

 water. 



Water 

 famine. 



