THE 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



Vol. 14 January, 1918 No. 1 



The Thirteen-Striped Spermophile, or Striped Gopher 



E. Lawrence Palmer. Ph.D. 

 Professor in Biological Sciences, Iowa State Teachers' College 



Any one who has lived in the prairie region of the middle west 

 cannot help but be familiar with these animated ten pins. One 

 does not need to spend hours in search of material for nature-study 

 here for as he goes walking or riding through the prairie country 

 these "now-you-see-me, now-you-don't" animals make up a con- 

 spicuous part of the landscape. With ears pressed close to the 

 rounded head, with body erect and fore paws so small as to be 

 inconspicuous, these animals stand perfectly stiff and rigid at the 

 approach of any thing unfamiliar. There seems to be a dead line 

 somewhere, however, because all of a sudden there is a sharp 

 whistle and the approaching enemy sees only a scurrying brown 

 form or nothing at all. 



The writer had an excellent opportunity to observe these animals 

 on the campus of the Iowa State Teachers' College at Cedar Falls, 

 Iowa. Here, they manage to hold their own in spite of small 

 boys who snare them, learned professors who poison them and a 

 large coterie of cats which are protected by the ever present 

 janitor who can see nothing of good in "just gophers." In spite of 

 all of these handicaps, the campus has each year managed to boast 

 a family or two of these interesting animals. Last summer, a 

 family took up its headquarters under the sidewalk just outside 

 my office. About two thousand people must have passed this 

 animal home at least once or twice even- school day of the summer 

 term and yet but few stopped to acquaint themselves with any of 

 the interesting habits of its occupants. Most of the people passed 

 by without a thought, never noticing the round head with close 

 cropped ears and bright eyes peeking at them from the edge of the 

 concrete a few feet away. The animals became so tame that one 

 could approach within ten feet without great difficulty and I have 



1 



