2 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [14:1— Jan., 1918 



seen groups of people pass by twenty feet away without alarming 

 the animals sufficiently to scare them into their burrows. 



These spermophiles remind an easterner very much of the chip- 

 munk he used to chase through brush piles in the wood-lot. They 

 are larger animals, however, and prefer a land covered with a good 

 hard sod to the leaves and clutter of the forest floor. They are at 

 least an inch and a half longer than their chipmunk relative and 

 their habit of standing erect makes them appear much longer than 

 the eleven inches which is their maximum length. Their backs are 

 so characteristic that scientists have given the species the name of 

 tridecemlineatus to signify the thirteen stripes which they bear. 

 These stripes are not exactly continuous but consist of dirty yellow 

 bands alternating with broader dark brown or chestnut bands, the 

 darker bands being dotted by a row of light spots which tend to run 

 together towards the head. The under parts are uniformly dull 

 yellow brown, becoming white at the chin. The tail, which one 

 remembers because of the animal's habit of giving it a defiant flip 

 on disappearing into the burrow, is yellowish in the center and sur- 

 rounded by a band of yellow tipped black hairs. 



Along early in April, the first spermophiles appear on the campus 

 but usually they are so few in number that they do not attract 

 attention. We are told that the male deserts his family on the 

 arrival of the young and it is certain that during May and early 

 June there was little evidence that the burrow under the walk was 

 inhabited. I had almost come to the conclusion that the campus 

 cat had discovered the family but about the last week in June I 

 discovered the mother and her young. I doubt if the mother had 

 been confined to the burrow as much as my observations would 

 indicate, but I know that I was unaware of the presence of the 

 animals for some time. Cloudy weather is not favored by the 

 gophers and, as we had this quite commonly, they were not out as 

 much as one would have wished. 



We are told by E. T. Seton that there are usually nine in a litter. 

 I know that I have seen six young at one time and am not averse to 

 believing that there may have been more. Life evidently begins 

 in earnest for the young gophers as soon as they are able to see the 

 world. Almost any time of day when the sun is shining we could 

 see them out busily gathering up elm fruits and other foods. 

 I remember one evening particularly when the little family was 

 entertaining a bunch of students. The gophers are usually seen 



