FRANKLIN'S SPERMOPHILE 199 



the Gray Ground Squirrel. It should not, however, be called 

 the Gray Gopher, or Scrub Gopher, for both these names are 

 erroneous. It is best to call each animal by a name peculiarly 

 its own, even though the beginning of correct naming involves 

 a little trouble. 



On an open prairie, especially in spring when the young 

 grass is short, this spermophile is a conspicuous animal, and 

 strongly resembles the gray squirrel of the East. Its upper 

 surface is of a yellowish-gray color marked with fine, wavy, 

 crosswise lines of black or brown. Its under surface is dis- 

 tinctly gray, and its hair is coarse and stiff. In size it is 

 about 9+5 inches. Its home is the central portion of the 

 range of the thirteen-lined spermophile. The western limit 

 follows the eastern boundary of the arid plains northward 

 from southeastern Kansas to the Saskatchewan, Alberta, and 

 thence southeastward to southern Wisconsin, eastern Illinois, 

 and northern Missouri. 



Whenever numerous in farming regions, these animals are 

 very troublesome, not only in destroying grain in the ground 

 and in the stack, but also in destroying young chickens. 

 They are very venturesome in locating permanently near 

 farmhouses and barns, and sometimes they are very destruc- 

 tive in gardens. As an offset to the valuable farm products 

 destroyed by these creatures, Franklin's Spermophile destroys 

 great numbers of noxious insects, such as grasshoppers, cater- 

 pillars, beetles and also field mice. In the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, twenty-nine stomachs were examined 

 with the following result: animal matter present, 30.8 per 

 cent.; vegetable, (IS. 5 per cent.; and undetermined, 1.2 per 



