248 GNAWING ANIMALS 



poisoned grain. In Iowa, Minnesota, and other states, many 

 thousands of dollars have been paid out by county treasurers 

 in bounties on Gopher scalps and tails. No animal in the 

 West is more universally disliked, or more diligently des- 

 troyed. 



My acquaintance with the Gopher Family began 

 when I was a farmer boy, in Iowa, the storm centre of 

 Geomys bursarius. Having trapped a few, I made the 

 mistake of supposing that I knew more about the habits 

 of those creatures than did my elders, who had not. In an 

 evil moment, I announced that any strong boy could catch 

 a Gopher by digging it out of its burrow, and my large 

 brother offered me twenty-five cents if I could prove that 

 claim within a week. 



That evening, with mattock and spade, I repaired to my 

 father's corn-field, into which strange Gophers were rapidly 

 migrating and settling; and finding a fresh hole with the 

 owner inside, I began to dig. My shepherd dog, Rover, 

 assisted me all he could, chiefly by keeping me company, 

 but also by digging when I rested. 



We dug into the twilight, and later on we dug into the 

 night; but the Gopher kept well ahead of us. Whenever 

 we paused to listen, we could hear him digging hard, and to 

 our dismay we found that he knew a thing or two about 

 getting on in the world. With the descent of black darkness, 

 our hopes of overtaking that Gopher descended also; and then 

 pride, not hope of reward, was all that spurred us on. Would 

 we have to give up beaten, by an ugly, pig-eyed old Gopher? 



When for about the thirtieth time I paused to wipe the 



