THE CAPE GROUND SQUIRREL 



fed, they may be kept in health and strength for years 

 If captured when young they may be so thoroughly 

 tamed that if released they remain in and about 

 the premises. To keep these animals in captivity, 

 a good way is to enclose several square yards of 

 ground, and sink wire netting or galvanised iron 

 round the boundaries to a depth of two or more 

 feet, to prevent them burrowing out and escaping. 

 The safest plan is to pave or cement the floor of 

 the enclosure, leaving a portion in the centre for 

 them to form burrows in. The floor should slope 

 outward from the centre to prevent the burrows 

 getting flooded. In captivity the Ground Squirrel 

 may be fed on any kind of edible vegetable sub- 

 stance, including bread, fruit, nuts and even meat. 

 In the wild state their diet consists of the* roots of 

 the stunted Karoo bushes, and the bulbous plants 

 which grow in such abundance on the Karoo-veld. 

 These it digs out with its strong front claws. 

 They furnish the little creature with both food 

 and drink, for out upon the dry wastes which are 

 its home there is no water to be had, except when 

 an occasional shower of rain falls. Even then the 

 water does not lie on the surface, for the thirsty 

 land rapidly sucks it up and supplies it to the 

 parched vegetation. There are a considerable 

 number of creatures which never drink, the moisture 

 in the food they subsist upon being ample for their 

 bodily needs. 



When the naturalist travels in South Africa and 



63 



