GROUND SQUIRRELS 111 



made in the day of his leanness, his fat, over- 

 filled, pendent belly would not come on in after 

 him. And the coyote right behind! He wiggled, 

 he squeezed, he scratched and pawed and gave 

 a whistling squeal, but that little round ball of a 

 body could not be made to fit the small hole. 

 Realizing his plight he now threw himself back- 

 ward, and rushed to another hole. As luck 

 would have it, this second hole was better 

 suited to his need, and down he went, one last 

 flop of his tail all the coyote saw of this fear- 

 stricken, round-tailed chipmunk. 



The vernacular name, "round-tailed chip- 

 munk," given to this animal on account of 

 its small size, is a misnomer; the proper name 

 is round- tailed ground squirrel. So wary are 

 these animals that people often travel for days 

 through the desert and never even suspect 

 their presence. They are exceedingly shy crea- 

 tures and scurry to their holes at the first ap- 

 proach of a stranger. Considerable patience 

 and much sitting still is required if you wish to 

 observe them. About all the average desert 

 traveler ever sees of them is occasionally a little 

 gray or brownish form scuttling down a hole, 



