316 



THE RODENTS OR GNAWING ANIMALS. 



Krettier head. Its fur consists of loose, rather wiry 

 air; the upper surface is yellowish gray, diversified 

 with irregular waves of russet yellow and small 

 spots; the under parts are reddish yellow, and the 

 chin and throat are white. 



The Souslik is mainly found in the east of Europe, 

 its range taking in the northern provinces of the 

 Austro- Hungarian empire and all of southern and 

 temperate Russia. In most localities where the 

 Souslik is found it is common, and is occasionally 

 perceptibly prejudicial to agriculture. It selects 

 dry, treeless localities as its haunts; preferring above 

 all others firm sand or clay ground, which is princi- 



[>ally fields and grassy plains. According to Herk- 

 otz, it has recently paid special attention to rail- 

 ways, the embankments of which facilitate digging 

 and afford a certain shelter from rain showers. The 

 Souslik always lives gregariously, but every animal 



savory flesh, and he hunts them with nooses, catches 

 them in traps, digs them out or drives them out of 

 their burrows, flooding their retreats with water, 

 and in other ways. In this way the propagation of 

 the Souslik is checked. 



Various Species of ° f , the Spermophiles proper there are sev- 

 American Soer- e species inhabiting North America. In 

 moohiles ^ e ^'Sh north is found the species nearest 



^ ' to the Souslik. It is known as Parry's Mar- 



mot Squirrel {Spermophilus empetra). In Illinois, Indiana and 

 south to Kansas, north to Dakota and into Canada, is the species 

 variously known as the Gray Prairie Squirrel and the Gray 

 Gopher {Spermophilus franklini). Another is the Thirteen- 

 lined Spermophile, sometimes called " Stars and Stripes" 

 {Spermophilus triiiccum-lineatus) which has on its dark red- 

 dish brown back and sides rows of light spots alternating with 

 from six to eight black, longitudinal stripes. It is found in the 

 eastern states. There are other local varieties in California 

 and Mexico. Their life resembles that of the Souslik, the 

 northern varieties laying up large stores of provisions for the 

 winter, while those further south do not find so large a stock 



PRAIRIE DOGS. These animals are familiar to all who have lived in or visited the western plains of the United States, or the elevated 



table-lands of New Mexico. The picture shows these cheerful, harmless little creatures engaged in eating grass or amusing themselves, and brings 

 out the characteristics of the animals— the stout body, the large head, the alert, watchful eyes and the small ears. {Cynomys ludoviciamts.) 



digs its own individual burrow, the male a shallow 

 one, the female a deeper retreat. 



Food and Tender herbs and roots, cereals, 

 Foes of the beans and peas, various berries and 

 Souslik. vegetables form the usual food of 

 the Souslik. Towards autumn it gathers provisions, 

 which it carries home in its cheek pouches, Hamster 

 fashion. Besides this the Souslik is a dangerous foe 

 to Mice and birds having their nests on the ground, 

 for it not only plunders the nests, but also attacks 

 the animals themselves, if they are not wary. 



The devastation a Souslik perpetrates by its plun- 

 derings is noticeable only in places where the ani- 

 mal is numerous. Ermines, Weasels, Polecats and 

 Martens, Falcons, Crows, Herons, Bustards, even 

 Cats, Terriers and other well-known exterminators 

 of Rodents, zealously pursue the Souslik. The Bus- 

 tard shows great zeal and skill in pursuit, killing 

 the animal with one blow of its beak and eating it, 

 skin and all. Man also pursues the Sousliks, partly 

 on account of their skins, partly on account of their 



necessary, for the reason that their seclusion is of shorter 

 duration. 



The Prairie Dogs' The Prairie Dog ( Cynomys ludovicia- 

 Leading Char- ?ius), living in North America, is in a 

 acteristics. certain sense a connecting link be- 

 tween the Spermophiles and the true Marmots; for 

 though, properly speaking, it belongs to the former, 

 it more resembles the latter. The body is stout, the 

 head large, the tail short and bushy, the hair of equal 

 length above and on the sides; the cheek pouches 

 are of inferior development. Adult Prairie Dogs 

 attain a total length of about sixteen inches, not 

 quite three inches of which belong to the tail. The 

 coloring of the upper parts is light reddish brown, 

 mixed with blackish gray; the under surface is 

 dingy white and the tip of the short tail shows 

 brown rings. 



The appellation of "Prairie Dog," which has been 

 adopted more and more generally, derived its origin 

 from the first discoverers, the old Canadian trappers 

 or hunters who gave the little animal the name on 



