3Q8 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



has been already discovered,, is strongly in the negative, as the 

 soil and climate elsewhere do not seem adapted to its comfort- 

 able existence. Its favourite haunts are the small sandy 

 prairies adjacent to the rivers that run through the dense 

 forests of Western Oregon and Washington Territory ; for it 

 can obtain an abundance of food and water in such localities 

 at all seasons of the year; and it is comparatively safe from 

 enemies, especially those which are the most untiring in its 

 pursuit and destruction the badger and the coyote, or prairie 

 wolf, whose habitat is the Eastern plateaus. The showtl 

 being an inveterate miner, the soft sandy soil enables it to 

 dig a home for itself in a very short time ; and this, and the 

 profusion of vegetation, combined with the equable climate 

 of the western divisions, are the very excellent motives that 

 decide it in selecting the prairies for its home. 



Being the only species of its genus yet discovered, it pos- 

 sesses much interest for the scientific naturalist, and not a little 

 for the amateur who speculates on Nature's laws. In its 

 isolation it stands as an example in the animal kingdom ; 

 so the question now to be settled is, what purpose is it intended 

 to fulfil in the economy of Nature ? It was at one time sup- 

 posed to be a member of the spermophiles ; but Sir John 

 Richardson, after a careful anatomical investigation, proved it 

 to be not only a new species, but also a new genus, of the 

 sub-family Castorince, and to differ widely from the squirrel 

 family, especially in its dental formation. The molar teeth 

 being devoid of roots, he named it generically and specifically 

 Aplodontia leporina, from aplos, simple, and odons, a tooth. 

 Its special purpose therefore, so far as may be conjectured, seems 

 to be to unite the squirrel and beaver families; for while 

 it is distinct from both in many particulars, yet it greatly 

 resembles one of the spermophiles the prairie dog in its 

 range of food, domiciliary architecture, and social relations. 

 Like the latter, it is a strict vegetarian, a ceaseless miner, and 

 a provident commissary; for it is always careful to lay by 

 something for a rainy day. Unlike the prairie dog, however, 

 it does not seem to care for the sunlight, is as grave as an 

 owl, and seldom resorts to playfulness at least above ground. 



