PRAIRIE POCKET-GOPHERS 



hill and began to throw up hillocks of dirt 

 which was a warning that no other four-footed 

 miner should trespass upon his domain. All 

 night he worked and in the morning there were 

 a dozen little mounds to demonstrate his in- 

 dustry. He dug avenues, six to ten inches 

 deep and a number of feet long, in several di- 

 rections. He did not have a set plan, how or 

 where he would dig, but determined his course 

 by the conditions he found. If he chanced to 

 find a tender plant-root he followed that up and 

 dug a hall to his underground mansion in that 

 direction. If it were a stone he struck he would 

 at once change his course and mine a more 

 feasible route. His favorite surroundings were 

 loose mellow soils, where he would throw the 

 dirt rapidly over his smooth, sleek body, as he 

 pushed it back with his fore-paws, this being 

 one of his chief sports and the only time he 

 ever had an amiable frame of mind if it be 

 just to apply the term mind to his slight men- 

 tal equipment. 



Off from the main channel or hall he dug a 

 room some three feet across and considerably 

 deeper than the other avenues. This he used 



