PRAIRIE POCKET- GOPHERS 



well as a benefit to the farmer in his westward 

 progress. 



The gopher feels himself quite secure in his 

 dark, cheerless home, in spite of his solitary 

 method of living and his precaution to always 

 cover all entrances to his underground house; 

 and this, by the way, is more to keep out the 

 sunlight than to exclude enemies. He has two 

 natural enemies who break through his walls, 

 seek him and capture him in his own dungeon. 

 One of these is the weasel and the other the 

 bull-snake. Both of these enemies are accus- 

 tomed to the underground world and to homes 

 of darkness. The wiry little weasel, with its 

 long, slender body, enters the last wall or bur- 

 row of the hermit, then glides along quietly 

 until it reaches and surprises the solitary occu- 

 pant in his cold, dark chamber. It soon sucks 

 the life-blood of the pugnacious miner, who 

 thus taken at a disadvantage, is unable to de- 

 fend and save himself. In such a case there 

 are no more new galleries or fresh mounds 

 thrown up by the late occupant of that special 

 claim, during that night or ever after. There 

 are no companions or loved ones to tell of his 



