PRAIRIE POCKET- GOPHERS 



Woe be to the inexperienced young fox or 

 coyote who would grasp the animal anywhere 

 save by the back of its neck, as he would then 

 give the vicious little gopher an opportunity to 

 use his long, cruel teeth ! The story would in 

 such a case have quite a different ending; the 

 fox or coyote dropping his prey and retreating 

 with howls from painful wounds, instead of trot- 

 ting off triumphantly, with a tender, juicy sup- 

 per dangling from its mouth. Two other 

 enemies the gophers have to fear, and these 

 are our feathered friends, the owl and the hawk. 

 The owls in particular, being night-prowlers, 

 bring many an unfortunate gopher to an un- 

 timely end. 



In the course of years a frontiersman came 

 and staked off his claim or homestead, which took 

 in the hill" and level stretch of prairie that was 

 occupied by the gophers. As soon as the 

 farmer was settled in his dugout, he began 

 gradually to turn the prairie into ploughed 

 land; to plant vegetables and trees; to sow his 

 fields of grain. The first year he planted a 

 portion of newly broken sod with watermelons ; 

 and another strip with corn, cucumbers, and 



