GUESTS OF THE GOPHER. 105 



usually in a layer of indurated subsoil, at a depth of 

 eight or nine feet below the surface. Since but little 

 has been written concerning the home of the gopher, 

 and the companions with which it is surrounded in 

 that home, I quote at length from Mr. Hubbard's in- 

 teresting description, as follows: 



"Like its European relative, the gopher is a very 

 long-lived animal. That it may live more than one 

 hundred years I am inclined to believe is true. Cer- 

 tain it is that a quarter of a century brings little or no 

 change to a full-grown tortoise, and the oldest inhabit- 

 ants in Florida can not tell of the beginnings of some 

 of their burrows. Such ancient and well-established 

 domiciles, with entrances always invitingly open, nat- 

 urally serve as places of refuge for many animals, 

 when hard pressed by enemies, or to night prowlers 

 when daylight overtakes them far from their proper 

 homes. Even the rattlesnake, according to popular 

 repute, has a more than passing acquaintance with 

 these cool retreats. 



"A number of years ago I learned that the gopher 

 has for a permanent guest, a sort of parlor boarder, 

 as it were, a batrachian, commonly called the 'gopher 

 toad. 7 Specimens of these I frequently saw on sum- 

 mer evenings sitting at the entrance of the burrows 

 after the manner of toads, quietly waiting for their 

 supper to come to them. On the slightest alarm these 

 timid creatures leaped quickly back into the gopher 

 hole and saved themselves, so that it was not until 



