How Animals Work, 



wards. When a sufficient quantity has accumulated be- 

 hind the animal, he immediately turns in the burrow, 

 and by bringing the wrists together under the chin, with 

 the palms of the hands held vertically, forces himself 

 along by the hind feet, pushing the earth out in front. 

 When an opening in the tunnel is reached, the earth 

 is discharged through it, forming a little hillock." 



Like the Badger, the Pocket-gopher can run back- 

 wards with almost as much speed and ease as it can 

 progress forwards, and Dr. Merriam states that " this 

 method of progression was particularly noticeable when 

 the animal was in his own quarters, where he could 

 follow a runway or an accustomed route. When carry- 

 ing food to one of his storehouses he rarely turned 

 round, but usually ran backwards to the place of deposit, 

 returning for more, and repeating the operation again 

 and again, the to-and-fro movement suggesting a shuttle 

 on its track." 



The same authority gives the following interesting 

 account of the manner in which the Pocket-gopher 

 feeds and fills its remarkable cheek pouches : " After 

 satisfying the immediate demands of hunger, it was 

 his practice to fill one or both cheek pouches. His 

 motions were so swift that it was exceedingly difficult to 

 follow them with sufficient* exactness to see just how 

 the operation was performed. If a potato was given 

 him, or a piece too large to go into the pouch, he 

 invariably grasped it between the forepaws and pro- 

 ceeded to pry off a small piece with the large lower 

 incisors. He would then raise himself slightly on his 

 hind legs and hold the fragment between his fore- 

 paws while eating for he usually ate "a certain quan- 



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