THE GOPHER. 



THE name of gopher, according to 

 Brehm, is applied in some 

 American localities to various 

 other widely variant rodents. 

 The zoologists, who first described the 

 animal, obtained their specimens from 

 Indians, who had amused themselves 

 by cramming both cheek pouches full 

 of earth, distending them to such a de- 

 gree that if the animal had walked the 

 pouches would have trailed on the 

 earth. These artificially distended 

 pouches obtained for the gopher its 

 name; the taxidermists who prepared 

 the dead specimens endeavored to give 

 them what was supposed to be a life- 

 like appearance by following the prac- 

 tice of the Indians in distending the 

 cheek pouches, and the artists who de- 

 lineated the animal followed the mod- 

 els which were accessible to them, but 

 too truly in their drawings. Owing to 

 these circumstances, the pictures of 

 gophers of even recent date represent 

 really monstrous animals, when they 

 honestly intend to familiarize us with 

 the gopher. 



The gopher may be found east of 

 the Rocky Mountains and to the west 

 of the Mississippi river, between the 

 thirty-fourth and fifty-second parallel 

 of north latitude. It leads an under- 

 ground life, digging tunnels in various 

 directions. Tunnels, of old standing, 

 says Brehm, are packed hard and firm 

 from constant use. Lateral passages 

 branch off at intervals. The main 

 chamber is situated under the roots of 

 a tree at a depth of about four and one- 

 half feet; the entrance tunnel is sunk 

 down to it with a spiral direction. This 

 chamber is large, is lined with soft 

 grass, and serves for a nesting and 

 sleeping-place. The nest in which the 

 young, numbering from five to seven, 

 are born about the beginning of April, 

 is lined with the hair of the mother. It 

 is surrounded with circular passages 

 from which the tunnels radiate. Ges- 

 ner found that a passage leads from the 

 nest to a larger hole, the storeroom, 

 which is usually filled with roots, pota- 

 toes, nuts, and seeds. When throwing 



up the earth the gopher exposes itself 

 to view as little as possible and imme- 

 diately after accomplishing its purpose 

 plunges back into its hole. Accord- 

 ing to Audubon it appears above 

 ground to bask in the sun. We have 

 seen it sit at the entrance to its den 

 with an air of bold indifference to the 

 approach of danger and then suddenly 

 vanish under ground. Its acute sense 

 of hearing and great power of scent 

 protect it from surprises, 



Audubon kept several gophers in 

 captivity for months, feeding them on 

 potatoes. Their appetites were vora- 

 cious, but they would drink neither 

 water nor milk. They made incessant 

 efforts to regain their liberty by gnaw- 

 ing through boxes and doors. They 

 constantly dragged clothing and other 

 similar objects together, utilizing them 

 as bedding, first gnawing them to 

 pieces. One of them, straying into a 

 boot, instead of turning back, simply 

 gnawed its way through the tip. The 

 habit of gnawing was unendurable and 

 Audubon incontinently got rid of them. 



The gopher is very destructive to 

 valuable trees and plants, for which 

 reason man is its most dangerous en- 

 emy, the only other foes it has to fear 

 being water and snakes. 



This pretty little rodent is often found 

 in populous neighborhoods. A few 

 years ago the writer saw one rush into 

 a hole under the root of a large osage 

 orange bush in Woodlawn, Chicago. 

 Curiosity led him to watch for the re- 

 appearance of the animal, which soon 

 put its head cautiously above the en- 

 trance and eyed the intruder with as 

 much interest as a weasel will often 

 show under like circumstances. For 

 several weeks the gopher was visible 

 in the morning hours. We pointed it 

 out to several persons, each of whom 

 declared it to be a ground squirrel. 

 There is a great difference in these 

 small animals, but they are frequently 

 confounded. 



The name of gopher is applied in 

 some American localities to various 

 other rodents. 



