28 
cn 
season. Besides these a large number of grasshoppers, wireworms, 
and other injurious insects were destroyed.* Aldrich’s reportt on 
the examination of fifteen stomachs of gophers taken in South 
Dakota, although not quite so favorable still makes a good showing 
for the gophers in regard to the number of insects destroyed. I have 
repeatedly observed them hunting and eating insects. One that I 
watched, was sitting up eating a big fat grub, biting deep into the 
juicy, dripping, wriggling dainty, and licking his paws with true 
epicurean satisfaction when it was finished. There can be little 
doubt that in this immediate vicinity the good that they do, quite 
compensates for the damage they may cause. 
Hoy found that specimens in captivity were carnivorous, and 
ate “‘meadow-mice, flying squirrels, and even their own young.” 
This was undoubtedly due in part to abnormal conditions. White- 
footed mice and meadow-mice are usually associated with the 
gopher. I have found the prairie white-footed mouse and the 
gopher living together in such abundance that it is not easy to con- 
ceive of the gophers as habitually feeding on the mice. 
If owing to their overabundance, or to other local conditions, the 
gophers become a pest, no animal is more easily gotten rid of. The 
readiest and cheapest way to exterminate them over a considerable 
area is to poison them. If the poison is put into the hole and 
reasonable care 1s taken, this may be done with but very little danger 
of poisoning other animals. They may also be killed by fumes of 
carbon bisulphid, and in the immediate vicinity of dwellings and 
barns this may be the most desirable way. They are easily trapped. 
Often their burrows are shallow, and they are easily drowned out by 
pouring water into their holes. Finally, the boy with a gun easily 
decimates them if given a chance. 
GRAY GOPHER; FRANKLIN’S SPERMOPHILE. 
Citellus franklinu (Sabine). 
Arctomys franklini Sabine, Trans. Linn. Soc., 1822, p. 587, Pl. 27. 
Spermophilus franklini of Kennicott and various authors. 
This species, often called the prairie gray squirrel, is found 
through the northern two-thirds of Illinois, northern Missouri, and 
Dé. Bull. Iowa Agr. Exper. Station, No. 6 (1888), p. 244. 
7 Bull. S. Dak. Agr. Exper. Station, No. 30, pp. 8-11. 
