14 



unexcitable, and once in hiding are not 

 easily dislodged as other more excitable 

 species would be. As they are so seldom 

 seen, and as the grain yield is always specu- 

 lative, their destructiveness is not apparent, 

 save in a granary, where the quantity of 

 grain is known ; but, if any farmer takes 

 the trouble to look into the matter himself, 

 he will not be long in securing convicting 

 evidence of the strongest character against 

 this pest and ample evidence in favor of 

 the protection of their destroyers — the 

 hawks and owls. 



Of the second species, the red-backed 

 mouse (Arvicola Gapperi) or Capper's 

 mouse, no special mention is necessary, be- 

 yond the description of the animal, which 



depth along the fence Imes, roadways and 

 uncultivated fields, and although they sel- 

 dom burrow in the grain fields, they pay 

 them regular visits both to feed upon and 

 carry off large quantities in their cheek 

 pouches to be stored away in their bur- 

 rows. The damage done by these rodents 

 is, as in the case of the mice, not appar- 

 ent, or at least, not credited generally to 

 the agency of these animals, but if we es- 

 timate one pint of grain daily to each ten 

 gophers, and with this number of animals 

 along each fence line of a grain field, it 

 would mean two quarts of grain daily de- 

 stroyed. This amounts to almost two 

 bushels of grain in a month taken bv these 

 forty anim.als, and this in the spring dur- 



Common Striped Gopher. (Spermophilus iridedmlineatus.) 



is, if anything, a trifle smaller than rip- 

 ar'ius, and the whole back is reddish- 

 brown. It is found visually in company 

 with the field mouse, and their habits are 

 about identical, save the gapperi may be 

 more numerous in the vicinity of fresh 

 clearings, but it is never as numerous as 

 the better known species. 



The notoriety of the ground squirrels or 

 Spcrrnophiles, is far more general among 

 agriculturists than that of the mice, to 

 which animals they are second only in num- 

 bers. Being much larger animals, their 

 destructive qualities, which are enormous, 

 would prove the ruination of the country 

 were they as numerous as mice. They 

 construct burrows of great length and 



ing seeding would mean a great drain upon 

 the fall yield. Taking the annual increase 

 of these animals to average five young 

 pair, we would find loo young gophers to 

 cut down the growing grain through the 

 summer and 140 gophers to attack the 

 ripening and standing crop in the fall, and 

 it would require nearly two bushels per 

 week at the foregoing rate to feed this 

 number of animals. I have placed the 

 average at 40 gophers per field, which I 

 consider a very, small average, as in some 

 larger fields this number can frequently be 

 found upon one side of the field. When 

 undisturbed for a time these animals be- 

 come quite bold and unconcerned, and 

 complaints have been made that the larger 



