12 ANIMAL. LIFE IN OKLAHOMA. 



colony may cover only a part of an acre, or it may be miles in extent. 

 The population ranges accordingly from a few individuals to as many 

 as 100,000 in the larger towns. They burrow into the ground to a 

 depth of about 13 feet and they extend the den in a horizontal direction 

 for a distance of from 10 to 15 feet. Any number of lateral channels may 

 extend from this main run. TTsli^ally only a single paiilr occupies 

 a burrow, except in the spring when the four young arrive. The ground 

 for a considerable distance around the mouth of the burrow is stripped 

 free of vegetation, and in thickly settled communities these barren 

 spaces connect, so that large areas of grazing land are sometimes entirely 

 cleared of grass by the presence of these animals. Prairie dogs are 

 not really dogs in any sense of the word, but are large squirrels, and 

 as they subsist entirely on roots, grasses, grain, and vegetables there 

 is no reason, except perhaps the name, why they should not be as 

 palatable as timber squirrels or rabbits. They are preyed upon by 

 wolves, coyotes, bobcats, weasels, and the larger hawks, but since man 

 has driven away or destroyed these natural checks the prairie dogs have 

 increased at a corresponding rate and artificial control must be put into 

 effect. The United States Biological Survey has perfected an effective 

 and inexpensive method for poisoning the prairie dog, and its general 

 , use throughout the State is bringing back into cultivation large areas 

 that were formerly occupied by these animals. 



GOPHERS. 



The common pocket gopher is by all odds the most destructive 

 animal in Oklahoma. We have at least two species in this State; a 

 small one found widely distributed but never numerous; and the large 

 red pocket gopher that is causing more waste at the present time than 

 any other living creature within the State. The gopher is the builder 

 of the countless mounds of dark earth that we see thrownl up over 

 prairies and fields wherever ■ we go. Some alfalfa patches have been 

 more than one-tenth covered by these tell-tale hills. The gopher has 

 a compact, muscular body, and with its powerful front feet and claws 

 is able to burrow rapidly through the soft earth. The burrow or "run" 

 usually extends about a foot beneath the surface, and at short intervals 

 vertical tunnels extend upward to the top of the ground and through 

 these the excavated soil is carried out and thrown up in small heaps. 

 A single gopher occupies a burrow and often extends it several hundred 

 feet in a season. The animals live, for the most part, on the roots and 

 tubers which they find in their journeys through the ground. The 

 gopher sometimes emerges from its burrow and fills its pockets with 

 tender leaves and grain, which it always carries into the burrow before 

 eating. Stock are often injured by stepping into gopher burrows, and 

 many a cowboy's life has been lost in a fall caused 'by his mount plunging 

 a leg into one of these burrows. A few kernels of poisoned grain placed 

 in each burrow will rid a farm of these destructive pests within a 

 reasonably short time. Little, however, will be accomplished unless 

 whole communities cooperate, for a single farm cleared would soon be 



