TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 173 



and white bands along the back, 

 and their tails are of the' same 

 appearance as of the common tree 

 squirrel. Both jaws are supplied 

 with sharp and long teeth, char- 

 acteristic of all rodents, with which 

 they gnaw the food, mostly of a 

 vegetable nature and grain of 

 all sorts. 



It affords the writer much 

 pleasure to submit a good original 

 photo of our Texas ground squir- 

 rel,, in nearly normal size. This 

 specimen was met with at Mitchell's 

 Lake hunting ground near one 

 of the many ratnests — piled up 

 with dried wood branches, rem- 

 nants of cactus leaves and all 

 sort of dried up debris, and 

 close to some cactus jungles abound- 

 ing there in numbers. Though not 

 as numerously as in former years, 

 the dreaded rattlesnake, the cotton- 

 tail rabit, the beautiful speckled 

 cactus wren, the woodpecker, the 

 mockingbird and a host of other 

 warblers make these jungles lively 

 with their presence. At this time 

 of writing, in August (1911) most 

 of the cactus ' jungles around 

 the old Mitchell's laguna have 

 been cleared to make room for 

 cultivation of the rich soil. 



The ground along Mitchell's Lake 

 around the custodian's dwelling 

 and the several camping houses 



— a mixed sandy soil and the 



cactus jungles afford special in- 



ducements and protection to these 

 queer earth dwellers — the ground 

 squirrel, as the holes and under- 

 ground burrows .encountered there 

 are very numerously distributed 

 all over this interesting 

 and picturesque Indian section^ 

 of olden days, and where San 

 Antonio nimrods seek recreation 

 in winter time in boatriding and 

 hunting the fleety water fowls. 



As can be noticed throughout the 

 prairie where the ground squirrel 

 seeks its haunts, a peculiar in- 

 stinct more or less inherent to 

 all wild animals, enables, these 

 cute little rodents to prepare their 

 burrows in such a manner as to 

 escape quickly during threatening 

 danger. Therefore nearly all the 

 holes of the ground squirrel have 

 counter openings several feet off the 

 main entrance, and a snake or any 

 other reptile in search of its victim, 

 enables the squirrel to escape from 

 the opposite opening. 



Along the Mission route leading 

 to Berg's Mill and the lower Mis- 

 sion, as well as most of the other 

 automobile routes outside San An- 

 tonio, numbers of ground squirrel 

 holes, and occasionally several of 

 the rodents can be met with. In 

 many instances they are rather 

 tame and will allow the passenger 

 to come quite near; mostly however 

 they are met running with tail 

 erect, swiftly to a sheltered place 

 of their underground burrows. 



A Rare Skunk and Its Habits 



That a stray cat or a, dog or 

 even some dangerous reptile oc- 

 casionally invades a human dwel- 

 ling at some farmhouse is nothing 

 new but that such "undesirable 

 citizen of the jungles" as a skunk 

 should invade the, kitchen of a 

 Mexican cavallero, is indeed a 

 sight not daily witnessed — even 

 at a farmhouse. But this happen- 

 ed last November at the hunting 

 grounds of the famous 



Mitchell's Lake preserve ten miles 

 south of San Antonio, Texas. 

 Part of this interesting lake, 

 the main boatlanding place, is 

 shown in the photo as it looks 

 today. It is about three miles 

 long and a favorite duck-shoot- 

 ing pond of the -Southwestern 

 Texas nimrods; but of late, game 

 is not quite as numerous for 

 reason, it seems, of the rapid 

 cultivation of the vast area of 



