TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 269 



at some open space along a hilly 

 ridge, or between small brushy 

 spaces. 



"The large-leaved opuntia cac- 

 tus is really very attractive 

 during the blooming season 

 with its gold-yellow or pink- 

 colored flowers; and it is here in 

 the thickly-grown cactus jungles 

 where such animals as the prai- 

 rie rat and mice, the ground 

 squirrel, the polecat and rattle- 

 snake, etc., seek a protecting 

 dwelling place. The prairie rat, 

 in pai ticular, a night-marauding 



over the different holes in the 

 ground, leaving enough spac 

 for entrance. These holes are 

 not deep, as is the case of the 

 ground squirrel, but communi- 

 cate under the piles of debris. 

 In severe droughty seasons the 

 prairie rat is dependent on eat- 

 ing the opuntia leaves, and large 

 tracts of such eaten leaves can 

 often be seen in the jungles. 



"During late years and with 

 the enormous on-march of mod- 

 ern civihzation, vast areas of 

 such cactus jungles have been 



San Antonians at the Charming Comal Rivulet, Near the Prettiest Park in Texas 

 (Landa's Park at New Braunfels) ~ ; - 



rodent, has its nest in these 

 cactus jungles. A nest encbunt- 

 «red during an outing at the 

 Leona Hills showed how the 

 rats had accumulated all sorts 

 of wood debris and the rem- 

 nants of the common serpentine 

 cactus plant, the fruit of which, 

 and also of the large prickly pear 

 serves them sometimes as food. 

 They protect their nests by 

 placing particles of wood, man- 

 ure and remnants of cacti, etc.. 



cleared and converted into flour- 

 ishing fields or irrigated farms, 

 with happy homes and prosper- 

 ous conditions all over the 

 Southwest Texas farming dis- 

 tricts." 



San Antonio has a number of 

 private owners of exceedingly 

 attractive cactus plants, and be- 

 sides Alamo Plaza Park, the fine 

 landscape garden ground front- 

 ing the Southern Pacific depot 

 had some very imposing cactus 



