Flouse-Bearing Reptiles. 203 
about four feet long and expanding into a spacious apart- 
ment. In each burrow resides a single pair of Gophers. By 
day the Gophers keep close house, but by night they wander 
out in search of food, devouring yams, melons, corn and other 
garden produce. They dislike wet weather, and always go 
in-doors when it rains. Gophers’ eggs, which are as large as 
pigeons’ eggs, and also their flesh, are highly esteemed as 
articles of diet by the negroes. 
In Europe, a near cousin of the Gopher is kept about the 
house fora pet. If allowed, in the autumn, to find his way 
into a garden, he digs a hole and hibernates, coming out in 
the spring. An English lady had one of these animals which 
lived in the kitchen. He was fond of creeping into the fire- 
place and getting under the grate, where he would content- 
edly lie until the hot coal and ashes dropped upon his back 
and burnt his shell. When winter came this little creature 
wanted to take his long sleep, and dug so persistently into 
baskets, drawers, boxes and closets, that finally a box of 
earth was given to him, into which he worked his way until 
out of sight, and there he remained until April sun and 
showers called him from his winter retreat. His fare was 
potatoes, carrots, turnips and bread and milk, which he 
especially liked. 
