74 



ORDERS OF MAMMALS— GNAWING ANIMALS 



and burrow deeply in the ground. They seldom 

 frequent rooks, and seldom climb trees. They 

 are essentially dwellers in open country, where 

 they can range freely, and behold a goodly por- 

 tion of the world about them. Even fields of 

 standing grain are distasteful to them, and they 

 move to the open country around their borders. 



Of spermophiles north of Mexico there are 

 thirty-one full species and forty-two subspecies, 

 or races. Going westward, they are first found in 

 western Indiana and Michigan, from which they 

 spread northwest and southwest throughout the 

 whole western half of the United States, save 

 the timbered areas. They also range into Mex- 

 ico, Canada, and Alaska. They are at home on 

 the rich, rolling prairies of the Dakotas, the level, 

 floor-like plains of Nebraska, the alkali flats of 

 Utah, the hot deserts of Arizona, and the dry 

 valleys and mountain regions of California. 

 They seem to be most numerous in California 

 and the Dakotas, where they do much damage 

 to crops. 



All the ground squirrels have cheek-pouches, 

 dig deep burrows (unless the earth is too rocky), 

 store quantities of grain in the autumn for win- 

 ter food, and in cold latitudes live all winter in 

 their burrows. If forced to do so, they will 

 live amongst rocks, and it is surprising to note 

 how they can live in situations both high and 

 low, dry and wet. Their favorite food is grain, 

 seeds of every description, green grass, and hay, 

 and their worst habit is digging up seed grain. 



Some species eat quantities of destructive 

 insects, such as grasshoppers, beetles, cut- worms, 

 and crickets, and in this way partly compensate 

 the farmer for the grain they devour. In fact, 

 from all observations made thus far it seems that 

 in the insect season, insects form a considerable 

 proportion of the daily food supply of these in- 

 dustrious little animals. Not only do they eat 

 all kinds of ground insects, but they also devour 

 mice, and almost any other flesh that comes 

 within their reach, particularly dry meat ad- 

 hering to the bones of large animals which have 

 died near their holes. 



Ground squirrels are prolific, and bring forth 

 from seven to ten young in each litter. Their 

 enemies are coyotes, foxes, badgers, skunks, 

 hawks and owls. 



The spermophiles of North America arc so 

 wide-spread, so numerous and so important it 



is necessary that two or three of the leading 

 species should be specially noticed. 



The Thirteen-Lined, or Leopard Sper- 

 mophile, 1 is the most familiar and widely dis- 

 tributed species, and although one of the 

 smallest, it is also the most strangely marked. 

 Nature was in a sportive mood when she marked 

 the back and sides of this little creature with 

 seven broad stripes of dark brown, then laid 

 between them six narrow stripes of pale yellow, 

 and finally marked each of the seven brown 

 stripes with a row of large, pale yellow spots. 

 The yellow spots on the brown lines are the first 

 feature of the color scheme to catch the eye, and 

 they distinguish this animal almost as far as 

 it can be seen. Its under parts are pale yellow, 

 and its size is 6£ + 3A inches. 



Do not call this animal the "Striped" Sper- 

 mophile, because that name would apply to sev- 

 eral other species, and be worthless ; and do not 

 call it the "Striped Gopher," because it is not a 

 "gopher" 0/ any kind. 



The Thirteen-Lined Spermophile inhabits 



TH1KTEEN-LINED SPERMOPHILE. 



about one-third of the United States, extending 

 from Fort Wayne, Indiana, southwestward to 

 Fort Worth, Texas, and northwestward to the 

 plains of the Saskatchewan. Its western limit 

 is the Rocky Mountains, but nowhere does it 

 live in timbered regions, being strictly a prairie 

 animal. 



Its burrow is a hole about two inches in diame- 

 ter, which descends quite steeply into the earth 

 until it [lasses below the frost line (two to three 

 feet), after which it runs off in a more or less 

 horizontal course for ten or fifteen feet farther. 

 If the burrow is an old one, and much used, it 

 is a long and difficult task to dig to the end of it, 

 and few boys undertake it more than once. 

 1 Ci-tel'lus tri-de'cem-lin-c-a'tus. 



