64 



VKRTEEKATES : MAMMALS. 



ing; hence its name. It lives in burrows, and large 

 numbers are found together, forming communities 

 called dog tcnuiis. Before each hole is a little hill of 

 earth, upon which the Prairie Dog sits on the lookout 

 for intruders. At the slightest alarm it dives into its 

 hole, but soon reappears. Their holes are also the home 

 of the Burrowing Owls and Rattlesnakes. 



The Pocket Gopher, Pouched Rat, or Geomys, of the 

 prairies of the Western States, is nine or ten inches 

 long, with large front teeth, strong fore feet, and a short 

 tail. Opening on the outside of the mouth are large 



Fig. 91. — Pocket Gopher. 



cheek-pouches, \\'hich reach back e\'en to the shoulders; 

 and these pouches are lined with fur, and are entirely 

 different from the much smaller cheek-pouches of the 

 Striped Gopher, which open within the mouth. The 

 Pocket Gopher throws up a mound of earth which, in 

 some instances, is ten feet in diameter, and two feet 

 high; and within this mound is its nest, where it rears 

 its young. From the mound it digs numerous gal- 

 leries in different directions, one or two feet below the 

 surface of the ground. It uses its curious pouches for 

 carrying food, and for carrying away the earth which 

 it remo\'es in digging its galleries. Coming to the sur- 

 face with its pouches full of earth, it empties them so 

 quickly as to puzzle the looker-on, and instantly re- 

 treats into its hole. Pocket Gophers feed mainly upon 



