242 Frrtp Museum or Naturat History — Zoéxocey, Vor. XI. 
and Buffalo counties; Jackson reports them from Pepin, Pierce and 
Dunn counties (J. c., 1908, p. 24), and in a later paper he states that they 
are “exceedingly abundant in parts of the sandy country in the southern 
two-thirds of Bayfield and Douglas counties” (. ¢., 1910, p. 88). In 
the southeastern part of the state they are rarely found, although 
Dr. Merriam records specimens from Winnebago and Fond du Lac 
counties (J. ¢., p. 120). 
The Pocket Gophers live in underground tunnels which they exca- 
vate in loose alluvial soils. Their food consists mainly of roots of 
various plants, but they also attack the roots of trees and often do con- 
siderable damage to orchards. Lantz says,* ‘Originally they sub- 
sisted on roots and stems of native plants, but they immediately turned 
their attention to the cultivated plants introduced by the settler, includ- 
ing succulent garden vegetables, alfalfa, and clover; they are indebted 
to the settler also, for the destruction of many of their natural enemies 
and for loosening the soil by tillage. Thus the gopher’s environment 
is greatly improved, and except where due vigilance has been exercised, 
these pests have multiplied, and greatly extended their range in culti- 
vated lands.”’ In writing of its depredations the same author says: 
“Tn attacking nursery trees the gopher takes the entire root, not merely 
the bark. It does not eat the roots all at once but cuts them into 
short pieces, packs them into its enormous cheek pouches, and carries 
them away to its caches, or stores of food. It is these provisions for 
the future that make its injury to young orchards, nurseries, and 
gardens so extensive. The animal lays up far more than it ever con- 
sumes. It is not uncommon to plow up stores of small potatoes or 
roots of clover, alfalfa, or trees amounting to from a peck to half a 
bushel at a place. As the stores are usually placed much deeper in 
the ground, those uncovered by the ploughman are but a small portion 
of those deposited by the animals”’ (J. c., p. 213). 
In writing of this species Kennicott says, “East of the Mississippi 
it has been found in some parts of Indiana,t Michigan, and Wisconsin; 
and on the great prairies in Central Illinois; also south and east of the 
Illinois River it is constantly met with. . . . On the wild prairie, 
the gopher throws up a mound of earth of considerable size, frequently 
ro feet in diameter and from 11% to 2 feet in height, being highest on 
the low ground liable to inundation. In this mound is his nest, in which 
the young are bred; and from it, endless galleries are excavated in 
various directions, a foot or two below the surface. These are com- 
plicated, frequently intersecting and running together, and in short, 
* Pocket Gophers as Enemies of Trees. Yearbook Dept. Agr., 1909, pp. 210-211. 
t Its range in Indiana appears to be restricted to the western portion of the 
state. Hahn records it from Newton and Lake counties (Cl. ¢., p. 525). 
