NATURAL ENEMIES. i7 



Table showing stomachs of Hawks and Owls which contained Spermophiles.* 



Species. 



Locality. 



Date. 



Spermophiles. 



Total 

 number of 

 stomachs 

 examined.! 







July 5,1887 

 Julv 30, 1887 

 . . ilo 



Spermophilus 13-lineatus 





Do 



Pembina, N. Dak 



do 





Do 



do 





Do 



do 



...do 



do 





Oo 



Devils Lake, N. Dak 



Aug. 11, 1887 

 Aug. 21, 1888 

 Aug. 4,1890 

 J uly 28, 1891 

 May 13, 1889 



do .. 



do . 





Do 



do.. 





Do 



Birch Creek, Idaho 



Three Rivers, Cal 



Spermophilus mollis 



Spermophilus beecheyi . 

 Spermophilus tereticau- 

 dus. 



30 





22 







Do 



do 



5 



Red-tailed, hawk 



Do 



Devils Lake, N. Dak 



Vermillion, S. Dak 



San Francisco Mt., Ariz. 

 do 



Aug. 11, 1887 



Apr. 9,1890 

 Aug. 3,1889 

 Aug. 26, 1889 

 Sept. L6, 1889 

 June 12, 1887 

 Jan. 19,1890 



Aug. 4,1890 

 Aug. 3,1888 

 Aug. 4,1888 



Oct. 28,1885 

 Aug. 28, 1886 



Spermophilus franklini 



and S. 13-lineatus. 

 Spermophilus 13-lineatus 

 Spermophilus lateralis - . 





Do 





Do 





Do 



do 



do 





Do 



do 



do 





Do 





Spermophilus grammu 



rus. 



Spermophilus mollis 



Spermophilus 13-lineatus 

 Spermophilus richard- 



soni elegans. 

 Spermophilus harrisi... 

 Spermophilus grammu- 



rus. 



CO 



Swainson*s hawk 



Birch Creek, Idaha 



Cheyenne, Wyo 



Laramie Mts., "VVyo 



Camp Verde, Ariz 



15 



Do 



8 







Do 



42 









♦Compiled from tables in Bulletin TSTo. 3, The Hawks and Owls of the United States, 1893. 

 tOnly those stomachs which contained food and which were taken within the region inhabited by 

 spermophiles are included. 



Among mammals, the spermophiles' greatest enemy is undoubtedly 

 the badger which makes a regular business of finding and digging out 

 the holes in which they live, and devouring the occupants. I have 

 found their remains in a badger's stomach after the spermophiles had 

 hibernated, so that none could be caught in traps. In speaking of the 

 habits of this animal, Dr. Coues says: 



"The badger, too slow of foot to capture the nimble rodents which 

 form its principal food, perpetually seeks them in their own retreats ; 

 and it is the work of a few minutes for this vigorous miner to so far 

 enlarge their burrows that it can enter and reach the deepest recesses. 

 In places where the badgers and spermophiles most abound, the con- 

 tinual excavation of the soil by these animals fairly undermines and 

 honeycombs the ground." (Fur-Bearing Animals, 1877, p. 281.) Though 

 the badger indulges in quite a varied diet spermophiles are his main 

 dependence, and where they are abundant badgers are usually abundant 

 also. As the country becomes settled, badgers are killed whenever 

 opportunity offers, either for sport or because they have been known to 

 trouble the poultry yard. As a result the spermophiles increase more 

 rapidly unless other means be employed for their destruction. 



Foxes, coyotes, and wild cats do not lose an opportunity to dine upon 

 any small mammal that comes in their way, though as the greater part 

 of their hunting is carried on at night fewer spermophiles than noc- 

 turnal animals fall to their prey. Doubtless a few of the smaller 

 species are captured by skunks, though a greater part of the food of the 

 4032— Ko, 4 2 



