SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA 



439 



to distinguish it from all its relatives. Its total 

 length is about eleven inches and its form is 

 nearly as slender as that of the weasel. Its 

 brightly colored markings blend so well with 

 the brown earth and plant stems in its haunts 

 that when quiet it is difficult to distinguish. 

 This protective coloration is of vital service to 

 a small animal sought by all the diurnal birds 

 of prey, as well as by coyotes, foxes, bobcats, 

 badgers, skunks, weasels, and snakes. 



The striped ground squirrel, also known as 

 the "gopher" or "striped gopher/' is restricted 

 to middle North America, where it is dis- 

 tributed from southern Michigan and northern 

 Indiana west to Utah, and from about latitude 

 55 degrees in northern Alberta south nearly to 

 the Gulf coast of Texas. It ranges from near 

 sea level in Texas up nearly to 10,000 feet in 

 Colorado. Within these limits the varying 

 climatic conditions have modified it into several 

 geographic races, all having a close general 

 resemblance. 



Like most members of the squirrel family, 

 the striped ground squirrels are diurnal in 

 habits and well known wherever they occur. I 

 first learned the ways of these odd little mam- 

 mals as a boy on the prairies outside the city 

 of Chicago, and later observed them in a high 

 mountain valley in Arizona. In both regions 

 they had the same habits. By preference they 

 occupy grassy prairies, old fields, and similar 

 situations. In many areas they are serious 

 pests, owing to their abundance and their de- 

 structiveness to grain crops, but where the 

 land is generally cultivated, the sheltering vege- 

 tation and their shallow burrows are destroyed 

 by the plow, thus causing a decrease in their 

 numbers. 



The lives of the striped ground squirrels are 

 so beset w T ith peril that they always move 

 abroad with watchful hesitation, pausing to 

 listen, retreating toward their burrows at the 

 slightest suspicious sound or movement, or ris- 

 ing bolt upright on their hind feet and remain- 

 ing motionless as a small statue until satisfied 

 that there is nothing to fear. They call to one 

 another with a chirping note as well as with a 

 shrill trilling whistle, and when alarmed by the 

 presence of some enemy their warning call 

 notes are heard on all sides as the alarm is 

 passed, and all are on the alert to disappear 

 down their burrows at the slightest suspicious 

 movement. 



When they have vanished their trilling notes 

 are often heard from the depths of their bur- 

 rows ; but curiosity is one of their strongest 

 traits, and if no disturbance follows one will 

 almost immediately pop up its head to see the 

 cause of the alarm. Boys, taking advantage of 

 this habit, place an open slipping noose at the 

 end of a long string around the entrance of the 

 burrow, and, waiting developments, lie quietly 

 a few yards to one side. The ensuing silence 

 is too much for the ground squirrel to endure 

 and soon its head appears above ground, the 

 boy pulls the string, and the victim is dragged 

 forth with the noose about its neck. 



The entrance to the burrow of these ground 



squirrels is about two inches in diameter. It 

 is usually located in the midst of grass or 

 weedy growths, and has little or no fresh earth 

 about it. The burrow descends for several 

 inches almost vertically and then turns almost 

 horizontally in a sinuous and erratic course, 

 with numerous branches and side passages lead- 

 ing up to the surface. Most of these side 

 entrances are kept plugged with soft earth. 

 Opening off the main tunnel is a large nest 

 chamber filled with fine dry grasses and other 

 soft vegetable matter, and also one or more 

 large storage chambers in which the owner lays 

 up his garnered supplies of grain or other seeds 

 for use during inclement weather. 



These squirrels hibernate throughout their 

 range, entering their long sleep in an exces- 

 sively fat condition the last of September or 

 in October. In the North they remain in a 

 torpid state for six months or more. 



Soon after they appear in spring they mate 

 and the single litter of the year, containing 

 from five to thirteen young, is born the last of 

 May or early in June. The young are in an 

 extremely undeveloped state at birth, being 

 blind, hairless, and with the ears scarcely show- 

 ing. They develop slowly and remain with the 

 mother until toward fall, when, nearly grown, 

 they scatter to care for themselves. 



The striped ground squirrels are among the 

 most carnivorous of rodents. Although they 

 devote much time to gathering grain, seeds of 

 various kinds, and even acorns and other nuts, 

 which may be eaten on the spot or carried in 

 their cheek pouches to their underground stor- 

 age rooms, in addition they are known to eat 

 insects and flesh whenever occasion offers. In 

 fact, during seasons when such insect food as 

 grasshoppers, caterpillars, and grubs is plenti- 

 ful, these ground squirrels frequently feed 

 mainly upon it. They are known to kill and 

 devour mice and young birds, and when con- 

 fined in a cage will sometimes kill and partly 

 devour their own kind. When caught they 

 fight fiercely, biting and struggling to escape. 

 In captivity they show little of the gentleness 

 and intelligence which are such pleasing char- 

 acteristics of chipmunks and true squirrels. 



THE CALIFORNIA GROUND SQUIR- 

 REL (Citellus beecheyi and its relatives) 



{For illustration, see page 437) 



Owing to its habits, the California ground 

 squirrel is known locally as the digger-, rock-, 

 or ground-squirrel. Its prominent ears, bushy 

 tail, color, and form give it the general appear- 

 ance of a heavy-bodied gray tree squirrel, but 

 in reality it is a true spermophile and close 

 kin to the marmots. 



Spermonhiles are nearly circumpolar in dis- 

 tribution, ranging through northern lands from 

 central Europe across Bering Strait to the 

 Great Lakes in North America. Many species 

 exist in North America, varying greatly in 

 form, size, and color. Thev occur mainly in 



