42 



SPERMOPHILES OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



all of which may be set down as injurious. The number of beetles of 

 all kinds could not be definitely ascertained, but was thirty to thirty- 

 live. None of them were species which are noted either for benefiting 

 or injuring the farmer. Those marked carabid and Earpalus belong- 

 to a family that are generally beneficial, while those marked chryso- 

 melid and Chrysomela belong to the leaf-eaters, of which group many 

 species arc injurious. As the beetles found in the gophers' stomachs 

 were of both classes, there is no great preponderance on either side" 

 (pp. 9-11). 



Undoubtedly the good which the Striped Spermophiles do by destroy- 

 ing insects, and seeds of noxious weeds is of no small importance, 

 but it is doubtful if it is sufficient to offset the damage perpetrated by 

 th cm in grain fields. In many localities it is impossible to raise a full 

 field of corn without first killing the spermophiles. As soon as the 

 corn is planted they begin to dig up the seed, but do most mischief 

 after the corn begins to come up and until a week or ten days old, or until 

 all the nutriment is drawn from the grain. They dig down by the side of 

 the stalk and eat the swollen, starchy grain, of which they seem very 

 fond, leaving the stalks to die. As a single spermophile will dig up 

 many hills of corn in a day and continue digging for nearly two weeks, 

 it is not difficult to see that serious damage is done where they are 

 numerous, averaging as they often do four or five to an acre. Large 

 fields of corn are sometimes entirely destroyed by them and have to 

 be planted over several times. A great deal of wheat, oats, barley, 

 and rye is taken in the same way, making it necessary to sow an extra 

 amount of seed. Even this means is not effectual, and frequently fields 

 of sowed grain suffer materially from their attacks. As the small 

 grains begin to fill soon after blossoming the spermophiles cut down 

 the stalks and eat the ovules, and in order to find the best heads they 

 cut down a great deal more than they eat. As the grain becomes hard 

 they carry large stores of it into their burrows to be eaten at leisure, 

 probably when they awake from their winter's sleep. The amount of 

 damage done depends upon the abundance of the animals, and is 

 often serious. If a field is small and isolated the spermophiles some- 

 times collect and destroy almost the whole crop. 



Dr. A. K.Fisher in notes on this species and Franklin's Spermophile 

 says : " Where abundant, as they are in many parts of the West, they de- 

 stroy large quantities of corn, wheat, oats, and the seeds of flax. They 

 also feed to some extent on the seeds of wild plants, even when grain is 

 plenty. A Striped Gopher shot at Heron Lake [Minn.], near a field of 

 wheat stubble had its pouches full of the seeds of the ragweed (Ambro- 

 sia artemisicefolia). u In view of the fat that large numbers of these ani- 

 mals are shot and handled it is surprising that they are not used as an 

 article of food. T 1 u ! i i • 1 1 < s s 1 1 is as sweet and delicate as that of the arboreal 

 squirrels, which are held in high esteem as a game dish in many parts of 



