36 



SPERMOPHILES OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



and bowels empty, and the body was inclosed in a thick adipose layer. 

 I was not able to excite the least motion or contraction of the muscles 

 in any way, even by pinching or cutting nerves, showing the most per- 

 fect condition of anaesthesia possible. 



"During hibernation the gopher is not able to endure more than 6° or 

 8° of frost. The manifestations of life are so feebly performed that a 

 few degrees below freezing is sufficient to convert apparent death into 

 the reality. On the 10th of April, at which time the first gopher 

 appeared above ground, I repeated the experiment of the previous 

 autumn. Body emaciated, hair dry and lifeless, flesh perceptibly less 

 moist than it was in the fall. On subjecting the gluteal muscles to like 

 treatment as in October, I was surprised to find only 18 per cent of 

 loss instead of the 30, as exhibited in the previous autumn. 



"The large amount of soluble albumen found in the flesh of the 

 Striped Gopher in the fall, and the lesser amount found after its pro- 

 tracted hibernation, go far to prove that albumen somehow fits the 

 animal for its long sleep. Is it not probable that albumen is a stored- 

 up magazine of elaborated nutrition to be used when no food can be 

 assimilated by the digestive organ?"* 



INJURY TO CROPS. 



Many replies have been received to letters sent out by the Division 

 of Ornithology and Mammalogy inquiring as to the injury done by 

 Striped Spermophiles and other species in the Mississippi Valley. 

 Eeports from correspondents in all the States where these animals occur 

 agree that they cause serious damage to the crops. The following 

 extracts from letters will give some idea of the extent and nature of 

 their ravages. 



Minnesota. — Mr. George Little, county treasurer of Lyon County, 

 reports: "Striped Gophers increase or decrease very rapidly according 

 to favorable or unfavorable conditions. A succession of dry years is 

 especially favorable to their increase, while a succession of wet seasons 

 reduces their numbers very rapidly, probably by flooding their nests. 

 T 1 1 ey have been very numerous this season [1888 j and very destructive to 

 corn immediately after planting; whole fields, in some instances, have 

 been entirely destroyed, and it is a rare thing to see or hear of a field 

 that has not been damaged." Peter Skoglund, of Lake Andrew, Kan- 

 diyohi County, writes under date of November, 1889: "The common 

 ►Striped and Gray Gophers do more injury to our grainfields than any 

 other mammals. They begin before the grain ripens, cutting down, con- 

 suming, and storing away for winter use. I have lost about 20 bushels 

 from this cause." 



Iowa.— In Butler County Mr. W. Head, of Bristow, writes under date 

 of January 5, 1887: "The common Striped Ground Squirrel or Gopher 



*Proc. Am. Ass. Adv. Sci. Aug. 1875, pp. 148-149. 



