46 



POCKET GOPHERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Except daring the mating season in spring it is rare to find more than 

 one in a borrow, and the auimals must live in absolute solitude 

 throughout the greater part of the year. Xo wonder that they develop 

 dispositions of unusual ferocity, and are always ready to fight any 

 animal that comes in their way. When caught they become furious, 

 biting the trap so violently as to break off their teeth, jumping about 

 frantically, and giving vent to their anger in wheezing hisses. 



On the prairies their food consists mainly of roots. Some green 

 herbage is eaten, and more rarely, seeds. The roots of leguminous 

 plants furnish the greater part of the food. The pulpy roots of the 

 prairie clover {Psoralea argophylla) are eaten to such an extent that 

 the tiesh of the Gophers is often permeated with their peculiar odor. 

 The turnip-like bulbs of another species (Psoralea esctUenta) are 

 esteemed a choice morsel, as are also the roots of wild liquorice (Gly- 

 cyrrkiza lepidota). Many rattleweeds and the like (Astragalus and 

 Oxytropis) that abound on the prairies furnish them food, while 

 other plants kuown to be eaten are aster, blaziug star, milkweed, wild 

 parsnip, grass, and wild onion. The latter often imparts a rank odor 

 to their rlesh. It is doubtful if the root of any plant is rejected. Roots 

 of shrubs and trees are eaten whenever encountered, but as orchards 

 are rare where this particular Gopher is found, their depredations in 

 this line are not often serious. 



Further west other closely related Gophers of identical habits and 

 mode of life do immense damage in orchards, cutting the roots from 

 fruit trees and killing shrubbery. Their depredations are especially 

 serious in the fruit regions of California, Utah, and Colorado. Xear 

 Pyramid Lake. Nevada, I have seen a small apple orchard in which 

 halt the trees had been killed in this way. Apparently there was but 

 a single Gopher in this orchard, but as the ground was kept clear of 

 other vegetation it had lived entirely upon the roots of apple trees. A 

 dozen trees were already dead and others were dying. With one hand 

 I tipped over several of the dead ones and found the roots cut off and 

 gone, eaten or carried away, close up to the stump. Unmistakable 

 marks of the Gopher's teeth covered the ends where the roots were cut 

 and the animal's holes wound about the remaining stumps. These 

 particular trees were from 2 to 4 inches iu diameter and 8 or 9 years 

 old. The base of one of them is shown in fig. 5 (p. 10). One hundred 

 dollars would not cover the loss occasioned by this one Gopher. 



The stomachs of 37 Gray Pocket Gophers have been collected by field 

 agents of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy and preserved 

 in alcohol for critical examination in the laboratory. The material had 

 been so thoroughly masticated that very little could be identified save 

 in a general way, and while the results are not of great importance 

 they prove conclusively what has heretofore been considered probable, 

 namely, that no insects or earthworms are eaten by the Gophers, and 

 that roots form the bulk of the food. 



