PRAIRIE GOPHER. 



35 



Com is rarely injured to any great extent, but the depredations in 

 fields of small grain — wheat, oats, barley, and rye — are serious. From 

 the time the grain comes out of the ground it is covered and killed by 

 the gopher hills, and later, as the stalks become taller, they are cut 

 down and drawn into the holes for food. The standing grain conceals 

 the animals and their work. Long galleries are extended through the 

 mellow soil close to the surface and frequent openings are made through 

 which to come out to carry down a fresh supply of provisions. These 

 shallow galleries are usually found packed full of cut up heads and 

 stalks of grain — the remains of half eaten meals, and stores that have 

 never been needed. While stauding in the shock a small amount of 

 grain is sometimes destroyed by the Gopher entering from below and 

 cutting off the heads of a few bundles. If left standing for an unusu- 

 ally long time a shock is sometimes nearly destroyed. Occasionally 

 they come up under a grain stack and in the same manner eat and waste 

 considerable grain. Usually they do not care for ripe grain or seeds 

 unless found in the sheaf or in a stack, where it is eaten along with 

 stalks, leaves, and heads. They are particularly fond of half-ripe grain, 

 which, apparently is not shelled but eaten with the head and chaff. 



They do their worst mischief in meadows. The leaves and roots of 

 grass and clover furnish an abundance of food, but the amount eaten 

 is of comparatively little consequence. Every hill thrown up covers 

 and kills the grass where it lies, so that a single Gopher working all 

 summer in a meadow will destroy the crop over a considerable area; 

 but even this is not the worst result. The hills usuallv contain more 

 or less gravel and in mowing with a machine the knife keeps running 

 through them, dulling, nicking, and sometimes breaking the sections. 

 It frequently becomes necessary to raise the cutting-bar several inches 

 to avoid them, thereby losing a percentage of the crop. The surface 

 of the meadow is made rough by the presence of the hills, and the 

 horses feet frequently break through into the tunnels. This not only 

 causes the horses to stumble, but increases the roughness of the 

 meadow by leaving open holes. 



Mr. John N. Houghton, of Grinnell, Iowa, writes: " The chief cause 

 of damage is the throwing up of so much dirt on meadow land as 

 sometimes to render it almost impossible to cut the hay." 



Mr. W. Head, of Bristow, Iowa, writes under date of January 5, 1887 : 

 " The Pocket Gophers cover much ground with their mounds. * * * 

 The damage done to meadow land is enormous, whole acres often being 

 covered." 



Mr. Allen Chattin writes from Charter Oak, Iowa: "At the edge 

 of a stream I had a fine timothy meadow in which the Pocket Gophers 

 got to work. At wet times I could not run the mower, because the soft 

 hills which they threw up would clog the machine." 



From Turlington, Nebr., Mr. William N. Hunter writes : "The Pocket 

 Gophers (Geomys burmrius) are getting very numerous and doing great 

 damage, especially to the meadows and mowing ground, where their 



