ENEMIES OF GOPHERS. 



21 



especially serviceable in destroying Gophers. The following extract 

 from a letter by Clark P. Streator gives important testimony on the sub- 

 ject: " In examining a large number of nests, at all months of the year, 

 I have found nothing but Gophers [Thomomys], except on one occasion, 

 when there were one or two Brewer's blackbirds. On further investi- 

 gation I found a deposit of pellets of nothing but Gopher hair and 

 bones, which had been ejected by the owls, and had accumulated in a 

 few instances to the extent of two or three cubic feet in the trees in 

 which the birds lived. I also found that in the breeding season it was 

 not uncommon to find six or more Gophers, that were not eaten by the 

 young, lying about the nest. I have found Gophers in the nests at 

 other times than the breeding season, but not in such abundance." 



In Arizona, a few years ago, I discovered numerous small bones on 

 the bottom of a cave. They were the bones of rodents, and evidently 

 had been brought by owls and disgorged as pellets. In about a quart 

 of these bones were 43 skulls of the Gopher common in that locality. 

 Nothing is known as to what owl inhabited this cave. Several are 

 common in the regiou. 



Mr. Ernest E. Thompson, writing of the Gray Gopher (Thomomys 

 talpoides) in Manitoba, says: "The earliest seasonal record that I have 

 for this species is as follows: April 12, 1883, 1 Snowy owl shot by Mr. 

 Arthur S. Thompson, and brought to me, had in its claws a pocket 

 mouse,* whose pouches were full of roots.' Mr. Miller Christy writes 

 me from western Manitoba as follows: 1 May 5, 1887, found a nest of the 

 horned owl {Bubo virginianus) in a poplar tree on the prairie. Besides 

 the two fledgling owls, it contained the remains of 20 pocket mice* in 

 various stages of decay.' The above is all the evidence I can give to 

 show that the animal ever appears above ground." 



Badgers spend much time and energy in digging open gopher holes, 

 but rarely succeed in catching the Gopher. After digging far enough 

 to convince themselves that the burrow is interminable they abandon 

 the effort, and with better results turn their attention to ground squirrels. 



There are two enemies that more than all others hold in check the 

 increase of the Pocket Gophers — the weasel and the bull snake. Of 

 these, weasels rank first, bull snakes (Pituophis) second. Whenever 

 a weasel enters a gopher hole the Gopher is his prey. There is no pos- 

 sibility of escape. The largest weasel is small enough to enter their 

 burrows easily and travel quickly through them. In localities inhabited 

 by weasels I have found much difficulty, even when old gopher hills 

 were numerous, in catching enough Gophers for specimens. Mr. L. C. 

 Cummings, a well known nurseryman of Riverside, Cal., writes: "At 

 one nursery we were bothered with Gophers; all at once the Gophers 

 became scarce, and from one to four weasels could be seen nearly every 

 day running through the nursery and over an adjoining hill. They 



* Mr. Thompson uses the erroneous term ' pocket mouse ' for these Gophers. Pocket 

 mice are widely different animals and belong to another family. 



