16 POCKET GOPHERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



and scatters their contents. Sometimes a peck of small potatoes, roots 

 of coco grass, wild parsnip, wild sunflower, and other fleshy or bulbous 

 roots are found in a single chamber. 



Abundance. — Gophers are abundant over a large part of the Missis- 

 sippi Valley, where I have estimated their numbers to be, in some places, 

 three or lour to the acre. This estimate will apply to considerable 

 tracts of country throughout their range. In general they are most 

 numerous on light, sandy soil. Farmers are sometimes of the opinion 

 that Gophers injure their fields by bringing* to the surface the bare clay 

 or sand from below the reach of the plow. This may possibly be true 

 in places where the soil is shallow and the subsoil poor, but they are, 

 as already shown, more often a positive help to the agriculturist in 

 mixing the soil. 



Breeding habits. — Early in spring, before the snow is fairly gone, a 

 male Gopher is sometimes found following a road or x>ath. He has left 

 his burrow and is seeking a mate. At this season a pair may be caught 

 in one burrow, but at other times they are solitary. Apparently only 

 the males leave the burrows in quest of mates, though positive informa- 

 tion on the subject is difficult to obtain. The few that have thus come 

 under my notice have been, without exception, males. The few facts 

 known concerning the time of breeding and number of young are given 

 under the head of the Prairie Gopher (Geomys bursarius). 



Disposition. — In disposition the Pocket Gophers are naturally vicious. 

 When caught in traps they fight with a ferocity that would be formid 

 able in larger animals, and if nothing else comes within their reach 

 they bite a steel trap with such force as to break off their teeth. They 

 will bite through a heavy shoe with the greatest ease. They seem to 

 have no sense of fear. The few that I have met away from their holes 

 have, without any provocation on my part, attacked me with the 

 utmost fury, as if bent upon killing and devouring me. They would 

 bite at my feet or any part of my person that came within reach, all 

 the time uttering a wheezy, panting sound, expressive of anger. Even 

 the half-grown young show the same fierce disposition. No doubt 

 they could be tamed and made gentle if taken when young, and might 

 make as interesting pets as the one described by Dr. Merriam. Pro- 

 fessor Herrick, speaking of one he had in captivity, says: " After a 

 short time he became perfectly tame and an engaging pet." 



My one effort at domesticating a Pocket Gopher Avas a failure, prob- 

 ably because the Gopher was old and hardened in his ways. He was 

 placed in a large box in which a partition with a hole through it separ- 

 ated one-half, filled with dirt, from the other half, which was open. 

 Plenty of food and nest material were placed in the box. but the 

 Gopher paid little attention to them. His one effort was to burrow out 

 of the box. Beginning at the hole in the partition he pushed the dirt 

 through into the vacant side, then brought it back. The dirt was 

 pushed, not carried in the pockets. For several days he worked almost 



