12 



COMMON MAMMALS OK \\ K.STKIi N MONTANA. 



ing grain. Oats (whole, hulled, or rolled) are preferred to any 

 other grain: and wheat, though not so well liked, is readily eaten. 

 Barley and rye are seldom taken. 



INJURY TO CROPS. 



Although ground squirrels are not so serious a pest in Montana 

 as in some other States, the damage they do in many localities is 

 sufficient to warrant their destruction. 



Growing grain is eaten by ground squirrels from the time it first 

 appears above ground until the animals enter hibernation. (Fig. 3.) 

 I have seen many wheat and oat fields which were seriously damaged 

 by ground squirrels; and it is safe to say that every one of these 

 animals in a gra infield annually causes at least a dollar's loss. This 

 great damage is well illustrated by the experience of a rancher near 

 Pullman. Wash. In the spring of 1910 he bought 1,000 traps and 



Pig. S. — Columbian around squirrel burrow in wheat field. 



started to clear the squirrels off his whole ranch. Included in the 

 land on which the animal- were exterminated was an 80-acre piece 

 from which the owner had for six } 7 ears been unable to secure a crop, 

 but after the squirrels were killed off this piece yielded an average 

 of 35 bushels of wheat to the acre. 



Carrots, potatoes, beans, peas, and other garden truck are often 

 seriously damaged. Figure 4 shows squirrel work in a carrot field near 

 Florence, Mont. The manager of one of the orchard companies south- 

 west of the same town reported that in 1010 ground squirrels caused 

 the company a total loss of 5 acres of beans, the plants being attacked 

 from the time they sprouted until the pods were formed. 



In hayfields squirrels cause serious loss both by eating hay and 

 by covering considerable areas with their mounds, which are a great 

 annoyance when the fields are mowed. 



In orchards the most serious damage is usually done to the irriga- 

 tion systems; but Mr. Moody, president of the Como Orchard Land 



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