''An incident bearing on the life-history of the pocket- 

 gopher has been recently reported to the writer by Mr. J. E. Light, 

 of Berkeley, California. He fonnd on the morning of May 1, 1913, 

 more than fifty pocket-gophers (Thomomys hottae hottae) stuck in 

 a strip of oil about two feet wide, which had been left alongside 

 of a street in process of repair in North Berkeley. These facts 

 have been fully verified by the writer. " =h= =5^= * 



' ' Ten of the gophers were collected the next , day w^ithin a 

 stretch of two-hundred feet. Two of these were apparently adult 

 males, the rest being females and half-grown young. 



"If this incident be taken as evidence, gophers come out of 

 their burrows at night and travel above ground. Some mammals 

 are known to travel about during the rutting season more than at 

 other times. The lime of the year and the occurrence of large 

 numbers of half-grown individuals, however, would seem to pre- 

 clude the use of this fact in explanation of the phenomenon in this 

 case." 



The writer has only witnessed one case of this nocturnal 

 Vv'andering of the pocket-gophers. That was in Fort Collins a few 

 years ago, when a gopher was captured early one spring morning 

 far from gopher workings. 



Genus Geomys 



Pocket-gophers of this genus are rather large, heavy-set ani- 

 mals witli short legs, no perceptible neck, small eyes, large fore- 

 feet armed with long claws adapted for digging. Tail rather 

 short, thick, almost hairless. Skull and jaws massive. 



Fig. 7. Pocket Gopher (Geomys lutescens) . From a specimen taken near 

 Ft. Collins. Original in Circular .Xo. 23, office of State Entomologist M. A. 

 Palmer, Delineator. 



Yellow Pocket-Gopher, Geomys lutescens. 



The yellow pocket-gopher is distributed in Colorado over the 

 plains country from the Arkansas River north to the AYyoming 

 line, and west to the edge of the foothills. 



16 



