8 



C I R Ci; L A R F O U R T E E N 



FOOD 



From an economic standpoint, the striped ground squirrel 

 j)resents a problem that is somewhat difficult to solve. In some 

 sections of the state it is no doubt very injurious to corn and 

 newly planted seeds of various kinds, while, on the other hand, 

 in other sections it is beneficial by the destruction of grasshoppers 

 and other injurious insects, cut-worms, etc. This is especially 

 true throughout the irrigated districts, where in former years 

 grassho])i)ers have been such a scourge. From our observations, 

 the strijied ground squirrel prefers grasshoppers to any other food, 

 and where these insects are abundant it will eat them almost to 

 the exclusion of all other foods. Just where to draw an arbitrary 

 line between the evil and the good is a difficult matter. Mr. W. E. 

 Snyder, in writing about the food habits of the eastern striped 

 ground squirrel, says: 



In Wisconsin their principal food is grain and seeds. One killed on 

 August 11, 1894, had 181 kernels of barley in its cheek pouches. (List 

 with the notes of the mammals of Dodge County, Wisconsin. Bulletin of 

 Wisconsin Natural History Society.) 



In 1S89 Professor C. V. Gillette, at that time entomologist 

 to the Iowa Experiment Station, examined twenty-two stomachs 

 of the striped ground squirrel, Citellus tridecemllneatus. These 

 squirrels were taken from April 19 to August 2. 



In summing up the results of these examinations, we quote 

 him as follows : 



Insects certainly constitute a large proportion of the food of the 

 striped squirrel. The insects upon which the squirrels feed are almost 

 exclusively injurious species, chief among which seem to be cut- worms, 

 web-worms, and grasshoppers. 



As grass, clover, and other green stuff has been abundant wherever 

 the squirrels w^ere taken, and as their stomachs were often gorged with 

 insects that must have given them much trouble to catch, it would seem 

 that they prefer the latter food. 



From the above facts it seems certain that the squirrels must be a 

 decided benefit to lawns, meadows, and pastures. 



If ground containing cut-worms, web-worms, and wire- worms is to be 

 turned over to corn, the more squirrels that can be harbored upon it up 

 to planting time, the less will the crop be damaged by these insects. 



The squirrels would be a most valuable adjunct to any corn field 

 after planting, if some methods could be devised to prevent them from 

 taking the corn. 



By combining the percentages given and dividing by twenty-two, 

 we find that forty-six per cent of the contents of these stomachs was 

 insects. (Contents of these stomachs not given in this paper.) 



If we add together all of the cut-worms and web-worms found and 

 divide by twenty-two, we get thirteen as the average number. If we sup- 

 pose that the amount found in the stomachs represents, on an average, 

 one-half of the daily food, this would give twenty-six as the average 

 number of these worms consumed by a single squirrel each day from April 

 19 to August 2, and 2,730 as the total number. These figures multiplied 



