526 



REPORT OF STATP: GEOLOGIST. 



are filled with earth which is thus carried out to the surface and 

 emptied. According to the observations of Merriam and Schaeffer, 

 this statement is erroneous, and the dirt is always moved by placing 

 the fore legs behind it and pushing with the hind legs. 



The cheek pouches differ from those of the ground squirrels in 

 opening outside of the mouth and in being lined with fur on the 

 inside. Their only use is for carrying food to the store houses, 

 which always contain a larger supply than the animal can possibly 

 use. The pouches can l)e turned wrong side out without injury, 

 and it is said that they are sometimes thus everted when the ani- 

 mals are frightened by a snake. 



Dr. Merriam thus describes the way in which the pouches are 

 filled and emptied: "A piece of potato, root or other food is 

 seized between the incisor teeth, and is immediately transferred to 

 the fore paws which are held in a horizontal position, the tips of the 

 claws curving toward o^e another. If the food requires reduction 

 in size, the trimming is done while held in this position. The piece 

 is then passed rapidly across the face with a sort of wiping motion 

 which forces it into the open mouth of the pouch. Sometimes a 

 single rapid stroke with one hand is sufficient ; at other times both 

 hands are used, particularly if the piece is large. In such cases 

 the long claws of the one hand are used to draw down the open- 

 ing, while the food is poked in with the other. It is obviously 

 impossible for the animal to pass food from the mouth to the 

 pouches without the aid of its fore claws. 



"The most remarkable thing connected with the use of the 

 pouches is the way in which they are emptied. The fore feet are 

 brought back simultaneously along the sides of the head until they 

 reach a point opposite the hinder end of the pouches ; they are 

 then pressed firmly against the head and carried rapidly forward. 

 In this way the contents of the pouches are promptly dumped in 

 front of the animal. Sometimes several strokes are necessary. I 

 am not prepared to say that the animal can not empty the pouches 

 by means of the delicate investing muscles, but I have never seen 

 them emptied in any other way than that here described." 



The food consists almost wholly of roots of various kinds. In 

 their native state, the gophers li\'(' almost wholly on the roots 

 of the prairie grasses and othei* prairie phmts. With the intro- 

 duction of cultivated plants into their range they have found many 

 of them more (lesiral)le food. Potatoes and garden vegetables are 

 ol'ton eaten. I\ools ol" Ccnil and otiiei- trees ai'(! sonieliines cut off 

 to such an extent as to almost (h'stroy an oreliard. the food 



