106 



NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



zees), whose caterpillar lives in the 

 stalks of Indian corn, and also in 

 dahlias,flies this month. The with- 

 ering of the leaves when the corn 

 is young shows the presence of 

 this pest. The beetles of various 

 cylindrical Bark borers and Blight 

 beetles ( Tomicus and Scoltuys) ap- 

 pear again this month. During 

 this month the Tree cricket ( CE can- 

 thus nivcns) lays its eggs in the 

 branches of peach trees. It will 

 also eat tobacco leaves. 



We have the moth of Ennonws 

 subsignaria; the larva of which is 

 so injurious to shade trees in New 

 York City. It is a widely diffused 

 species, occurring probably 

 throughout the Northern States. 

 We have taken the moth in North- 

 ern Maine. We have received from 

 Mr. W. V. Andrews the supposed 

 larvas of this moth. They are 

 "loopers," that is, they walk with 

 a looping gait, as if measuring off 

 the ground they walk over, whence 

 the name "Geometers," more us- 

 ually applied to them. They are 

 rather stout, brown and roughened 

 like a twig of the tree they inhabit, 

 with an unusually large rust-red 

 head, and red prop-legs, while the 

 tip of the body is also red. They 

 are a little over an inch long. — 

 Packard's Insect Calendar 1873. 



The Florida Land Tortoise- 

 Gopher. 



Gopherus Polyphemus. 



It seems very strange that so 

 little has been known, or at least 

 has been published about the hab- 

 its of this very common animal. 

 Winter visitors to Florida and the 

 Gulf States often observe their 

 burrows on the sandy ridges, each 

 with its yawning entrance and 

 scattered mound of subsoil, and 

 are not unlikely to mistake them 

 for the woodchuck holes with 

 which they are familiar at the north. 

 It is the permanent resident, how- 

 ever, that is most likely to have 

 some acquaintance with the ani- 

 mal itself; for only in the hottest 

 weather and at noonday does the 

 gopher leave its burrow to feed 

 upon the surrouding grass and 

 herbage. 



In summer, when the thermome- 

 ter is in the nineties, the animal 

 comes forth daily, sometime be- 

 tween the hours of eleven a. m. 

 and two p. m., and takes a careful 

 look around to assure itself that 

 no danger threatens. Then, if no 

 ominous sounds disturb the still- 

 ness of the sultry air, it raises it- 



self high on its ungainly legs and 

 starts briskly off for the nearest 

 patch of grass or cultiyated field. 



For about an hour the gopher 

 wanders about with its long neck 

 outstretched and plucks ravenous- 

 ly at every green vegetable within 

 its reach. Often, indeed, in its 

 eagerness it cracks up and swal- 

 lows dead twigs and dry leaves to- 

 gether with the more succulent 

 food, until its ravenous appetite is 

 appeased. It then retires to the 

 bottom of its burrow in the moist, 

 cool sand, there to remain until 

 the morrow or, if the season be 

 rainy, until the next dry, hot day. 



The gopher is a very timid and 

 alert animal, and although it feeds 

 with great gusto and apparent 

 abandon, it is seldom so absorbed 

 in its work that it fails to hear the 

 sound of approaching footsteps. 

 The near approach of any large 

 animal sends it scurrying back to 

 its hole. It requires lively work 

 to head off its retreat, but if sur- 

 prised and captured at a distance 

 from its hole, like other turtles, it 

 retires into its shell, and, drawing 

 its plethoric and scaly fore paws 

 like double doors over the front of 

 its shell, it resigns itself supinely 

 to its fate, and never under any 

 circumstances attempts to bite or 

 otherwise defend itself. 



In winter the gopher very rarely 

 quits its burrow, and comes forth 

 to feed only on the very hottest 

 days at noon. In the warm Flor- 

 ida soil it is never torpid, but re- 

 mains quiescent at the end of its 

 gallery awaiting the return of dog- 

 day weather. 



A well grown gopher measures 

 10 inches in length by 7^3 inches 

 in width and \ J / 2 inches in thick- 

 ness, and weighs about 6 pounds. 

 Individuals are sometimes found 

 measuring 12x9^x5 inches, and 

 weighing 9 or 10 pounds. 



They are sold in the markets of 

 many towns at high prices, and 

 are eaten by the negroes and lower 

 classes everywhere in the south. 

 The flesh is excellent in quality, 

 very tender, of a rich red color and 

 has the appearance, flavor and 

 odor of beef. But the supply of 

 meat obtainable even from indi- 

 viduals of the largest size is scan- 

 ty, the greater part of the body 

 cavity being occupied by the enor- 

 mous gut crammed with grass and 

 the long intestines filled with wads 

 of fibrous dung. The flesh is 

 greatly relished by all carnivorous 

 animals, but a gopher of average 

 size has little to fear from their at- 

 tacks. The largest dogs are un- 

 able to bring their canine teeth to 



bear upon any vulnerable part un- 

 less the specimen is young and 

 small enough to be taken into 

 their mouths. 



In May or June the female de- 

 posits in the sand outside of her 

 burrow from one dozen to twenty 

 eggs. The eggs are perfectly 

 spherical, pure white in color and 

 have a diameter of inches. 

 More beautiful objects can hardly 

 be found to grace an oological 

 cabinet. 



The burrows of the gopher are 

 excavated by the aid of a ^'remark- 

 able spade-shaped projection on 

 the front of the under shell, assist- 

 ed by the powerful fossorial front 

 legs, which are armed for this pur- 

 pose with strong blunt claws. 



In the sandy uplands of Florida 

 the galleries descend at an angle 

 of about 35 0 , and reach. a vertical 

 depth of seven to nine feet from 

 the surface of the ground. They 

 follow a straight course unless de- 

 flected by a root or some other ob- 

 struction and usually terminates in 

 a layer of indurated soil. The 

 length of the gallery varies from 

 twelve to eighteen feet. The tem- 

 perature at the lower end does not 

 vary greatly throughout the year, 

 and will generally not fall below 

 74 0 in winter nor rise above 79 0 

 in summer. The conditions as to 

 moisture are probably equally con- 

 stant. At Crescent City, Fla., 

 where these observations were 

 made, the permanent water table 

 lies at an average depth of eigh- 

 teen feet. The burrow of a goph- 

 er once completed becomes its 

 permanent residence, and it is with 

 extreme difficulty that the animal 

 can be compelled to vacate and ex- 

 cavate a new home. 



It is inhabited by the same in- 

 dividual for a long period of time, 

 and if popular belief in the great 

 age attained by turtles in general 

 and the land tortoise in particular 

 is well founded, some of these 

 reptilian domiciles may have an- 

 tedated the present century, and 

 even rival in antiquity the dwell- 

 ings of man. Certain burrows in 

 this vicinity are pointed out as 

 having been in existence twenty- 

 four years ago, when the oldest 

 orange groves were planted. This 

 necessarily impli s a continuous 

 occupancy by tiie ^ame individual 

 tortoise during that period, since 

 if the galleries are abandoned they 

 shortly become filled up and ob- 

 lerated in our shifting sand. 



Every naturalist will appreciate 

 under the above showing what un- 

 usually favorable conditions here 

 exist for the preservation of animal 



