MAMMALS OF SAC COUNTY 
283 
Woodchuck or Ground Hog ( Marmot a nionax ) . There were 
always woodchucks at Grant and Lee groves (3), but they never 
spread out much until about 1905, when they appeared at Sac 
City (2). They have now spread through the timber (2) and 
my father trapped one near Wall Lake August 27, 1912. 
Gray Ground Squirrel or Franklin’s Spermophile ( Citelius 
franklini). Specimen in the Smith collection. It is now com- 
mon in clover and timothy fields ; and when the hay is cut it 
removes to the grain fields and digs new burrows. It is very 
rarely found in pastures. My father has seen one of these squir- 
rels rob a meadow lark’s nest, and one of our neighbors who 
had moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, reported seeing a squirrel 
of this species sucking a wild duck’s egg. This species was not 
as common in early days as it is now (4, 8). 
Striped “ Gopher” or Ground Squirrel or Thirteen-lined Sper- 
mophile ( Citelius tridecemlineatiis ) . This species also was not as 
common in early days as it is now (4, 8). It is now common, 
frequenting pastures where there is short grass, and a more or 
less permanent sod, almost entirely. I have . seen it catch and 
eat grasshoppers. 
Prairie Dog ( Cynomys ludoviciamis) . One man (2) reported 
a prairie deg town of about twenty burrows in Jackson town- 
ship in 1900. There were no other prairie dogs reported and I 
would consider it probable that these were the descendants of 
escaped pets. 
Chipmunk ( Tamis striatus ) . Chipmunks were very common 
in the timber at first settlement. One man told of five in one 
bush (4). They are still found in the timber along the Raccoon 
river but I would consider them onlv tolerably common. 
Gray Squirrel ( Scirus caroUnensis ) . None were reported for 
Sac county but one man (3) reported some at Jefferson in 
Greene county in 1860. My father said that in the 60 ’s, there 
were numerous gray squirrels and no fox squirrels about Char- 
lotte, Clinton county, Iowa ; and that in 1915 when he returned 
there for a visit, fox squirrels were numerous, but there were 
no gray squirrels. 
Western Fox Squirrel ( Scirus ludoviciamis ) . The early set- 
tlers report this species as rare at first (2, 4). Only in late 
years have they become common and started to spread over the 
prairie to the farmers’ groves. They first appeared at Wall 
Lake about 1904 and are now common (1917). I have shot one 
