$8 
VIEWS OF LOUISIANA. 
The Prairie dog , or Squirrel , is a great curiosity. It lives in bur¬ 
rows, or as they are commonly called towns , and is about a third 
larger than the fox squirrel. The head is thick and clumsy, it has 
large jaws, full, large eyes, but the ear is not prominent, consist- 
ing of little more than the orifice. The body is long, and legs short, 
the tail not much larger than that of a common ground squir¬ 
rel, and very delicate ; the hair short and sleek, of a light grey, 
excepting on the belly, where it is white. It is without doubt a 
species of squirrel, though it has a cloven lip like the rabbit. It 
makes a noise very similar to that of the ground squirrel, though 
much louder; and resembling in a slight degree the barking 
of a very small dog. When at some distance from its hole, which, 
however, seldom happens, it may be easily caught, but is exceed¬ 
ingly fierce in the first instance; yet in a few days, it becomes 
perfectly domesticated, and is pleased with being caressed. It sel¬ 
dom drinks; it feeds on the grass which grows around its hole, 
and remains torpid during winter. These towns are to be found 
in the large prairies about three hundred miles west of the Mis¬ 
sissippi, and are frequently more than a mile in length. The si¬ 
tuation chosen, is generally dry, being on the slope of a hill, and 
at a distance from any water course When a person approaches, 
he is assailed by the whole village, with a noise, which as I have 
mentioned, bears a resemblance to the barking of small dogs. The 
animals are seen behind small hillocks at the side of their holes; 
on approaching within a few yards of one of these, the inhabi¬ 
tant instantly retreats to his subterraneous apartments. The 
wolves have declared war against these curious people, and fre¬ 
quently commit great havoc, in their little republics. 
The Gophers* is supposed to be a non-descript; it lives un¬ 
der ground, in-the prairies, and is also found east of the Missis¬ 
sippi. It bears considerable resemblance to the mole, but is 
twice the size of that animal. It has at each jaw, a kind of bag, 
or purse, about one inch and a half in length, for the purpose of 
conveying food, or for carrying the clirt out of its hole. The 
* This name is also given to a species of terrapin. 
Note by Mr. Bradbury —If the Gopher is not the animal, described 
in the System* Nature, as mu& bicrsorius, by Linn&us, it is yet unde¬ 
scribed. 
