26 
WILD AMERICANS 
“Does he live underground?" This question came 
from Ginger, who by this time had also dressed and 
hurried outside. 
“Yes, Ginger, he does. Gophers are subterranean 
animals, which means they live under the ground. 
They are strange creatures, very destructive to grass, 
crops that the farmer grows, and almost every other 
kind of root. People call them the root-eaters." 
“I never saw one," said Ginger. 
“I just caught a glimpse," Buck explained. “I wish 
we could see him outside." 
“After breakfast, I will ride over to the village here 
and get a trap," Uncle Ely promised. “A simple trap 
will catch him. The gopher is a very strange fellow, 
and I want you to become acquainted with him." 
In the village near which the Blairs had camped 
for the night, the storekeeper told them that people 
had been trying to rid their farms of gophers. As he 
sold the Blairs a small wire trap, he explained to Un¬ 
cle Ely, Buck, and Ginger that the little furry pests 
cost the farmers thousands of dollars yearly, by bur¬ 
rowing in the land to eat the roots of growing crops. 
Uncle Ely showed the children how to set the trap, 
then pushed it down in the gopher hole about as far 
as Ginger's hand could reach. 
