114 
FINDING NATURE’S TREASURES 
“Whew! That is a long name/’ said Fred. “I am going 
to call him the Striped Gopher, too.” 
“What makes him look like a stick, Uncle Jack?” asked 
Marylee. 
“He does look very much like a stick when you are not 
close to him, because his head is the same size as the 
rest of his body. His ears are so small that you cannot 
see them, unless you are quite near. Then he holds his 
front legs so close to his body that you cannot see them. 
And, too, he stands up very straight.” 
“May we get closer to see him better?” asked Bess. 
“We can get behind that bush there without scaring 
him if we are very quiet,” replied Uncle Jack. 
“I can see him well now,” said Marylee. “He has rows 
of little white spots down his back. See how bright his 
tiny black eyes are!” 
“There he goes,” said Buddy, as the little animal sud¬ 
denly dropped his front feet to the ground and raced 
through the grass to his hole. 
“Let’s see where he lives,” said Marylee. 
“Wait just a minute,” said Uncle Jack, holding Mary¬ 
lee back. “If you watch the hole a while, you may see 
him again.” 
They stood watching for a few minutes. 
Then Marylee whispered, “I see his head.” 
He stuck his head out of his hole and looked at them 
with his bright eyes. Then he whistled again. 
“Why does he whistle when he sees us?” asked Buddy. 
“That is the way he tells all the other striped gophers 
that there are strangers near,” replied Uncle Jack. 
