The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1888-01-27
sKILLFuL FOUR LEGGED MINERS.

Cunning GOphers and How They Bore
TunneIs-Where They Garry Food.
In appearance, the gopher, or pouched
rat, as it is sometimes called, resembles a
short tailed and short legged rat, with q
large head and protruding teeth. Their
cheeks attract attention, having the APP
pearaBce of being pushed out or stuffed
with something, but this is owing to the
fact that our miner has two very strange
r~eceptacles, one on each side, separate
and distinct from the mouth, little car
pet bags we might call them, each lined
with far, and large enough to enable me
to thrust in my thumb to the first joint.
Pouches, they are sometimes and often
called, and as to their use, there seems to
be a diversity OF opinion.
The front claws of this miner are ex-
trenely large and powerful and enable it
to construct tunnels with remarkable ra-
pidity, When once beneath the surface
they construct their mines in every direc-
ton, with no great regularity, but evil
IDENTIFY with the idea of forming o laby-
rinth that viii carry off floods. That this
is successful / have frequently demon
strated by farming a large stream of
water into the mine. 1t would run in
without overlooking for a long time, and
have never succeeded iii forcing one out
by this means.
1t would naturally be supposed that
such miners would place their nest at
some distant or doep lead in the mine, but
the reverse is the rule, the warm nest OF
bits of weed being formed very near the
surface, from which different mines lead
away, taking any water that might come
In. 1t might be assumed that the bags or
pouches were used to carry out the dirt
and stones removed, but, c~uriously
enoughy they use them for exactly the re-
verse, and for carrying seeds or food.
AS soon as a gopher makes up its mind
that its mining operations have been OBJ
served, it Invariably crawls out, or partly
ont, Of the mine or burrow, and, filing
its pouches with sticks and sand, backs
quickly in; its tail seemingly guiding 1t to
the hole with unfailing regularity the
uniInIi tlevet sttIhiifg, Dit tigrssys 5a
ing, and moving SO rapidly that it seems
almost like the curious lizard that runs
one way as wen as another. The soii and
material carried in this way is deposited
at the entrance OF the mine, and il the
anim9l thinks that danger Is Imminent it
bites OF earth at the D4outh Of tie bur-
row. Having done tbs for a few mo
ments it disappears anela second later
the opening closes. and o close examina-
ton shows a quiyering of tile earth and a
repeated pushing up as il some one was
patting It from below, In short, the
mine has been filled up from below and
so skillfully that few would notice IT.
But where Is the miner? Not on in
some deep lend hundreds Of feet away,
but near at hand, III q tunnel quite at the
surface, that has a port hole about as
large as a pea. Sssnrough this port holeii
the WHY miner takes observations, and
the tunnel VIII not be reopened Tor Weeks
4 it IS watched.
The gopher comes out generally ut hight
60 feed n carries seeds IN its pouches,
but the sand and gravel that is removed
from the mine IS never taken iii this way,
being pushed 1lp BY The animals breast
and forefeet. They are the pests Of tho
southwest portions of the continent, and
the valleys Of southern California arc
tunHeled BY q raaze Of their mines.-
Golden Days.