The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1888-02-03
sKlLLFuL FOUR LEGGED MINERS.
Cunning Gophers and How They Bore
TunneIs-Where They Carry Food.

cunning Gophers and How They Bore
Tunnels-Where They Garry Food.
In appearance, the gopher, or pouched
rat, as it is sometimes called, resembles q
short tailed and short legged rat, with q
large head and protruding teeth. Their
cheeks attract attention, having the ap-
pearance of being pushed out or stuffed
with something, but this is owing to the
fact that our miner has two very strange
receptacles, one on each side, separate
and distinct from the mouth, little car
pet bags we might call them, each lined
with fur, 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 diversity of opinion.
The front claws of this miner are ex-
tremely large and powerful and enable it
to construct tunnels with remarkable ra-
pldlty. When once beneath the surface
they construct their mines in every direc.
ton, with no great regularity, but evi-
IDENTIFY with the idea of forming q laby-
rinth that will carry off floods. That this
IS successful l have frequently demon
strated by turning large stream of
water into the mine. It would run in
without overf1owing for long time, and
l have never succeeded in forcing one out
by this means.
1t would naturally be supposed that
such miners would place their nest at
some distant or deep 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 OF
pouches were used to carry out the dirt
and stones removed, but, curiously
enough, they use them for exactly the re-
verse, and for carrying seeds or food.
AS soon as gopher makes up it's mind
that its mining operations have been OBJ
served, it invariably crawls out, or partly
out, OF the mine or burrow, and, filing
It's pouches with sticks and sand, backs
quickly in, Its tail seemingly guiding it to
the hole with unfailing regularity, the
animal never turning, but always back
ing, and moving SO rapidly that it seems
almost like the curious lizard that runs
one way as well as another The soil and
material carried in this way is deposited
at the entrance of the mine, and If the
animal thinks that danger is imminent it
bites OF earth at the mouth of the bur-
row. Having done this for few mo-
ments 1t disappears and a second later
OfSAAAAA6 SAooSo. thAO q C1OSt
tion shows quivering Of the earth and q
repeated pushing up as If 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 off in
some deep lead hundreds of feet away,
but near at hand, in tunnel quite at the
surface, that has port hole about as
large as pea. Through this sport hole'
the willy miner takes observations, and
the tunnel will not be reopened for weeks
if it is watched.
The gopher comes out generally at night
to feed, and carries seeds in its pouches,
but the sand and gravel that is removed
from the mine is never taken in this way,
being pushed up by the animals breast
and forefeet. They are the pests of the
southwest portions of the continent, and
the valleys of southern California are
tunneled by maze of their Mines
Golden Days.