The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1896-02-08
THE PoucHeD GOPHER.

Tho Curious Little Animal with Huge
Pockets In Which lie Stores Food.
He is shy. quiet, thrifty clap. the
vopher, and the passing traveller
through the New Mexican plains iri-
,sariably bestows on him an admitting
and interested glance. The cclors OF
his coat are warm, soft, but neutral,
blending with the grays and duns OF
the dry, scant heritage and the I'M
terminable sands. In such land a
brighter coat wotld mean a short life.
A score OF enemies lie in wait for Broth
er Gopher and only his dull garb rem
ders his foraging expeditions among
the sage brush and potato hillocks at
all safe. The keen-eyed hawk floating
high in the air above the gopher scans
the brown sands and sees no prey.
Were the little diggei's back one tinge
darker the bird would be upon him be-
fore he could finish gnawing that tooth
some root.
He has great use for those queer
pouches of his. Ground nuts. roots. po-
tatoes and seed pods furnish ''Geomys,"
with a good living. In the capacious
pouches which hang from his mouth
to his shoulder he can carry an in
credibly large load. Finding fertile
potato hill or clump of heavy-!aden
cookie burrs he proceeds to carry the
food with all possible speed TO numer-
Gus storehouses under ground. Not
until all the provender in sight has been
secured will Mr.. Gopher eat single
morsel. There is thrift for you.
And he does not carry sand OF dirt
in those pretty pockets, as most OF the
stories about him incorrectly state.
He has no need to do so as an inspec-
ton of his burrowing operations will
disclose.
He humps his little back and rest
ing partly on his tail, partly on his
hind feet and with his front paws he
fairly makes the earth fly. Every few
moments he will drop on his front feet
and with his hind ones will kick the
accumulated debris out behind him.
When a fair pile is collected he wheels
about, places his front paws under the
mound and showing with his sturdy
hind legs comes putting up out of his
burrow like tiny steam excavator
In a few hours he can dig long and
very winding burrow, and if he Ell
counters stones or roots he either I'M
| dermines or gnaws through the OBJ
struction however big. He never aban-
dons his line of excavation on account
of unforeseen difficulties.
The pretty fellows make very
charming pets and very clearly ones
but fight nearly all the time. Acquisi'
tiveness and keen instinct of prop.
erty rights make frequent disputes
Unless the cage be very large one
the stronger ones will soon kill the
weaker by force or starve them to
death. One will find the others hidden
store and appropriate 1t. If taken In
the theft fight is inevitable and even
if not badly injured the defeated gopher
seems to take no joy in life when his
property is thus lost. Pockets in ami
mails as in men seem to indicate re
alization of meus and tuus inseparable
from a train of accompanying woes
Envy, jealousy, worry, fraud. fear
greed and suspicion almost unknown
to savages and to pouchless creatures
make the gophers' lives very turbulent
And in common with human society
they suffer from that most detestablt
of thieves, the pickpocket.-N. Y
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