The record-union., 1896-10-04
THE ANIMAL WORLD.
Some Curious Stories About Beasts and
Birds.
How the Pocket Gopher Burrows
Hypnotizing Bears-A Woman
at a Tiger Hunt


dwelling a halfnlile long would be con-
sjdered very important parsonage by
his fellows, but he would have at that,
an abode only one-half as long as the
dwelling which is often constructed by
a very little animal-the creatu called
the pocket gopher in the West and
the 'salamander'' IN the South A re-
port on this little creature, recently is
sued by the United States Department
of Agriculture, declares that the bur
rows dug by a single animal would, if
Strengthened out, in many cases meas
ure more than a mile.
The pocket gopher digs as long as he
lives, extending his burrows from year
to year. He digs all summer, and gem
orally all winter, for he does not hiber-
nate. He is probably the completest
mechanical digger in existence. All his
life is passed under ground, except
when, for an instant, on rare occasions,
he emerges into the air TO push load
of earth from a freshly opened hole;
but he vanishes below the earth so
quickly that he can hardly be said to
| be seen at all.
Except for one month of the year, the
mating season, all pocket gophers live
an entirely solitary life, and, like other
Eernlits, they are of an extremely
surly disposition. They will fight vi
| ciously on all occasions, and they have
a remarkably formidable weapon in
their long, sharp front teeth.
They are. of all living creatures, the
ones most perfectly adapted to digging
in the ground They are short-legged
thick-set, almost reckless, without Wis
ible ears, and with extremely small
eyes.
In tunneling in the earth they use
their long and powerful front teeth as
a pick to loosen the ground At the
same time the fore feet, which are
armed with long, curved claws (the side
Of the toes being lined, in turn, with
| bristles, which prevent the dirt from
passing between them) are hard at
work, both in digging and in pressing
the dirt back under the body There
| the hind feet take it and push it fur
| ther back.
| When earth enough has been accun-
ulated behind the gopher, he whirls
about, and. by bringing his wrists to-
I gether under the chin, with the palms
Of the hands held vertically he pushes
the earth out in front.
He will move backward as rapidly as
! forward, and can push dirt either way.
| His movement in digging often seems
as rapid and automatic as that of
| shuttle.
Except in times of deep frost the bur-
rows are seldom more than a foot un-
Ger ground, and generally about six
! inches. The gopher is in pursuit Of
/ roots of all kinds - grass roots, tree
roots. potatoes, and other tubers. He
| is immensely destructive to crops, and
one gopher has been known to gnaw
| away the roots Of a tree so complete
/ ly that the tree will topple over in
| slight wind and fall fiat.
This is not hard to understand after
We have been assured as the zoologist
Of the Department Of Agriculture as
sures US, that pocket gopher can make
200 complete strokes with his teeth in
a minute. It's jaws are so arranged that
thirty-eight distinct single cuts are
made by the forward stroke Of the
| jaw and twenty eight by the backward
! stroke Thus, as will be seen, the little
/ creatures jaws may make a grand to-
tai Of 1920 cuts minute when in
| active operation. ;
The pocket gopher-the name is ap-
piled to several species Of the geomys
| tribe-is, indeed, SO destructive that in
many parts Of the West bounties
are offered for its extermina ton.
One Iowa County paid 81 1000 in such
| bounties in a single year without an
| appreciable reduction of the animals
ravages. This represented a destruc-
ton Of 10000 gophers.
At intervals, seldom more than few
rods apart, and often within a few feet,
the pocket gopher comes to the surface
to throw up a little hill of dirt, but the
! opening which he makes is closed by
being packed SO full &C dirt that no
trace of the tunnel is visible except the
| little mound
The gopher goes on digging in win
ter as we'll as in summer, but If the
frost prevents him from coming to the
surface, he uses a cross section Of his
| tunnel in which to pack the earth
which he has dug for his new eXcava-
tions. These tightly packed cylinders
Of earth are often turned up by the
| farmers plow
If, by inadvertence. the pocket go
pher leaves an exit open the ''bull
snake" is very apt to enter; ana, If he
does, the gopher's death is certain He
is covered with slime by the serpent
and swallowed.
But the weasel is the gophcrs chief
enemy. The largest weasel easily en-
ters the burrow and traverses; it swift
| ly, and weasels have cleared whole
section of country Of pocket gophers
when bounties have failed
But it is staid that even in regions
where the pocket gophors are most de-
structive the weasel is condemned by
the farmers and killed merciessly.
This is one instance D.: many Of the
| sloWness Of mankind to recognize
| friends in the animal world.
| Owls and hawks also succeed in cap
turing many gophers, in spite Of the
merely instantaneous appearance Of the
creatures above the ground.
| The geomyS has a somewhat extra
ordinary appendage in the shape of a
pouch on each cheek, in which he stores
q little supply of food, and which does
not. like the chipmunk's S pouch, COM
municate with the mouth. 1t is entirely
on the outside, and the gopher is
obliged to use his paws both in put
ting the food into it and in taking it
| cut.
| Given whole potato, pocket
gopher in captivity will proceed to cut
off little slices, trim them into suitable
shape with his sharp teeth, and trans
fer them to his cheek pouches by a
swift movement. To get them out he
presses his fore feet firmly against the
sides of his head and carries them
rapidly forward, dumping the contents
of the pouches on the ground bss.;;,re
him.
These pouches or pockets are often