The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-06-07
THE CANADA POUCHE D RAT OR
 GOPHER.

] sal ueltI IIOll bL, LOulSi dHu III LII
 course of the conversation I mention
 ed that I had been greatly annoyed
 by the moles in my vegetable garden
 ''Moles?" said he, "They don't amour
 to anything; if you had muloes in the worry about, in answer to a question
 as to what he called muloe, he gave
 a description of an animal which il was quite easy to identify as the Can
 ada pouched rat, otherwise known as gopher. He then proceeded to vivdly describe the gopher's destructive hab-
 its, and finished by saying that he
 would sooner have ten moles in his garden than one muloe.
 What he said was true in the main, for it is hard to imagine an animal
 more exasperating than this one, to any hard-Working gardener. The mole unintentionally does a great deal of | damage while hunting for his favorite | food of earth-worms in the cultivated | beds, but the Canada pouched rat not | only blows up the beds. but deliberate ly eats off the roots of the vegetables as we'll. This curious looking creature | has a large head, with broad blunt nose, small eyes, short ears and large, yellow incsor teeth which project far beyond the lips. But the most remark able of all are two long cheek pouches which extend from the sides of the mouth to the shoulder, and which are lined internally with short, soft hair. The body bears some resemblance
 to that of a gigantic reddish brown
 mole. It is covered with soft, warm
 hair, that on the under surface being
 much shorter and lighter in color than
 that on the back. The tail, which is
 something over two inches long is cov-
 cred with fur for about three-fourths
 of an inch: the rest is naked, The total length of the animal is about one foot. Scarcely less remarkable than the head are the forefeet each of which have five toes, armed with very long, powerful, curved claws, design ed especially for digging in the earth. They remind one of grotesque hands The hind feet are much smaller and have very short nails. A large pouch- ed rat will weigh from twelve to four teen ounces.
 This gopher is common in many parts of the United States and in the southern part of Canada. Wherever it abounds it is a dangerous enemy of the gardeners, who wage perpetual war upon it. It burrows beneath the soil in the fields and garden at depth of several inches, below the sur face, tunnelling it in every direction. At frequent intervals he rises to the surface, throwing up mounds of earth, a foot or more in height, with his back, and al these points creating new open ings to his runways. These mounds are made at irregular distances, rang ing from a foot or two, to perhaps thirty yards apart, and usually at points not far from good supplies of grass or vegetables.
 Sometimes a long-suffering garden CT will attempt to dig out his enemies but he usually has his trouble for his pains, as the task is next to impossi- be, There are so many ramifica tions to the burrows, and they extend so far, that the gophers have every chance to Even when they are detected in the act of heaving up the earth in making their mounds, it is far from easy to get near them. Their hearing is very acute and the slightest sound | of footstep is often enough to make | further sign of danger they will re- l tire into a burroW which may lead l into the next field, or perhaps into the | next field but one. They are often | taught in steel traps and box traps, | and sometimes they are shot at the i, they raise their backs above | he surface, in the act of making their mounds.
 Though very irritating to the farm er, they are very interesting to the If he watches one as it ar- ives at the surface, heaving up the 'oil with it's back and shoulders, he will presently see it break through lnd if he keeps perfectly still he may tee it hobble away, perhaps with it's ong claws bent under it's feet, to a pot where it can fill it's pouches with 'egtables or with fresh grass which t cuts off with it's teeth. It will then return to it's burrow to dine It leisure, though it may sit up at the mouth of it's burrow and eat there. us- ng it's long claws to handle it's food, l cry much as a squirrel would do. Af- 1 CT it has finished it will probably lean itself with it's front paws, and hen either set off for another load, or etire to it's burrow.
 The nest of the gopher is made of l arious soft materials including the air of the animal itself. It is usually laced in a burrow having numerous utIets, by which the occupants can scape if danger threatens them. The oung, usually five to seven in a litter, re born about the latter part of March r the beginning of April. They devel- D very quickly and are soon able to rovide for themselves
 ERNEST HAROI.n HAYNES .