Speaker 1: Section eleven of Birds and All Nature, Volume seven n
Speaker 1: two February nineteen hundred, recorded for Librevox dot Org by
Speaker 1: Betty b The gopher. The name of gopher, according to Brem,
Speaker 1: is applied in some American localities to various other widely
Speaker 1: variant rodents. The zoologists who first described the animal obtained
Speaker 1: their specimens from Indians, who had amused themselves by cramming
Speaker 1: both cheek pouches full of earth, distending them to such
Speaker 1: a degree that if the animal had walked, the pouches
Speaker 1: would have trailed on the earth. These artificially distended pouches
Speaker 1: obtained for the gopher its name. The taxidermists who prepared
Speaker 1: the dead specimens endeavored to give them what was supposed
Speaker 1: to be a lifelike appearance by following the practice of
Speaker 1: the Indians in distending the cheek pouches, and the artists
Speaker 1: who delineated the animal follow the models which were accessible
Speaker 1: to them, but too truly in their drawings. Owing to
Speaker 1: these circumstances, the pictures of gophers of even recent date
Speaker 1: represent really monstrous animals. When they honestly intend to familiarize
Speaker 1: us with the gopher. The gopher may be found east
Speaker 1: of the Rocky Mountains and to the west of the
Speaker 1: Mississippi River between the thirty fourth and fifty second parallel
Speaker 1: of north latitude. It leads an underground life digging tunnels
Speaker 1: in various directions. Tunnels of old standing says brem are
Speaker 1: packed hard and firm from constant use. Lateral passages branch
Speaker 1: off at intervals. The main chamber is situated under the
Speaker 1: roots of a tree at a depth of about four
Speaker 1: and one half feet. The entrance tunnel is sunk down
Speaker 1: to it with a spiral direction. This chamber is large,
Speaker 1: is lined with soft grass, and serves for a nesting
Speaker 1: and sleeping place. The nest in which the young, numbering
Speaker 1: from five to seven are born about the beginning of April,
Speaker 1: is lined with the hair of the mother. It is
Speaker 1: surrounded with circular passages from which the tunnels radiate. Gessner
Speaker 1: found that a passage leads from the nest to a
Speaker 1: larger hole, the storeroom, which is usually filled with roots, potatoes, nuts,
Speaker 1: and seeds. When throwing up the earth, the gopher exposes
Speaker 1: itself to view as little as possible, and immediately after
Speaker 1: accomplishing its purpose, plunges back into its hole. According to Audubon,
Speaker 1: it appears above ground to bask in the sun. We
Speaker 1: have seen it sit at the entrance to its den
Speaker 1: with an air of bold indifference to the approach of danger,
Speaker 1: and then suddenly vanish underground, its acute sense of hearing
Speaker 1: and great power of scent protected from surprises. Audubon kept
Speaker 1: several gophers in captivity for months, feeding them on potatoes.
Speaker 1: Their appetites were voracious, but they would drink neither water
Speaker 1: nor milk. They made incessant efforts to regain their liberty
Speaker 1: by gnawing through boxes and doors. They constantly drag clothing
Speaker 1: and other similar objects together, utilizing them as bedding, first
Speaker 1: gnawing them to pieces. One of them straying into a boot,
Speaker 1: instead of turning back, simply gnawed its way through the tip.
Speaker 1: The habit of gnawing was unendurable, and Audubon incontinently got
Speaker 1: rid of them. The gopher is very destructive to valuable
Speaker 1: trees and plants, for which reason man is its most
Speaker 1: dangerous enemy. The only other foe it has is to
Speaker 1: fear being water and snakes. This pretty little rodent is
Speaker 1: often found in populous neighborhoods. A few years ago, the
Speaker 1: writer saw one rush into a hole under the root
Speaker 1: of a large osage orange bush in wood Lawn, Chicago.
Speaker 1: Curiosity led him to watch for the reap appearance of
Speaker 1: the animal, which soon put its head cautiously above the
Speaker 1: entrance and eyed the intruder with as much interest as
Speaker 1: a weasel will often show under like circumstances. For several weeks,
Speaker 1: the gopher was visible in the morning hours. We pointed
Speaker 1: it out to several persons, each of whom declared it
Speaker 1: to be a ground squirrel. There is a great difference
Speaker 1: in these small animals, but they are frequently confounded. The
Speaker 1: name of gopher is applied in some American localities to
Speaker 1: various other rodents end of section eleven. This recording is
Speaker 1: in the public domain.