GOPHER, a name given by the early French settlers in the United States to various animals which honeycomb (Fr. gaufre) the ground by burrowing in it. In the Central States the name refers to the too common °striped° gopher, or ground-squirrel (Spermoph ilus tridecemlineatus), a troublesome little animal about 10 inches long, a third of which is tail, which is dark-reddish brown, with 6 to 8 light stripes, alternating with lines of dots— about 13 in all; it is. yellowish below, with a broad black stripe on each side. It is a familiar object on prairies and grassy fields throughout the upper half of the Mississippi Valley, hurry ing to and from its hole, or standing upright, but inconspicuous, curiously watching your movements, hut ready to drop out of sight at the least alarm. The burrows are numerous everywhere and are injurious not only by the space they occupy and as traps for the feet of horses and cattle, but because they offer run ways for water and so promote washing away of soil. Some of the holes are short and are merely shelters; others are long, have a nest at the inner extremity and side-chambers in which in the autumn large winter stores of seeds are laid away. Where these spermophiles are very numerous, as they have become in the grain-growing districts of Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas, the amount of grain stolen or shaken down is a serious tax on agriculture. Another spermophile, more common northward, is Franklin's or the "gray" gopher (S. frank lini), which is much larger and has a harsh coat of yellowish-grizzled hair. Several other species inhabit the more western plains. All are truly ground-squirrels of the family Sciuride, and closely related to the chipmunk (q.v.).
In the farther Northwest, however, the word ((gopher' ordinarily means one of the large gray rodents of the family Geomyidce, distinguished prominently by having in the cheeks capacious pouches, lined with fur; hence they are called pocket-gophers and pouched rats. The most familiar species is Geomys bursarius, which is about nine inches long and has short legs, close ears and a short hairy tail; the fore feet are very strong, with the three middle toe-nails long and well adapted to digging, and its burrows are made with surprising rapidity. Its food in
cludes all sorts of vegetable matters, and it often injures orchards by gnawing the roots. As fall approaches it gathers a store of seeds, tuberous roots, nuts, etc., and stows it in its deep residence-burrow, where the winter is passed in a partial torpidity varying with the climate. These provisions are carried in the cheek-pouches, which also serve to take out the loose soil from the burrows. On the Pacific Coast occur several other species, some with large, pendant cheek-pouches. In the Southern States is found a species (G. Nea), locally called uSalamander,' of large size and common in the sandy parts of Florida and the country north of it. The Northwest has a second and smaller kind of gopher (Thomomys talpoides), dusky bluish-gray in color, with the lower parts whit ish, which is mole-like in its habits, and is known in Idaho as on account of its fondness for the tubers of the liliaceous plant called canvass (Camassia esculenta) by the Indians.
All of these animals are a pest to agricul ture, i and are increasing rather than diminish ing n settled regions, owing partly to the in creased food afforded them by crops, and partly to the destruction of their natural ene mies, the birds of prey, snakes, weasels, foxes, badgers, wolves, etc., which formerly held them in check. Efforts are therefore made to ex terminate them in various ways, of which the most effective is by suffocating them with bi sulphide of carbon, placed in their holes by saturating some porous object and rolling it into the burrow. Several pamphlets issued by the United States Department of Agriculture describe the animals and their habits, and give directions for their suppression.