. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America . Natural history. 74 ORDERS OF MAMMALS—GNAWING ANIMALS and burrow deeply in the ground. They seldom frequent rooks, and seldom climb trees. They are essentially dwellers in open country, where they can range freely, and behold a goodly por- tion of the world about them. Even fields of standing grain are distasteful to them, and they move to the open country around their borders. Of spermophiles north of Mexico there are thirty-one full species and forty-two subspecies, or races. Going west
. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America . Natural history. 74 ORDERS OF MAMMALS—GNAWING ANIMALS and burrow deeply in the ground. They seldom frequent rooks, and seldom climb trees. They are essentially dwellers in open country, where they can range freely, and behold a goodly por- tion of the world about them. Even fields of standing grain are distasteful to them, and they move to the open country around their borders. Of spermophiles north of Mexico there are thirty-one full species and forty-two subspecies, or races. Going westward, they are first found in western Indiana and Michigan, from which they spread northwest and southwest throughout the whole western half of the United States, save the timbered areas. They also range into Mex- ico, Canada, and Alaska. They are at home on the rich, rolling prairies of the Dakotas, the level, floor-like plains of Nebraska, the alkali flats of Utah, the hot deserts of Arizona, and the dry valleys and mountain regions of California. They seem to be most numerous in California and the Dakotas, where they do much damage to crops. All the ground squirrels have cheek-pouches, dig deep burrows (unless the earth is too rocky), store quantities of grain in the autumn for win- ter food, and in cold latitudes live all winter in their burrows. If forced to do so, they will live amongst rocks, and it is surprising to note how they can live in situations both high and low, dry and wet. Their favorite food is grain, seeds of every description, green grass, and hay, and their worst habit is digging up seed grain. Some species eat quantities of destructive insects, such as grasshoppers, beetles, cut-worms, and crickets, and in this way partly compensate the farmer for the grain they devour. In fact, from all observations made thus far it seems that in the insect season, insects form a considerable proportion of the daily food supply of these in- dustrious little animals. No
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