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HOW TO THAP THE POCKET GOPHER | |
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HOW TO THAP THE POCKET GOPHER
The pocket gopher is a destructive little animal. He digs roads under the surface of the ground, leading in different directions, wherever he is likely to find food. He will not permit this pathway to be open to the light, except while it is necessary in throwing out his dirt. His manner of doing this is very curious. He is provided with two pockets, one on each side of his head, which he fills with dirt, and then comes to the surface, and with a dexterous movement discharges his load, scattering it for a distance of ten or twelve inches. "When this dirt begins to form a heap around his hole, he roots it away with his nose after each discharge; and when it is too far from the place where he is burrowing to fetch the dirt out at this hole, he closes it up tight, and at a distance of ten feet or so, proceeds to make another, and so on through the field, eating off the roots as he goes. He appears to know where to steer, and he can burrow straight for a turnip patch or a stack of corn or wheat.
After many experiments, I learned to trap him. I set my trap in the mouth of the hole, and he would bring dirt
and cover it up while stopping the hole, which he never leaves open. I then dug in with my hand, and placed it beyond where he began to drop the dirt, and so caught him. This succeeded every time.
And now I will tell you how to hunt him. Any where, where you see his work, that is, little hills of fresh dirt thrown up, you may go with a little stick, or whip stock, and push it down around the hillock until you strike his road. Right here, I want you to understand that you can't dig into one of these hillocks and find the hole. He so effectually closes it up that I never saw one opened where it was first made. When you have struck the track, dig down until you come to it, which is sometimes as low as eight or ten inches. Then, with your hand, dig it out large enough to slide in your trap, reaching your arm in to the elbow. The best trap to use is the little one spring kind, of the Newhouse make.
Having pushed the trap in, go away, without further fixing, and perhaps in an hour, perhaps in three or four days, you will catch the lad.
"When you cut the hole, he may be at one side of it or at the other. If he is in the opposite end from where you have set the trap, he may fill up the hole, and in that case you must change the position of the trap.
Thrasher, Halsey. The Hunter and Trapper. New York: Orange Judd and Company, 1808.
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