ger.

Examine the mound of earth thrown up. If it is a fair example, it will
make fully half a bushel. Next count the mounds that are within a
radius of fifty paces; probably all are the work of this Gopher, or
rather this pair, for they believe in team play.

Search over the ground carefully, and you will discern that there are
scores of ancient mounds flattened by the weather, and traces of
hundreds, perhaps, that date from remote years.

Now multiply the size of one mound by the number of mounds, and you will
have some idea of the work done by this pair. Finally, remembering that
there may be a pair of Gophers for every acre in the Park, estimate the
tons of earth moved by one pair and multiply it by the acres in the
Park, and you will get an idea of the work done by those energetic
rodents as a body, and you will realize how well he has won his Indian
name, the "Upheaver."

We are accustomed to talk of upheaval in geology as a frightful upset of
all nature, but here before our eyes is going on an upheaval of enormous
extent and importance, but so gently and pleasantly done that we enjoy
every phase of the process.

[Illustration: The Mole-gopher]

* * * * *

III

Famous Fur-bearers--

* * * * *

III

Famous Fur-bearers

FOX, MARTEN, BEAVER, AND OTTER

Fair Lady Multo Millionaire riding in the dusty stagecoach, comparing as
you go the canyons of the Yellowstone with memories of Colorado,
Overland, and Stalheim, you, in your winter home, know all about fur as
it enters your world with its beauty, its warmth, its price--its gauge
of the wearer's pocket. Let me add a segment of the circle to round your
knowledge out.

When nature peopled with our four-foot kin the cold north lands, it was
necessary to clothe these little brethren of ours in a coat that should
be absolutely warm, light, durable, of protective colour, thick in cold
weather, thin in warm. Under these conditions she produced _fur_, with
its densely woolly undercoat and its long, soft, shining outer coat, one
for warmth, the other for wet and wear. Some northern animals can store
up food in holes or in the fat of their bodies, so need not be out when
the intensest cold is on the land. Some have to face the weather all
winter, and in these we find the fur of its best quality. Of this class
are the Marten and the Northern Fox. They are the finest, warmest,
lightest,