Valley a ground squirrel was seen gathering green fruits from the top of a four-foot manzanita bush.
C. H. Merriam reports (1910, p. 5) that the seeds of the manroot (Echinocystis fabacea) are eaten in the vicinity of Modesto from the middle of May to the middle of December. The seeds are eaten from
Fig. 13. Drawings from dissections to show relative extent of cheek-pouches in (a) Cahfornia Ground Squirrel and (b) Belding Ground Squirrel. One cheek-pouch opens into the mouth cavity on each side; it is lined with membrane continuous with that lining the mouth and is used for carrying food materials such as seeds and bulbs from the forage ground to either the store house or the husking place. It is to be inferred that the California Ground Squirrel is much more of a seed-gatherer than the Belding. The latter, like the Oregon Ground Squirrel, is more of a grass-eater, and also does not garner food to the extent that the "digger" squirrels do.
the time they begin to form until they are fully ripe. "Other favorite seeds are those of elderberry (Sambucus), jimson weed (Datura), wild nightshade (Solanum), turkey mullein (Eremocarpus), tarweed (Madia), and numerous grasses. . . . In southern California the squirrels are fond of the fruit of the prickly pear (Opuntia)."
Ground squirrels are provided with more or less extensive, membrane-lined cheek pouches opening inside the mouth, which are used in gathering and transporting food (see fig. 13). Often when the animals are scared out of weed patches or bushes, or away from some supply of roots
33
