Gopher is a French name and means any burrowing animal. There are three kinds of gophers found on the North Dakota prairies, gray, pocket and striped. The gray gopher is most numerous and a pest to the grain fields: They have a habit of standing up on their haunches at frequent intervals and giving a sharp, quick whistle. With each whistle their tails flip up and down and as they disappear into their burrows they give a quick whistle and flip of the tail which gives them the name flicker-tail. The Dakota Indians called them Pinsa. They are classified as the Richardson ground squirrel.
The striped gophers have a dozen light and dark stripes on a yellowish background which extend the whole length of their backs. The pocket gophers live in burrows slightly underground and live on roots and herbs.
The jackrabbits were always springing up which the dogs would chase until caught or the rabbit succeeded in hiding under the newly turned furrow.
The badgers are common and their holes were many and sometimes meant pitfalls for the teams to flounder in.
The grasshoppers and the butterflies of many hues added color to these nature settings in the wild of the prairie lands, and the caroling of the birds made music everywhere.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 132