Scientists Discover Evidence of Bison-Sized Gopher-like Creature-- not in my Garden, Please God!

Clearing about 12 square feet down in my pioneer garden today I saw a quick gray brown shape dashin towards a patch of ground I planted last week with Yukon gold spuds. As I threw my trowell at the fleeeing vole I was instantly reminded of my never ending fear that somewhere on my place where I can’t get to it and eradicate the bastard, is a female with the size temperament and reproductive capabilities of the creature in the movie “Alien.”

Crawling across my freshly cultivated earth ,I remembered something I read last year.. It was an article in some natural science publication I read. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t save the article. It was just too frightening to think about.

The story was about two paleozooligists exploring in the Patagonia region of Argentina who had discovered part of the fossilized remains of a large burrowing rodent. The two scientists report made me cringe. The burrowing rodent-- believed to be extinct now-- weighed several hundred kilograms, and was the size of a small bison.

If I were out gardening and a gopher-like creature the size of a buffalo popped out of the ground anywhere near me, I ‘d just freak.

Can’t you see me stuttering “Ta ta tatonka” as I run up the hill to get my antique single shot .45/70 Government rifle? (rifles in this particular caliber were called “buffalo guns” two centuries ago.)

Good Lord, burrowing rodents the size of bison? It’s enough too make me up gardening and just surrender. Well, almost enough--Jim Forbes 03/02/2008/