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LIBRARY

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
OSBORN LIBRARY OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY

PRESENTED May 5, 1919

WILD ANIMALS
OF NORTH AMERICA

INTIMATE STUDIES OF BIG AND LITTLE CREATURES
OF THE MAMMAL KINGDOM

EDWARD W. NELSON

Natural-Color Portraits from Paintings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
Track Sketches by Ernest Thompson Seton

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

WASHINGTON, D. C.

U. S. A.

Willlllllllillll!llillll!llll!lllllllll!iill!llll!l|||||illll||llllllll||llllll|||||i|lilllli![|||I||^

BY THE

National Geographic Society

(hi5:3

Wa.shixgton-. D. C.
Tress uf Juuu & Detweii.er. Ixc.

INTRODUCTION

TN OFFERING THIS VOLUME of "Wild Animals of North America" to mem-
-*• bers of the National Geographic Society, the Editor combines the text and
illustrations of two entire numbers of the NATIONAL Geographic Maga-
zine— that of November, 191 6, devoted to the Larger Mammals of North
America, and that of May, 191 8, in which the Smaller Mammals of our
continent were described and presented pictorially.

Edward W. Nelson, the author of both articles. Is one of the foremost
naturalists of our time. For forty years he has been the friend and student
of North America's wild-folk. He has made his home in forest and desert,
on mountain side and plain, amid the snows of Alaska and the tropic heat
of Central American jungles — wherever Nature's creatures of infinite variety
were to be observed, their habits noted, and their range defined.

In the whole realm of scientists, the Geographic could not have found
a writer more admirably equipped for the authorship of a book such as "Wild
Animals of North America" than Mr. Nelson, for, in addition to his excep-
tional scientific training and his standing as Chief of the unique U. S. Biolog-
ical Survey, he possesses the rare quality of the born writer, able to visualize
for the reader the things which he has seen and the experiences which he has
undergone in seeing them. Each of his animal biographies, of which there
are 119 in this volume, is a cameo brochure — concisely and entertainingly
presented, yet never deviating from scientific accuracy.

In jVIr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, the National Geographic Society has
secured for Mr. Nelson the same gifted artist collaborator which it provided
for Henry W. Henshaw, author of "Common Birds of Town and Country,"
"The Warblers," and "American Game Birds," all of which were assem-
bled in our "Book of Birds." In the present instance Mr. Fuertes has
produced a natural history gallery of paintings of the Larger and Smaller
Mammals of North America which is a notable contribution to wild-animal
portraiture, and the reproductions of these works of art are among the most
effective and lifelike examples of color printing ever produced in this country.

Supplementing the work of Mr. Nelson and Mr. Fuertes is a series of
drawings by the noted naturalist and nature-lover, Ernest Thompson Seton,
showing the tracks of many of the most widely known mammals.

"Wild Animals of North America" provicles In compact and permanent
form a natural history for which the National Geographic Society expended
$100,000 in the two issues of the Magazine in which the articles and illustra-
tions originally appeared.

Gilbert Grosvenor,

Director and Editor.

INDEX TO WILD ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

(The articles and illustrations in this volume are reproduced from the November, 1916, and May, 1918,

National Geographic Magazine. The first page is numbered 3 85, as it originally appeared

in the Magazine. The following pages are numbered in sequence.)

Antelope, Prong-horn 4.")2

Armadillo, Nine-ljanded 584

Badger 420

Bat, Big-eared desert (MC.

Bat, Hoarv 598

Bat, Mexican 599

Bat, Ked 59C.

Bear, Alasliun Brown (fron

tispiece) 441

Bear, Black 4::7

Bear, Cinnamon, or Black . . 4:!7

Bear, Glacier 487

Bear, Grizzly 44(»

Bear, rolar 43(!

Beaver, American 441

Beaver, Mountain 529

Beluga, or White Wliale. . . . 4(;s

Bison, American, or Buffalo. 401

Blarina 59.'!

Bobcat, or Bay Lynx 409

Bowhead 4(19

Buffalo, or American Bison. 4(11

Cachalot, or Sperm Whale. . 472

Caribou, Barren Ground. . . . 4(M)

Caribou, I'eary 4(in

Caribou, Woodland 4(1()

Cat, Common

Cat, .Jaguarundi, or I-vra... 41:!

Cat, King-tailed 5S(;

Chipmunk, Antelope 545

Chipmiuiic. Easleru 549

■Cliipmuuk, Golden 545

■Chipmunk, (Jregon 552

■Chipmunk, Painted 55:1

Cony, or Little Chief Hare. 494

Cougar, or ^Mountain Lion. . 412

Cow, Common

Coyote, Arizona, or Mearns. 424

Coyote, Jlearns. or Arizona. 424

Coyote, Plains 424

Deer, Arizona White-tailed. . 457

Deer, Black-tailed 45(1

Deer, Mule 45:!

Deer, Virginia 45(>

Deer. White-tailed 45(1,457

Dog

Elk. American 4;):!

Evni, or .Taunaruudi Cat... 41.''i

Ferret. Black-looted 571

Fisher, or Pekaii 444

Footprints, wild folk

Fox

Fox, Alaska Ked 417

Fox, Arctic, (jr Whiie 425

Fox, Cross 417

Fox, Desert 420

Fox, (iray 417

Fox, Pribilof Blue 425

Fox, Ked 41(1

Fox, Silver 417

Fox, AVhite, o^• Arctic 425

Goat, Bighorn

Goat, Kocky Mountain 452

Gopher, I'ocket 500

Hare, Arctic 491

Hare, Little Chief 494

Hare. Varying 489

Horse

Human footprints

.Taguar 4i:i

Kangaroo Kat 502

Leminiug. Banded 50:^>

Lemming, Brown 504

I>ion. Mountain 412

Lynx, Bay 409

Lynx, Canada 409

Manati. Florida 4(15

Marmot, American 5:i:!

Marmot, Hoary.- or Whistler 5:!(1

^larten. or American Sable. 57(i

IMink, American 575

Mole. Oregon 588

Mole. Star-nosed 589

Moose 461

Mouse, Beach 524

Mouse, Big-eared Kock 525

Mouse Field, or Meadow . . . 505

Color T

r.ick

lustra- ill

stra-

tion ■ t

451

611

559

419

001

500

507

500

4:?9

008

4:!9

4:^9

442

008

4:^8

44:^

534

470

40:!

500

595

411

471

4o:;

471

422

(110

422

459

487

415
502

5:!9
542

580

542

543

.54:1

511

414

005

594

423

599

458

455

Oil

455

GO 7

458

000

5!t0.

.597

454

007

415

551

440

485

575

4 IN

420

418

419

420

418

41S

(104

451

004

515

510

511

507

490

010

009

4-14

51 N

519

41 1

005

411

012

407

534

5:i5

578

o.)>>

555 58G

'.587

563

;>63
462

' (';(')2

530

531

522

495

Text

Mouse, Grasshopper 520

Mouse, Harvest 517

Mouse, House 529

Mouse, Jumping 496

Mouse, I'ine 508

Mouse, Ked-backed 509

Mouse, Kufous Tree 512

Mouse, Silky Pocket 497

Mouse, Spiny I'ocket 498

Mouse, White-footed 521

Muskhog, or I'eccarv 448

Musk-ox 404

Muskrat 513

Ocelots, or Tiger-cats 410

Opossum, Vii-ginia 408

Otter 445

Otter, Sea 432

Peccary, Collared 448

I'ekan, or Fisher 444

Pig, Common

Pika, or Little Chief Hare. . 494

I'olecat, or Spilogale

Porcupine 495

Prairie-dog 536

Quadruped, with biped track :

Common cat

Raljbit, Antelope .lack 480

Kal)bit, California Jack.... 487

Kabbit, Cottontail 492

Rabbit, Jack

Rabbit, Marsh 493

Rabbit, Saowshoe 489

Raccoon 408

Rat, Brown 525

Rat, Kangaroo 502

Sable, American, or ;\larten. 570

Sea-elephant, Northern 432

Sea-lion. Steller 429

Seal, Alaska Fur 429

Seal, Elephant. 432

Seal, Greenland 433

Seal, Harbor 433

Seal, Harp, or Saddle-back. . 433

Seal, Leopard 433

Seal, Ribbon 430

Seal. Saddle-back 433

Sheep, Dall Mountain 449

Sheep, Rocky Mountai;; . . . . 448

Sheep, Stone Mountain 449

Shrew, Common 591

Shrew, Short-tailed 593

Skunk, ("(jmmon 580

Skunk, Hog-nosed 582

Skunk, Little, or Polecat

Skunk. Little Spotted 577

Squirrel, Abert 504

Sipiirrel, California (iround. 541

Scpiirrel, Douglas 557

S(iuirrel, Flying 508

Squirrel, Fox 501

Squirrel, Gray 500

S(|iiirrel. Kail);ilj 504

Squirrel. Ivcd 550

Sipiirrel, Rusty J'"ox 501

S(|uirrel. Striped (iround... 540

Spilogale, or Polecat

Stoat, or Lar.ge Weasel.... 572

'I'iger-cats. or Ocelots 410

Walrus, Pacific 42.S

Wapiti, or American i:ik... 45:!

Weasel

Weasel, I^arge, or Stoat... 572

Weasel, Least 57::

Whale. Greenland Right. . . . 409

Wliale. Killer 40S

Whale, Spei-m. or Cachalot. 472

Wh.-ile. White, or Beluga... 408

Whistler, or Hoary Marmot. 5;'>0

Wildcat. Texan

Wolf, Arctic White 421

Wolf, Black

Wolf. Grav. or Timber 421

Wolf. Pr.iirie 424

Wolf. Timber, or Gray 421

Wolverine 4'.i.S

Woodchuck. Common 5:',:',

Woodrat 510

Color T

rack

Uustra- illi

stra-

tion t

527

570

527

531

514

522

523

515

530

572

447

40G

600

520

509

415

410

588

440

434

447

440

571

511

593

514

538

510

492

488

sii

507

490

410

590

531

574

518

555

434

431

434

4:35

435

4.35

435

438

435

450

447

450

500

50(1

595

558

592

559

593

5.58

550

5:;9

546

551

547 581,

582

547

5.50

546

547

581

538

593

554

415

430

4.54

584

554

471

170

470

'*'*'*

(112

422

423

(305

423

427

583

534

578

526

Still
ts of
iging
IS of
Ifalo,
rong-
•-tails

^ame,
food,
ce of
black
, and
■e ex-
erous
noun-
it.

nusk-
mar-
re so
medi-
Inited
i the
here,
foun-
devel-

The Larger
North American Mammals

By E. W. nelson

Chiefs U. S. Biologiccil Survey

With Illustrations from Paintings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

AT the time of its discovery and

/% occupation by Europeans, North
/ ,^. America and the bordering seas
teemed with an ahnost incredible pro-
fusion of large mammalian life. The
hordes of game animals which roamed
the primeval forests and plains of this
continent were the marvel of early ex-
plorers and have been ecjualed in historic
times only in Africa.

Even beyond the limit of trees, on the
desolate Arctic barrens, vast herds con-
taining hundreds of thousands of caribou
drifted from one feeding ground to an-
other, sharing their range with number-
less smaller companies of musk-oxen.
Despite the dwarfed and scanty vegeta-
tion of this bleak region, the fierce winter
storms and long arctic nights, and the
harrying by packs of white wolves, these
hardy animals continued to hold their
own until the fatal influence of civilized
man was throw^n against them.

Southward from the Arctic barrens, in
the neighboring forests of spruce, tama-
rack, birches, and aspens, were multitudes

of woodland caribou and moose. Still
farther south, in the superb forests of
eastern North America, and ranging
thence over the limitless open plains of
the West, were untold millions of buffalo,
elk, and white-tailed deer, with the prong-
horned antelope replacing the white-tails
on the western plains.

With this profusion of large game,
wdiich afforded a superabundance of food,
there was a corresponding abundance of
large carnivores, as wolves, coyotes, black
and grizzly bears, mountain lions, and
lynxes. Black bears were everywhere ex-
cept on the open plains, and numerous
species of grizzlies occupied all the moun-
tainous western part of the continent.

Fur-bearers, including beavers, musk-
rats, land-otters, sea-otters, fishers, mar-
tens, minks, foxes, and others, were so
l)lentiful in the New World that immedi-
ately after the colonization of the United
States and Canada a large part of the
world's supply of furs was obtained here.

Trade with the Indians laid the foun-
dations of many fortunes, and later devel-

Photograph by Capt. F. I*;. Kleinschmidt
TOWIXG IIKR BABY TO SAFETY

When a mother polar bear scents danger she jumps into the water and her cub holds
fast to her tail while she tows it to safety. But when no danger seems to threaten she wants
it to '"paddle its own canoe," and boxes its ears or ducks its head under water if it insists
on being too lazy to swim for itself.

oped almost imperial orj^'anizations, like
the Hudson's Bay Company and its rivals.
Many adventurous white men became
trappers and traders, and through their
energy, and the rivalry of the trading
companies, we owe much of the first ex-
ploration of the northwestern and north-
ern wilderness. The stockaded fur-trad-
ing stations were the outposts of civiliza-
tion across the continent to the shores of
Oregon and north to the Arctic coast. At
the same time the presence of the sea-
otter brought the Russians to occupy the
Aleutian, Islands, Sitka, and even north-
ern California.

The wealth of mammal life in the seas

along the shores of North America al-
most equaled that on the land. On the
east coast there were many millions of
harp and hooded seals and walruses,
while the Creenland right and other
whales were extremely abundant. On the
west coast were millions of fur seals, sea-
lions, sea-elephants, and walruses, with
an equal abundance of whales and hun-
dreds of thousands of sea otters.

]\Iany of the chroniclers dealing with
explorations and life on the frontier dur-
ing the early period of the occui:)ation of
America gave interesting details concern-
ing the game animals. Allouez says that
in 1680, between Lake Erie and Lake

386

Photograph by Capt. F. 1\. Klcinschmidt

A SWIMMING POLAR BKAR

A polar bear when swimming does not use his hind legs, a new fact brought out by the

motion-picture camera

387

rt 2

388

i ^'i^ ^?N

:,tunc View Co.

ROAMING "mONARCIIS OF THE PLAIN : BRITISH COLUMBIA

A remnant of the veritable sea of wild life that surged over American soil before the dikes
of civilization compassed it about and all but wiped it out

Michig-an the prairies were filled with an
incredible number of bears, wapiti, white-
tailed deer, and turkeys, on which the
wolves made fierce war. He adds that on
a number of occasions this game was so
little wild that it was necessary to fire
shots to protect the party from it. Perrot
states that during the winter of 1670-
167 1, 2,400 moose were snared on the
Great Manitoitlin Island, at the head of
Lake Huron. Other travelers, even down
to the last century, give similar accounts
of the abundance of game.

TRAINS HELD UP BY BUFFALO

The original bufifalo herds have been
estimated to have contained from 30,000.-
000 to 60,000,000 animals, and in 1870 it
was estimated that about 5,500,000 still
survived. A number of men now living
were privileged to see some of the great
herds of the West before they were finally
destroyed. Dr. George Bird Grinnell
writes :

"In 1870, I happened to be on a train
that was stopped for three hours to let
a herd of buffalo pass. We supposed
they would soon pass by, but they kept

coming. On a number of occasions in
earlier days the engineers thought that
they could run through the herds, and
that, seeing the locomotive, the buffalo
would stop or turn aside ; but after a few
locomotives had been ditched by the ani-
mals the engineers got in the way of re-
specting the bufi'aloes' idiosyncrasies. . . .

"Up to within a few years, in northern
Montana and southern Alberta, old buf-
falo trails have been very readily trace-
able by the eye, even as one passed on a
railroad train. These trails, fertilized by
the buffalo and deeply cut so as to long
hold moisture, may still be seen in sum-
mer as green lines winding- up and down
the hills to and from the water-courses."

Concerning the former abundance of
antelope, Dr. Grinnell says : "For many
years I have held the opinion that in early
days on the plains, as I saw them, ante-
lope were much more abundant than buf-
falo. Buffalo, of course, being big and
black, were impressive if seen in masses
and were visible a long way off. Ante-
lope, smaller and less conspicuous in
color, were often passed unnoticed, ex-
cept by a person of experience, who

389

•r O

'■^ J

might recognize that distant
white dots might be antelope
and not biififalo bones or puff
balls. I used to talk on this
subject with men who were
on the plains in the '6o's and
'70's, and all agreed that, so
far as their judgment went,
there were more antelope than
buffalo. Often the buffalo
were bunched up into thick
herds and gave the impression
of vast numbers. The ante-
lope' were scattered, and, ex-
cept in winter, \Yhen I have
seen herds of thousands, they
were pretty evenly distributed
over the prairie.

ANTElvOPES EVI^RVWHERE

"I have certain memories of
travel on the plains, whenVfor-
the whole long day one would
pass a continual succession of
small bands of antelope, num-
bering from ten to 'fifty or
sixty, those at a little distance
paying no attention to the
traveler, while those nearer at
hand loped lazily and uncon-
cernedly out of the way. In
the year 1879, in certain val-
leys in North Park, Colorado,
I saw wonderful congregations
of antelope. As far as we
could see in any direction, all
over the basins, there were
antelope in small or consider-
able groups. In one of these
places I examined with care
tlie trails made by them, for
this was the only place where
I ever saw deejily worn ante-
lo])e trails, which suggested
the l)uffalo trails of the
plains."

The wealth of animal life
foimd by our forebears Avas
one of the great natural re-
sources of the New World.
Although freely drawn upon
from the first, the stock was
•but little de])leted up to within
a century. During the last one
hundred years, however, the
rapidly increasing occuj)ation
of the continent and other

390

Photograph by Alburt Schlecliten

A CINNAMON TRlJI^D : YELLOWSTONE: NATIONAL PARK

Bruin for the most part is an inoffensive beast, with an impelling curiosity and such a taste
for sweet things that he can eat pounds of honey and lick his chops for more

391

I'liutugraph by JC. C. Ulicrhultzer
moose; FlJKDING UNDER DIFl' ICUU'II' S
The moose likes the succulent water plants it Imds at the bottom of lakes and sluygish
streams, and often when reaching for them becomes completely submerged '

3Q2

Photograph by E. C. Obcrholtzcr
COW MOOSE WITH HER YOUNG
Notice the fold of skin at her neck resembling a bell

causes, together with a steadily increas-
ing commercial demand for animal prod-
ucts, have had an appalling effect. The
buffalo, elk, and antelope are reduced to
a pitiful fraction of their former count-
less numbers.

WANTON WASTE OE WIED LIFE

Practically all other large game has
alarmingly decreased, and its extermina-
tion has been partly stayed only by the
recent enforcement of protective laws.
It is quite true that the presence of wild
buffalo, for instance, in any region occu-
pied for farming and stock-raising pur-
poses is incompatible with such use. Thus
the extermination of the bison as a deni-
zen of our western plains was inevitable.
The destruction, however, of these noble
game animals by millions for their hides
only furnishes a notable example of the
wanton wastefulness which has hereto-
fore largely characterized the handling
of our wild life.

A like disregard for the future has
been shown in the pursuit of the sea
mammals. The whaling and sealing in-
dustries are very ancient, extending back
for a thousand years or more ; but the
greatest and most ruthless destruction of
the whales and seals has come within the
last century, especially through the use
of steamships and bomb-guns. Without
adequate international protection, there is
grave danger that the most valuable of
these sea mammals will be exterminated.
The fur seal and the sea-elephant, once
so abundant on the coast of southern
California, are nearly or cjuite gone, and
the sea otter of the North Pacific is dan-
gerously near extinction.

The recent great abundance of large
land mammals in North America, both in
individuals and species, is in striking con-
trast with their scarcity in South Amer-
ica, the dift'erence evidently being due to
the long isolation of the southern conti-
nent from other land-masses, whence it

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394

395

Photograpli by Cliarlt.s ]\. Inhiison

THE moosl; is a powerful svvi.m:mer

PART OF A

Photograph by F. O. Soabury

!;ki) of sixty mountain shffp

Tliey are fed hay and salt daily at the Denver and Rio Grande Railway station at Ouray,
Colorado. This picture was taken at a distance of about lo to 15 feet from the wild animals,
which grow quite tame under such friendly ministrations.

396

From a drawing by Charles R. Knight

A MOOSi: THAT LIVED IN NE:w JERSEY IN PLEISTOCENE: TIMES: CROVAECES

A primitive moose-like form, a nearly perfect skeleton of which was found in southern
Jersey some years ago. In size and general proportions the animal was like a modern
moose, but the nose was less developed, and the horns were decidedly different in character.

might have been restocked after the loss
of a formerly existing fauna.

SPECIES COME AND SPECIES GO

The differences in the geographic dis-
tribution of mammal life between North
and South America and the relationships
between our fauna and that of the Old
World are parts of the latest chapter of
a wonderful story running back through
geologic ages. The former chapters are
recorded in the fossil beds of all the con-
tinents. While only a good beginning has
been made in deciphering these records,
enough has been done by the fascinating
researches of Marsh, Cope, Osborn,
Scott, and others to prove that in all parts

of the earth one fauna has succeeded an-
other in marvelous procession.

It has been shown also that these
changes in animal life, accompanied by
equal changes in plant life, have been
largelv brought about by variations in
climate and by the uplifting and depress-
ing of continental land-masses above or
below the sea. The potency of climatic
influence on animal life is so great that
even a fauna of large mammals will be
practically destroyed over a great area
by a long-continued change of a com-
paratively few degrees (probably less
than ten degrees Fahrenheit) in the mean
daily temperatures.

The distribution of both recent and

397

Photograph by ('.us A. Swan^on

TIIFJR LIVING LIES BENEATH THE SNOW

All nature loves kindness and trusts the gentle hand. Contrast these sheep, ready to fly
at the slightest noise, with those in the picture on page 396, peacefully feeding in close
proximity" to a standing express train. Every one appreciates a good picture of a living
animal more than the trophy of a dead one!

fossil iiianinials shows conclusively that
numberless species have s])read from
their original homes across land brids^es
to remote tmoccnpied regions, where they
have become isolated as the bridges dis-
appeared beneath the waves of the sea.

VAST NATURAL MUSEUMS OF EXTINCT
ANIMAL LIFE

For ages Asia appears to have served
as a vast and fecund nurscrv for new

mammals f ri nn which Xorth Temperate
and xVrctic America have been supplied.
The last and com]iaratively recent land
bridge, across which came the ancestors
of our moose, elk, caribou, prong-horned
antelope, mountain goats, mountain sheep,
musk-oxen, l)cai-s, and many other mam-
mals, was in the far Northwest, where
I'.ering .^traits now form a shallow chan-
nel iinl\- _'<S mik's wide separating Siberia
from Alaska.

398

The fossil beds of the Great
Plains and other parts of the
West contain eloquent proofs of
the richness and variety of mam-
mal life on this continent at dif-
ferent periods in the past. Per-
haps the most wonderful of all
these ancient faunas was that re-
vealed by the bones of birds and
mammals which had been trapped
in the asphalt pits recently dis-
covered in the outskirts of Los
Angeles, California. These bones
show that prior to the arrival of
the present fauna the plains of
southern California swarmed
with an astonishing- wealth of
strange birds and beasts (see
page 401).

The most notable of these are
saber-toothed tigers, lions much
larger than those of Africa;
giant wolves ; several kinds of
bears, including the huge cave
bears, even larger than the gi-
gantic brown bears of Alaska ;
large wild horses ; camels ; bison
(unlike our buffalo) ; tiny ante-
lope, the size of a fox ; masto-
dons, mammoths with tusks 15
feet long ; and giant ground sloths ; in
addition to many other species, large and
small.

With these amazing mammals were
equally strange birds, including, among
numerous birds of prey, a giant vulture-
like species (far larger than any condor),
peacocks, and many others.

DID MAN I.IVE; THKN?

The geologically recent existence of
this now vanished fauna is evidenced by
the presence in the asphalt pits of bones
of the gray fox, the mountain lion, and
close relatives of the bobcat and coyote,
as well as the condor, which still frequent
that region, and thus link the past with
the present. The only traces of the an-
cient vegetation discovered in these as-
phalt pits are a pine and two species of
juniper, which are members of the exist-
ing flora.

There is reason for believing that prim-
itive man occupied California and other
parts of the West during at least the lat-
ter part of the period when the fauna of
the asphalt pits still flourished. Dr. C.
Hart Merriam informs me that the folk-

Photograph by L,. Peterson
INTRODUCING A LITTI^E; BLACK BEAR TO A LITTLE
BROWN BEAR AT SEWARD^ ALASKA

"Howdy-do! I ain't got a bit of use for you!"
"What do I care ! You'd better back away, black bear !"

lore of the locally restricted California
Indians contains detailed descriptions of
a beast which is unmistakably a bison,
probably the bison of the asphalt pits.

The discovery in these pits of the bones
of a gigantic vulturelike bird of prey of
far greater size than the condor is even
more startling, since the folk-lore of the
Eskimos and Indians of most of the tribes
from Bering Straits to California and the
Rocky Mountain region abound in tales
of the "thunder-bird" — a gigantic bird of
prey like a mighty eagle, capable of carry-
ing away people in its talons. Two sttch
coincidences suggest the possibility that
the accounts of the bison and the "thun-
der-bird" are really based on the originals
of the asphalt beds and have been jxassed
down in legendary history through many
thousands of years.

CAMELS AND HORSES ORIGINATED IN
NORTH AMERICA

Among Other marvels otu^ fossil beds
reveal the fact that both camels and
horses originated in North America.
The remains of many widely different
species of both animals have been found

2>99

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in numerous localities extending from
coast to coast in the United States.
Camels and horses, with many species of
antelope closely related to still existing
forms in Africa, abounded over a large
part of this country up to the end of the
geological age immediately preceding the
present era.

Then through imperfectly understood
changes of environment a tremendous
mortality among the wild life took place
and destroyed practically all of the splen-
did large mammals, which, however, have
left their records in the as])halt pits of
California and other fossil beds through-
out the country. This original fauna was
followed by an influx of other species
which made up the fauna when America
was discovered.

At the time of its discovery by Coluni-
Ijus this continent had only one domesti-
cated mammal — -the dog. In most in-
stances the ancestors of the Indian dogs
appear to have been the native coyotes
or gray wolves, but the descriptions of
some dogs found by early explorers indi-
cate very difTerent and unknown ancestry.
Unfortunately these strange dogs became
extinct at an early period, and thus left
unsolvable the riddle of their origin.

Before the discovery of America the
people of the Old \\^orld had domesti-
cated cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, goats,
dogs, and cats ; but none of these do-
mestic animals, except the dog, existed in
America until brought from Europe by
the invaders of the New World.

The wonderful fauna of the asphalt
pits had vanished long before America
was first colonized by white men. and had
been replaced by another mainly from
the Old World, less varied in character,
but enormously abundant in individuals.
-Mthough so many North American mam-
mals were derived from x\sia, some came
from South America, while others, as the
raccoons, originated here.

I'KWKR LARGIv MAMMALS rX Till'; TROPICS

It is notable that the fossil beds which
]jrove the existence of an extraordinary
abundance of large mammals in North
America at various periods in the past,
as well as the enormous aggregation of
mammalian life which occupied this con-
tinent, both on land and at sea, at the time
of its discovery, were confined to the
Temperate and Arctic Zones. It is popu-

400

■^ >■

From Scott's "History of the Land Mammalb ot the Westt-iu llcnubphwe": Maciuillan Coiuiiaiiy
THIS REPRESUXTS A SCENE AT THE CALIFORNIA ASPHALT PITS, WITH A MIRED
ELEPHANT, TWO GIANT WOLVES, AND A SABER-TOOTtlED TIGER (SEE PAGE 399)

larly believed that the tropics possess an
exuberance of hfe beyond that of other
chmes, yet in no tropic lands or seas, ex-
cept in parts of Africa and southern
Asia, has there been developed such an
abundance of large mammal life as these
northern latitudes have repeatedly known.

In temperate and arctic lands such
numbers of large mammals could exist
only where the vegetation not only suf-
ficed for summer needs, but retained its
nourishing qualities through the winter.
In the sea the vast numbers of seals, sea-
lions, walruses, and whales of many kinds
could be maintained only by a limitless
profusion of fishes and other marine life.

From the earliest appearance of mam-
mals on the globe to comparatively recent
times one mammalian fauna has suc-
ceeded another in the regular sequence of
evolution, man apjiearing late on the
scene and being subject to the same nat-
ural influences as his mammalian kindred.
During the last few centuries, however,
through the development of agriculture,
the invention of new methods of trans-
portation, and of modern firearms, so-

called civilized man has spread over and
now dominates most parts of the earth.
As a result, aboriginal man and the
large mammals of continental areas have
been, or are being, swept away and re-
placed by civilized man and his domestic
animals. Orderly evolution of the mar-
velously varied mammal life in a state of
nature is thus being brought to an abrupt
end. Henceforth fossil beds containing
deposits of mammals caught in sink-
holes, and formed by river and other
floods in subarctic, temperate, and trop-
ical parts of the earth, will contain more
and more exclusively the bones of man
and his domesticated horses, cattle, and
sheep.

DESTROYING THE IRREST0R.\BLE

The s])lendid mammals which possessed
the earth until man interfered were the
ultimate product of Nature working
through the ages that have elapsed since
the dawn of life. All of them show
myriads of exquisite adaptations to their
environment in color, form, organs, and
habits. The wanton destruction of anv

401

"*** V

■^f^^

1 luiii a drawing by Charles R. Knight
A PRIMITIVE FOUR-TUSKED ELEPHANT, STANDING ABOUT SIX FEET AT THE SHOULDER,
THAT LIVED AGES AGO IN THE UNITED STATES (TRICOPHODON MIOCENE)

of these species thus deprives the world
of a marvelous organism which no hu-
man power can ever restore.

Fortunately, although it is too late to
save many notable animals, the leading
nations of the world are rapidly awaken-
ing to a proper appreciation of the value
and significance of wild life. As a con-
sequence, while the superb herds of game
on the limitless plains will vanish, sports-
men and nature lovers, aided by those
who appreciate the practical value of wild
life as an asset, may work successfully to
provide that the wild places shall not l)e
left wholly untenanted.

Although Americans have been notably
wasteful of wild life, even to the extermi-
nation of numerous species of birds and
mammals, yet they are now leading the
world in efforts to conserve what is left
of the original fauna. No civilized peo-
ple, with the exception of the South Af-
rican Boers, have been such a nation of
hunters as those of the United States.
Most hunters have a keen appreciation of
nature, and American sportsmen as a

class have become ardent supporters of
a nation-wnde movement for the conser-
vation of wild life.

SAVING OUR WILD LIFE

Several strong national organizations
are doing great service in forwarding the
conservation of wild life, as the National
Geographic Society, the National Asso-
ciation of Audubon Societies, American
Bison Society, Boone and Crockett Club,
New York Zoological Society, American
Game Protective and Propagation Asso-
ciation, Permanent Wild Life Protective
Fund, and others. In addition, a large
numl)er of unofficial State organizations
have been formed to assist in this work.

Through the authorization by Congress,
the Federal Government is actively en-
gaged in efforts for the ])rotection and in-
crease of our native birds and mammals.
This work is done mainly through the
lUu-eau of Biological Survey of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture, which is in
charge of the several Federal large-game

402

From a drawing by Charles R. Knight

A gkote;sque creature that once lived in the united states (uertatherium

EOCENE, MIDDLE Wyoming)

It had six horns on the head and. in some species, two long- canine teeth projecting down-
ward from the upper jaw. The feet were somewhat hke those of an elephant, but the skull
and teeth resemble nothing on earth today.

preserves and nearly seventy bird reser-
vations.

On the large-game preserves are herds
of buffalo, elk, deer, and antelope. The
Yellowstone National Park, under the
Department of the Interior, is one of the
most wonderfully stocked game preserves
in the world. In this beautiful tract of
forest, lakes, rivers, and mountains live
many moose, elk, deer, antelope, moun-
tain sheep, black and grizzly bears,
wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, and
lynxes.

Practically all of the States have game
and fish commissions in one form or an-
other, with a warden service for the pro-
tection of game, and large numbers of
State game preserves have been estab-
lished. The increasing occupation of the
cotmtry, the opening ttp of wild places.

and the destruction of forests are rapidly
restricting available haunts for game.
This renders particularly opportune the
present and increasing wide-spread inter-
est in the welfare of the habitants of the
wilderness.

The national forests offer an unrivaled
opportunity for the protection and in-
crease of game along broad and effective
lines. At present the title to game mam-
juals is vested in the States, among which
great differences in protective laws and
their administration in many cases jeop-
ardize the future game supply.

If a cooperative working' arrangement
could be effected between the States and
the Department of Agriculture, whereby
the Department wottld have supervision
and control over the game on the national
forests, so far as concerns its j^rotection

403

001^^^

«>

From a 'drawing by Cliarlcs R. Knight

THE primitive; FOUR-TOKD HORSF (EOIIIPPUS, lower eocene, WYOMING)

The so-called four-toed horse, a little creature some 12 inches in height at the shoulder.
having four well-defined hoofs on the front foot and three on the hind foot. The animal
is not a true horse, hut was undoubtedly an ancestor (more or less direct) of the modern
form. It must have been a very speedy type, which contributed greatly to the preservation
of the species in an age when (so far as we know) the carnivores were rather slow and
clumsv.

and the designation ol liunling areas,
varying the quantity of game to be taken
from definite areas in accordance with its
abundance from season to season, while
the States would control open seasons for
shooting, the issuance of hunting licenses,
and similar local matters, the future wel-
fare of large game in the Western States
would be assured.

Under such an arrangement the game
supply would be handled on l)usiness
])rinciples. When game becomes scarce

in any restricted area, hunting could be
suspended until the supply becomes re-
newed, while increased hunting could be
allowed in areas where there is sufficient
game to warrant it. Tn brief, big game
could be handled 1)_\' the common-sense
methods now used so effectively in the
stock industry on the open range. i\l
present the lack of a definite general
policy to safeguard our game supply and
the resulting danger to our splendid na-
tive animals are dcplorablv in evidence.

404

''''^t^a^^iLft

A TRUE HORSE WHICH WAS FOUND IN THE FOSSIL BEDS OF TEXAS: PEEISTOCENE

It is interesting to note that this country was possessed of several species of wild horses,
but these died out long before the advent of the Indian on this continent. The present wild
horses of our western plains are merely stragglers from the herds brought over by the
Spaniards and other settlers. When Columbus discovered America there were no horses
on the continent, though in North America horses and camels originated (see text, page 399).

From drawings by Cliarles K. Knight

THE FOREST HORSE OF NORTH AMERICA (hYPOHIPPOS MIOCENE)

This animal is supposed to have inhabited heavy undergrowth. It was somewhat off the true
horse ancestrv and had three rather stout toes on both the fore and hind feet.

405

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407

408

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

OPOSSUM, VIRGINIA OPOSSUM (Di-

delphis virginiana and its subspecies)

The opossums are the American representa-
tives of the ancient order of Marsupials — a
wonderfully varied group of mammals now
limited to America and Australasia. Through-
out the order the young are born in an embry-
onic condition and are transferred to_ teats
located in an external pocket or pouch in the
skin of the abdomen, where they complete their
development. The kangaroos are among the
most striking members of this group.

Numerous species of opossums are known,
all peculiar to America and distributed from
the eastern United States to Patagonia. The
Virginia opossum, the largest of all the spe-
cies, is characterized by its coarse hair, pig-
like snout, naked ears, and long, hairless, pre-
hensile-tail. Its toes are long, slender, and so
widely spread that its footprints on the_ muddy
border of a stream or in a dusty trail show
every toe distinctly, as in a bird track, and are
unmistakably different from those of any other
mammal.

This is the only species of opossum occur-
ring in the United States, where it occupies all
the wooded eastern parts from eastern New
York, southern Wisconsin, and eastern Ne-
braska south to the Gulf coast and into the
tropics. It has recently been introduced in
central California. Although scarce in the
northern parts of its range, it is abundant and
well known in the warmer Southern States.

These animals love the vicinity of water, and
are most numerous in and about swamps or
other wet lowlands and along bottom-lands
bordering streams. They have their dens in
hollow trees, in holes under the roots of trees,
or in similar openings where they may hide
away by day. Their food consists of almost
everything, animal or vegetable, that is edible,
including chickens, which they capture in noc-
turnal raids.

The Virginia opossums have from 5 to 14
young, which at first are formless, naked little
objects, so firmly attached to the teats in the
mother's pouch that they can not be shaken
loose. Later, when they attain a coating of
hair, they are miniature replicas of the adults,
but continue to occupy the pouch until the
swarming family becomes too large for it.
The free toes of opossums are used like hands
for grasping, and the young cling firmly to the
fur of their mother while being carried about
in her wanderings.

They are rather slow-moving, stupid animals,
which seek safety by their retiring nocturnal
habits and by non-resistance when overtaken
by an enemj-. This last trait gave origin to
the familiar term "playing possum," _ and is
illustrated by their habit of dropping limp and
apparently lifeless when attacked. Despite this
apparent lack of stamina, their vitality is extra-
ordinary, rendering them difficult to kill.

While hunting at daybreak, I once encoun-
tered an unusually large old male opossum on
his way home from a night in the forest.
When we met, he immediately stopped and

stood with hanging head and tail and half-
closed eyes. I walked up and, after watching
him for several minutes without seeing the
slightest movement, put my foot against his
side and gave a slight push. He promptly fell
flat and lay limp and apparently dead. I then
raised him and tried to put him on his feet
again, but his legs would no longer support
him, and I failed in other tests to obtain the
slightest sign of life.

The opossum has always been a favorite
game animal in the Southern States, and fig-
ures largely in the songs and folk-lore of the
southern negroes. In addition, its remarkable
peculiarities have excited so much popular in-
terest that it has become one of the most
widely known of American animals.

RACCOON (Procyon lotor and its sub-
species)

Few American wild animals are more widely
known or excite more popular interest than
the raccoon. It is a short, heavily built animal
with a club-shaped tail, and with hind feet that
rest flat on the ground, like those of a bear,
and make tracks that have a curious resem-
blance to those of a very small child. Its front
toes are long and well separated, thus permit-
ting the use of the front feet with almost the
facility of a monkey's hands.

Raccoons occupy most of the wooded parts
of North America from the southern border
of Canada to Panama, with the exception of
the higher mountain ranges. In the United
States they are most plentiful in the South-
eastern and Gulf States and on the Pacific
coast. Under the varying climatic conditions
of their great range a number of geographic
races have developed, all of which have a close
general resemblance in habits and appearance.

They everywhere seek the wooded shores of
streams and lakes and the bordering lowland
forests and are expert tree-climbers, com-
monly having their dens in hollow trees, often
in cavities high above the ground. In such re-
treats they have annually from four to six
young, which continue to frequent this retreat
until well grown, thus accounting for the num-
bers often found in the same cavity. Although
tree-frequenting animals, the greater part of
their activities is confined to the ground, espe-
cially along the margins of water-courses.
While almost wholly nocturnal in habits, they
are' occasionally encountered abroad during the
day.

Their diet is extraordinarily varied, and in-
cludes fresh-water clams, crawfish, frogs, tur-
tles, birds and their eggs, poultry, nuts, fruits,
and green corn. When near water tliey have
a curious and unique habit of washing their
food before eating it. Their fondness for
green corn leads them into frequent danger,
for when bottom-land cornfields tempt them
away from their usual haunts raccoon luinting
with dogs at night becomes an especially fa-
vored sport.

Raccoons are extraordinarily intelligent ani-
nials and make interesting and amusing pets.

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

409

During captivity their restless intelligence is
shown by the curiosity with which they care-
fully examine every strange object. They are
particularly attracted by anything bright or
shining, and a piece of tin fastened to the pan
of a trap serves as a successful lure in trap-
ping them.

They patrol the border of streams and lakes
so persistently that where they are common
they sometimes make well-trodden little trails,
and many opened mussel shells or other signs
of their feasts may be found on the tops of
fallen logs or about stones projecting above
the water. In the northern part of their range
they hibernate during the coldest parts of the
winter, but in the South are active throughout
the year.

Raccoons began to figure in our frontier lit-
erature at an early date. "Coon-skin" caps,
with the ringed tails hanging like plumes, made
the favorite headgear of many pioneer hunters,
and "coon skins" were a recognized article of
barter at country stores. Now that the in-
creasing occupation of the country is crowding
out more and more of our wild life, it is a
pleasure to note the persistence with which
these characteristic and interesting animals
continue to hold their own in so much of their
original range.

CANADA LYNX (Lynx canadensis)

The lynxes are long-legged, short-bodied
cats, with tufted ears and a short "bobbed"
tail. They are distributed from the northern
limit of trees south into the Temperate Zone
throughout most of the northern part of both
Old and New Worlds. In North America
there are two tj-pes — the smaller animal, south-
ern in distribution, and the larger, or Canada
lynx, limited to the north, where its range ex-
tends from the northern limit of trees south to
the northern border of the United States. It
once occupied all the mountains of New Eng-
land and south in the Alleghenies to Pennsyl-
vania. In the West it is still a habitant of the
Rocky Mountains as far south as Colorado,
and of the Sierra Nevada nearly to Mount
Whitney.

The Canada lynx is notable for the beauty
of its head, one of the most striking among all
our carnivores. This species is not only much
larger than its southern neighbor, the bay
lynx, but may also be distinguished from it by
its long ear tips, thick legs, broad spreading
feet, and the complete jet-black end of the tail.
It is about 3 feet long and weighs from 15 to
over 30 pounds. As befits an animal of the
great northern forests, it has a long thick coat
of fur, which gives it a remarkably fluffy ap-
pearance. Its feet in winter are heavily furred
above and below and are so broad that they
serve admirably for support in deep snow,
through which it would otherwise have to
wade laboriously.

This animal does not attack people, though
popular belief often credits it with such action.
It feeds mainly on such small prey as varying
hares, mice, squirrels, foxes, and the grouse

and other birds living in its domain; but on
occasion it even kills animals as large as moun-
tain sheep. One such feat was actually wit-
nessed above timberline in winter on a spur
of Mount McKinley. The lynx sprang from a
ledge as the sheep passed below, and, holding
on the sheep's neck and shoulders, it reached
forward and by repeatedly biting put out its
victim's eyes, thus reducing it to helplessness.

The chief food of the Canada lynx is the
varying hare, which throughout the North
periodically increases to the greatest abun-
dance and holds its numbers for several years.
During these periods the fur sales in the Lon-
don market show that the number of lynx
skins received increases proportionately with
those of the hare. When an epizootic disease
appears, as it does regularly, and almost ex-
terminates the hares, there is an immediate
and corresponding drop in the number of lynx
skins sent to market. This evidences one of
Nature's great tragedies, not only among the
overabundant hares, but among the lynxes, for
with the failure of their food supply over a
vast area tens of thousands of them perish of
starvation.

The Canada lynx has from two to five kit-
tens, which are marked with dusky spots and
short bands, indicating an ancestral relation-
ship to animals similar to the ocelot, or tiger-
cat, of the American tropics. The young usu-
ally keep with the miOther for nearly a year.
Such families no doubt form the hunting par-
ties whose rabbit drives on the Yukon Islands
were described to me by the fur traders and
Indians of the Yukon Valley.

During sledge trips along the lower Yukon
I often saw the distinctive broad, rounded
tracks of lynxes, showing where they had wan-
dered through the forests or crossed the wide,
snow-covered river channel. Here and there,
as the snow became very deep and soft, the
tracks showed where a series of leaps had
been made. Lynx trails commonly led from
thicket to thicket where hares, grouse, or other
game might occur. Canada lynxes appear to be
rather stupid animals, for they are readily
caught in traps, or even in snares, and, like
most cats, make little effort to escape.

BOBCAT, OR BAY LYNX (Lynx ruffus

and its subspecies)

The bay lynx, bobcat, or wildcat, as Lynx
ruffus and its close relatives are variously
called in different parts of the country, is one
of the most widely distributed and best known
of our wild animals. It is about two-thirds
the size of the Canada lynx and characterized
by much slenderer proportions, especially in its
legs and feet. The ears are less conspicuously
tufted and the tip of the tail is black only on
its upper half. Bobcats range from Nova
Scotia and southern British Columbia over
practically all of the wooded and brushy parts
of the United States except along the northern
bordeY, and extend south to the southern end
of the high table-land of Mexico.

From the earliest settlement of America the

OPOSSUM

■»4&£»I-Sfrt«

/^COri Oi^JyjiK 't-Ufk,

RACCOON

410

CANADA LYNX

412

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

bobcat has figured largely in hunting literature,
and the popular estimate of its character is well
attested by the frontier idea of the superlative
physical prowess of a man who can "whip his
weight in wildcats." Although our wildcat
usually weighs less than 20 pounds, if its re-
puted fierceness could be sustained it would be
an awkward foe. But, so far as man is con-
cerned, unless it is cornered and forced to de-
fend itself, it is extremely timid and inof-
fensive.

Like all cats, it is very muscular and active,
and to the rabbits, squirrels, mice, grouse, and
other small game upon which it feeds is a per-
sistent and remorseless enemy. Although an
expert tree-climber, it spends most of its time
on the ground, where it ordinarily seeks its
prey. It is most numerous in districts where
birds and small mammals abound, and parts of
California seem especially favorable for it. At a
mountain ranch in the redwood forest south of
San Francisco one winter some boys with dogs
killed more than eighty bobcats.

Ordinarily the bobcat seems to be rather un-
common, but its nocturnal habits usually pre-
vent its real numbers being actually known.
In districts where not much hunted it is not
uncommonly seen abroad by day, especially in
winter, when driven by hunger.

The bay lynx makes its den in hollows in
trees, in small caves, and in openings among
rock piles wherever quiet and safety appear
assured. Although a shy animal, it persists in
settled regions if sufficient woodland or broken
country remains to give it shelter. From such
retreats it sallies forth at night, and not only
do the chicken roosts of careless householders
suffer, but toll is even taken among the lambs
of sheep herds.

As in the case of most small cats, the stealthy
hunting habits of the bay lynx renders it ex-
cessively destructive to ground-frequenting
birds, especially to quail, grouse, and other
game birds. For this reason, like many of its
kind, it is outlawed in all settled parts of the
country.

MOUNTAIN LION (Fells couguar and its

sul:)species)

l^he mountain lion, next to the jaguar, is the
largest of the cat tribe native to America. In
various parts of its range it is also known as
the panther, cougar, and puma. It is a slender-
bodied animal with a small head and a long
round tail, with a total length varying from
seven to nine feet and a weight from about
150 to 200 pounds.

It has from two to five young, which are
paler brown than the adult and plainly marked
with large dusky spots on the liody and with
dark bars on the tail. These special markings
of the young, as in other animals, are ances-
tral, and here appear to indicate that in the
remote past our plain brown panther was a
spotted cat somewhat like the leopard.

No other American mammal has a range
equal to that of the mountain lion. It origi-
nally inhabited both North and South America

from southern Quebec and Vancouver Island
to Patagonia and from the Atlantic to the Pa-
cific coasts. Within this enorjnous territory
it appears to be equally at home in an extra-
ordinary variety of conditions. Formerly it
was rather common in the Adirondacks of
northern New York and still lives in the high
Rocky Mountains of the West, where it en-
dures the rigors of the severest winter tem-
peratures. It is generally distributed, where
large game occurs, in the treeless ranges of the
most arid parts of the southwestern deserts,
and is also well known in the most humid trop-
ical forests of Central and South America,
whose gloomy depths are drenched by almost
continual rain.

A number of geographic races of the species
have been developed by the varied character
of its haunts. These are usually characterized
by differences in size and by paler and grayer
shades in the arid regions and by darker and
browner ones in the humid areas.

The mountain lion, while powerful enough
to l)e dangerous to man, is in reality extremely
timid. Owing to its being a potentially dan-
gerous animal, the popular conception of it is
that of a fearsome beast, whose savage exploits
are celebrated in the folk-lore of our frontier.
As a matter of fact, few wild animals are less
dangerous, although there are authentic ac-
counts of wanton attacks upon people, just as
there are authentic instances of buck deer and
moose becoming aggressive. It has a wild,
screaming cry which is thrillingly impressive
when the shades 'of evening are throwing a
mysterious gloom over the forests. In the
mountains of Arizona one summer a mountain
lion repeatedly passed along a series of ledges
high above my cabin at dusk, uttering this loud
weird cry, popularly supposed to resemble the
scream of a terrified woman.

The mountain lion is usually nocturnal, but
in regions where it is not hunted it not infre-
quently goes abroad by day. It is a tireless
wanderer, often traveling many miles in a sin-
gle night, sometimes in search of game and
again in search of new hunting groimds. I
have repeatedly followed its tracks for long
distances along trails, and in northern Chihua-
hua I once tracked one for a couple of miles
from a liare rocky hill straight across the open,
grassy plain toward a treeless desert mountain,
for which it was heading, some eight or ten
miles away.

Although inoffensive as to people, this cat
is such a fierce and relentless enemy of large
game and live stock that it is evervwhere an
outlaw. Large bounties on its head have re-
sulted in its extermination in most parts of
the eastern United States and have diminished
its numbers elsewhere. It is not only hunted
with gun and dog but also with trap and poison.

A mountain lion usually secures its prey by
a silent, cautious stalk, taking advantage of
every cover until within striking distance, and
then, with one or more powerful leaps, dashing
the victim to the ground with all the stunning
impact of its weight. In a licautiful live-oak
forest on the mountains of San Luis Potosi I

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

413

once trailed one of these great cats to the spot
where it had killed a deer a short time before,
and could plainly read in the trail the story of
the admirable skill with which it had moved
from cover to cover until it reached a knoll at
one side of the little glade where the deer was
feeding. Then a great leap carried it to the
deer's back and struck the victim to the ground
with such violence that it slid lo or 12 feet
across the sloping ground, apparently having
been killed on the instant.

Another trail followed in the snow on the
high mountains of New Mexico led to the top
of a projecting ledge from which the lion had
leaped out and down over 20 feet, landing on
the back of a deer and sliding with it 50 feet
or more down the snowy slope.

The mountain lion often kills calves, but is
especially fond of young horses. In many
range districts of the Western States and on
the table-land of Mexico, owing to the depre-
dations of this animal, it is impossible to raise
horses. Unfortunately the predatory habits of
this splendid cat are such that it can not con-
tinue to occupy the same territory as civilized
man and so is destined to disappear before
him.

JAGUAR (Fells hernandesi and its sub-
species)

The jaguar, or "el tigre," as it is generally
known throughout Spanish America, is the
largest and handsomest of American cats. Its
size and deep yellow color, profusely marked
with black spots and rosettes, give it a close
resemblance to the African leopard. It is,
however, a heavier and more powerful animal.
In parts of the dense tropical forests of South
America coal-black jaguars occur, and while
representing merely a color phase, they are pop-
ularly supposed to be much fiercer than the
ordinary animal.

Jaguars are characteristic animals of the
tropics in both Americas, frequenting alike the
low jungle of arid parts as well as the great
forests of the humid regions. In addition, they
range south into Argentina and north into the
southwestern United States. Although less nu-
merous within our borders than formerly, they
still occur as rare visitants as far north as
middle Texas, middle New Mexico, and north-
ern Arizona. They are so strictly nocturnal
that their presence in our territory is usually
not suspected until, after depredations on stock
usually attributed to mountain lions, a trap or
poison is put out and reveals a jaguar as the
offender. Several have been killed in this way
within our border during the last ten years,
including one not far from the tourist hotel at
the Grand Canyon of Arizona.

Although so large and powerful, the jaguar
has none of the truculent ferocity of the Afri-
can leopard. During the years I spent in its
country, mainly in the open, I made careful
inquiry without hearing of a single case where
one had attacked human beings. So far as I
could learn, it has practically the same shy and
cowardly nature as the mountain lion. Despite

this, the natives throughout its tropical home
have a great fear of "el tigre," as I saw evi-
denced repeatedly in Mexico. Apparently this
fear is based wholly on its strength and poten-
tial ability to harm man if it so desired.

Jaguars are very destructive to the larger
game birds and mammals of their domain and
to horses and cattle on ranches. On many
large tropical ranches a "tigrero," or tiger
hunter, with a small pack of mongrel dogs, is
maintained, whose duty it is immediately to
take up the trail when a "tigre" makes its pres-
ence known, usually by killing cattle. The
hunter steadily continues the pursuit, some-
times for many days, until the animal is either
killed or driven out of the district. It is ordi-
narily hunted with dogs, which noisily follow
the trail, but its speed through the jungle often
enables it to escape. When hard pressed it
takes to a tree and is easily killed.

Few predatory animals are such wanderers
as the jaguar, which roams hundreds of miles
from its original home, as shown by its occa-
sional appearance far within our borders. In
the heavy tropical forest it so commonly fol-
lows the large wandering herds of white-lipped
peccaries that some of the Mexicans contend
that every large herd is trailed by a tiger to
pick up stragglers. Along the Mexican coast
in spring, when sea turtles crawl up the beaches
to bury their eggs in the sand, the rising sun
often reveals the fresh tracks of the jaguar
where it has traveled for miles along the shore
in search of these savory deposits.

In one locality on the Pacific coast of Guer-
rero I found that the hardier natives had an
interesting method of hunting the "tigre" dur-
ing the mating period. At such times the male
has the habit of leaving its lair near the head
of a small canyon in the foothills early in the
evening and following down the canyon for
some distance, at intervals uttering a subdued
roar. On moonlight nights at this time the
hunter places an expert native with a short
wooden trumpet near the mouth of the canyon
to imitate the "tigre's" call as soon as it is
heard and to repeat the cry at proper intervals.
After placing the caller, the hunter ascends the
canyon several hundred yards and, gun in
hand, awaits the approach of the animal. The
natives have many amusing tales of the sudden
exit of untried hunters when the approaching
animal unexpectedly uttered its roar at close
quarters.

JAGUARUNDI CAT, OR EYRA (Felis
cacomitli and its subspecies)

The eyra differs greatly in general appear-
ance from any of our other cats, although it is
one of the most characteristic of the American
members of this widely spread family. It is
larger than an otter, with a small flattened
head, long body, long tail, and short legs, thus
having a distinctly otterlike form. It is char-
acterized by two color phases — one a dull gray
or dusky, and the other some shade of rusty
rufous. Animals of these different colors were
long supposed to represent distinct species, but

MOUNTAIN LION

414

RED AND GRAY PHASES OF THE JACUARUNDl CAT, OR EYRA

TIGER-CAT, OR OCELOT

415

416

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

it has been learned not only that color is the
only difference between the two, but also that
the two colors are everywhere found together,
affording satisfactory evidence that they are
merely color phases of the same species.

The eyra is a habitant of brush-grown or
forested country, mainly in the lowlands, from
the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas south
to Paraguay. In this vast territory it has de-
veloped a number of geographic races.

In southern Texas, where it is often asso-
ciated with the ocelot, the eyra lives in dense
thorny thickets of mesquites, acacias, iron-
wrood, and other semitropical chaparral in a
region of brilliant sunlight ; but farther south
it also roams the magnificent forests of the
humid tropics, in which the sun rarely pene-
trates. It appears to be even more nocturnal
and retiring than most of our cats, and but
little is known of its life history. The results
of thorough trapping in the dense thorny thick-
ets near Brownsville, Texas, indicate that it is
probably more common than is generally sup-
posed.

The natives in the lowlands of Guerrero, on
the Pacific coast of Mexico, informed me that
the eyra in that region is fond of the vicinity
of streams, and that it takes to the water and
swims freely, crossing rivers whenever it de-
sires. Its otterlike form goes well with such
habits, and further information may prove that
it is commonly a water-frequenting animal.
Its unusual form and dual coloration and our
lack of knowledge regarding the Hfe of the
eyra unite to make it one of the most inter-
esting of our carnivores.

TIGER-CATS, OR OCELOTS (Felis
pardalis and its relatives)

The brushy and. forested areas of America
from southern Texas and Sonora to Paraguay
are inhabited by spotted cats of different spe-
cies, varying from the size of a large house
cat to that of a Canada lynx. Only one of
these occurs in the United States. All are
characterized by long tails and a yellowish
ground color, conspicuously marked by black
spots, and on neck and back by short, longi-
tudinal stripes — a color pattern that strongly
suggests the leopard.

In the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas
the tiger-cat is rather common, with the eyra-
cat, in areas densely overgrown with thorny
chaparral. Like most of the cat tribe, it is
strictly nocturnal and by day lies well hidden
in its brushy shelter. Ry night it wanders
along trails over a considerable territory, seek-
ing its prey. Birds of all kinds, including do-
mestic poultry, are captured on their roosts,
and rabbits, wood rats, and mice of many
kinds, as well as snakes and other reptiles, arc
on its list of game.

Its reptile-eating habit was revealed to me
unexpectedly one day in the dense tropical for-
est of Chiapas. T was riding along a steep
trail beside a shallow brush-grown ravine when
a tiger-cat suddenly rushed up the trunk of a

tree close by. A lucky shot from my revolver
brought it to the ground, and I found it lying
in the ravine by the body of a recently killed
boa about 6 or 7 feet long. Tt had eaten the
boa's head and neck when my approach inter-
rupted the feast.

The first of these cats I trapped in Mexico
was captured the night after my arrival, in a
trail bordering the port of Manzanillo, on the
Pacific coast. The rejoicing of the natives
living close by evidenced the toll this marauder
had been taking from their chickens.

The tiger-cat is much more quiet and less
fierce in disposition than most felines. It ex-
cited my surprise and interest whenever I
trapped one to note how nonchalantly it took
the situation. The captive never dashed wildly
about to escape, but when I drew near sat and
looked quietly at me without the slightest sign
of alarm and with little apparent interest. A
small trap-hold, even on the end of a single
toe, was enough to retain the victim. On one
occasion, while a cat thus held sat looking at
me, it quietly reached to one side and sank its
teeth into the bark of a small tree to which
the trap was attached, and then resumed its
air of unconcern.

The tiger-cat brings within our fauna an in-
teresting touch of the tropics and its exuber-
ance of animal life. It is found in so small a
corner of our territory, however, that, despite
its mainly inoffensive habits, it is certain to be
crowded out in the near future by the increased
occupation of its haunts.

RED FOX (Vulpes fulva and its relatives)

Red foxes are characterized by their rusty
red fur, black- fronted fore legs, and white-
tipped tail. They inhabit the forested regions
in the temperate and subarctic parts of both
Old and New Worlds, and, like other types of
animal life having a wide range, they break up
into numerous distinct species and geographic
races.

In America they originally ranged over near-
ly all the forested region from the northern
limit of trees in Alaska and Canada south,
east of the Great Plains, to Texas; also down
the Rocky Mountains to middle New Mexico,
and down the Sierra Nevada to the Mount
Whitney region of California. They are un-
known on the treeless plains of the West, in-
cluding the Great Basin. Originally they were
apparently absent from the Atlantic and Gulf
States from Maryland to Louisiana, but have
since been introduced and become common
south to middle Georgia and Alabama.

Wherever red foxes occur they show great
mental alertness and capacity to meet the re-
([uiremcnts of their surroundings. In New
iMigland they steadily persist, though their
raids on poultry yards have for centuries set
the hand of mankind against them. For a
time conditions favored them in parts of the
Middle Atlantic States, for the sport of hunt-
ing to hounds was imported from England, and
the foxes had partial protection. This exotic

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

417

amusement has now passed and the fox must
everywhere depend on his nimble wits for
safety.

Since the days of ^sop's fables tales of
foxes and their doings have had their place in
literature as well as in the folk-lore of the
countryside. Many of their amazing wiles to
outwit pursuers or to capture their prey give
evidence of extraordinary mental powers.

Their bill of fare includes many items, as
mice, birds, reptiles, insects, many kinds of
fruits, and on rare occasions a chicken. The
bad name borne by them among farmers, due
to occasional raids on the poultry yard, is
largely unwarranted. They kill enormous
numbers of mice and other small rodents each
year, and thus well repay the loss of a chicken
now and then.

Red foxes apparently pair for life and oc-
cupy dens dug by themselves in a secluded
knoll or among rocks. These dens, which are
sometimes occupied for years in succession,
always have two or more entrances opening in
opposite directions, so that an enemy entering
on one side may be readily eluded. The young,
numbering up to eight or nine, are tenderly
cared for by both parents.

Although they have been persistently hunted
and trapped in North America since the ear-
liest times, they still yield a royal annual trib-
ute of furs. It is well known that the highly
prized cross, as well as the precious black, and
silver gray foxes are merely color phases oc-
curring in litters of the ordinary red animal.
Black skins are so highly prized that specially
fine ones have sold for more than $.2,500 each
in the London market. The reward thus of-
fered has resulted in the development of black
fox fur-farms, which have been very success-
ful in parts of Canada and the United States,
thus originating a valuable new industry.

By the modern regulation of trapping, foxes
and other fur-Learers are destined to survive
wherever conditions are favorable. In addi-
tion to the economic value of foxes, the loca-
tion of an occasional fox den here and there
on the borders of a woodland tract, the mean-
dering tracks in the snow, and the occasional
glimpse of animals cautiously making their
rounds add a keen touch of primitive nature
well worth preserving in any locality.

ALASKA RED FOX (Vulpes kenaiensis)

The red fox of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska,
and the adjacent mainland is probably the
largest of its kind in the world, although those
of Kodiak Island and of the Mackenzie River
valley are nearly as large. Compared with its
relatives of the United States, the Kenai fox
is a giant, with heavier, duller-colored coat
and a huge tail, more like that of a wolf than
of a fox. The spruce and birch forests of
Alaska and the Mackenzie Valley are appar-
ently peculiarly adapted to red foxes, as shown
by the development there of these animals —
good illustrations of the relative increase in
size and vigor of animals in a specially favor-
able environment.

As noted in the general account of the red
foxes, the occurrence of the black phase is
sporadic, and the relative number of dark in-
dividuals varies greatly in dififerent parts of
their range. The region about the upper Yu-
kon and its tributaries and the Mackenzie
River basin are noted for the number of black
foxes produced, apparently a decidedly greater
proportion than in any other similarly large
area. The prices for which these black skins
sell in the London market prove them to be of
equal quality with those from any other area.

Like other red foxes, the Alaskan species
digs its burrows, with several entrances, in some
dry secluded spot, where both male and female
share in the care of the young. In northern
wilds the food problem differs from that in a
settled country. There the surrounding wild
life is the only dependence, and varying hares,
lemmings, and other mice are usually to be had
by the possessor of a keen scent and an active
body. In summer many nesting wild- fowl and
their young are easy prey, while heathberries
and other northern fruits are also availal^le.

Winter brings a season of scarcity, when life
requires the exercise of every trained faculty.
The snow-white ptarmigan is then a prize to be
gained only by the most skillful stalking, and
the white hare is almost equally difficult to
secure. At this season foxes wander many
miles each day, their erratic tracks in the snow
telling the tale of their industrious search for
prey in every likely spot. It is in this season
of insistent hunger that many of them fall vic-
tims to the wiles of trappers or to the unscru-
pulous hunter who scatters poisoned baits.

Fortunately the season for trapping these
and other fur-bearers in Alaska is now limited
by law and the use of poisons is forbidden.
These measures will aid in preserving one of
the valuable natural assets of these northern
wilds.

GRAY FOX (Urocyon cinereoargenteus

and its relatives)

Gray foxes average about the size of common
red foxes, but are longer and more slender in
body, with longer legs and a longer, thinner tail.
They are peculiar to America, where they have
awide range — from New Hampshire, Wiscon-
sin, and Oregon south through Mexico and
Central America to Colombia. Within this area
there are numerous geographic forms closely
alike in color and general appearance, but vary-
ing much in size ; the largest of all. larger than
the red fox, occupying the New England States.

Gray foxes inhabit wooded and brush-grown
country and are much more numerous in the
arid or semiarid regions of the southwestern
United States and western Mexico than else-
where. In parts of California they are far
more numerous than red foxes ever become.
They do not regularly dig a den, but occupy a
hollow tree or cavity in the rocks, where they
bring forth from three to five young each
spring. As witli other foxes, the cubs are born
blind and helpless, and are also almost blackish
in color, entirely unlike the adults. Tlie par-

CROSS FOX RED FOX SILVER FOX

The precious black and silver gray foxes are merely color phases occurring in litters of the ordinary red animal (see text, page 416)

ALASKA RED FOX

418

..4

DESERT FOX

^u>s C^tnf'g ^»/^t

419

420

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

ents, as usual with all members of the dog
family, are devoted to their young and care for
them with the utmost solicitude.

Like other members of the tribe, they are
omnivorous and feed upon mice, squirrels, rab-
bits, birds, and large insects, in addition to
acorns or other nuts and fruits of all kinds.
In Lower California they are very common
about the date-palm orchards, which they visit
nightly for fallen fruit. They also make noc-
turnal visits to poultry yards.

In some parts of the West they are called
''tree foxes," because when pursued by dogs
they often climb into the tops of small branch-
ing trees.

On one occasion in Arizona I saw a gray fox
standing in the top of a large, leaning mesquite
tree, about thirty feet from the ground, quietly
gazing in various directions, as though he had
chosen this as a lookout point. As soon as he
saw me he came down at a run and swiftly
disappeared.

In the same region I found a den in the hol-
low base of an old live-oak containing three
young only a few days old. The mother was
shot as she sprang from the hole on my ap-
proach and the young taken to camp. There
the skin of the old fox, well wrapped in paper,
was placed on the ground at one side of the
tent, and an open hunting bag containing the
young placed on the opposite side, about ten
feet away. On returning an hour later, I was
amazed to find that all three of the young, so
small they could crawl only with the utmost
difficulty, and totally blind, had crossed the tent
and managed to work their way through the
paper to tlie skin of their mother, thus show-
ing that the acute sense of smell in these_ foxes
becomes of service to them at a surprisingly
early age.

DESERT FOX (Vulpes macrotis and its

subspecies)

A small fox, akin to the kit fox or swift of
the western plains, frequents the arid cactus-
grown desert region of the Southwest. It is
found from the soutliern parts of New Mex-
ico, Arizona, and California south into the ad-
jacent parts of Mexico. The desert fox is a
beautiful species, slender in form, and extra-
ordinarily quick and graceful in its movements,
but so generally nocturnal in habits as to be
rarely seen by the desert traveler. On the rare
occasions when one is encountered abroad by
day, if it thinks itself unobserved by the trav-
eler it usually flattens itself on the ground be-
side any small object which breaks the surface,
and thus obscured will permit a horseman to
ride within a few rods without moving. If the
traveler indicates by any action that he has
seen it, the fox darts away at extraordinary
speed, running with a smooth, floating motion
which seems as effortless as that of a drifting
thistledown before a breeze.

The desert fox digs a burrow, with several
entrances, in a small mound, or at times on an
open flat, and there rears four or five young
each year. Its main food consists of kangaroo

rats, pocket mice, small ground-squirrels, and
a variety of other small desert mammals. In
early morning fox tracks, about the size of
those of a house-cat, may be seen along sandy
arroyos and similar places where these small
carnivores have wandered in search of prey.

Like the kit, the desert fox has little of the
sophisticated mental ability of the red fox and
falls an easy prey to the trapper. It is no-
where numerous and occupies such a thinly in-
habited region that there is little danger of its
numbers greatly decreasing in the near future.

BADGER (Taxidea taxus and its sub-
species)

The favorite home of the badger is on
grassy, brush-grown plains, where there is an
abundance of mice, pocket gophers, ground-
squirrels, prairie-dogs, or other small mam-
mals. There it wanders far and wide at night
searching for the burrows of the small ro-
dents, which are its chief prey. When its
acute sense of smell announces that a burrow
is occupied, it sets to work with sharp claws
and powerful fore legs and digs down to the
terrified inmate in an amazingly short time.

The trail of a badger for a single night is
often marked by hole after hole, each with a
mound of fresh earth containing the tracks of
the marauder. As a consequence, if several of
these animals are in the neighborhood, their
burrows, 6 or 8 inches in diameter, soon be-
come so numerous that it is dangerous to ride
rapidly through their haunts on horseback.

Although a member of the weasel family,
the badger is so slow-footed that when it is
occasionally found abroad by day a man on
foot can easily overtake it. When brought to
bay, it charges man or dog and tights with
such vicious power and desperation that noth-
ing of its own size can overcome it. It appears
to have a morose and savage nature, lacking
the spice of vivacity or playfulness which ap-
pears in many of its relatives.

Although commonly found living by Itself
in a den, it is often found moving about by
day in pairs, indicating the proliability that it
may mate permanently. In the northern part
of its range it hibernates during winter, but
in the south remains active throughout the
year. Its shy and retiring character is evi-
denced liy the little information we have con-
cerning its family life. The badger is so de-
structive to rodents that its services are of
great value to the farmer. Regardless of this,
where encountered it is almost invariably
killed. As a consequence, the increasing occu-
pation of its territory must result in its steady
decrease in numliers and final extermination.

The American badger is a close relative of
the well-known badger occupying the British
Isles and other northern parts of the Old
World. It is a low, broad, short-legged, pow-
erfully built animal of such wide distribution
that it has developed several geographic races.
Its range originally extended from about 58
degrees of latitude, on the Peace River, in

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

421

Canada, south to the plains of Puebla, on the
southern end of the Mexican table-land, and
from Michigan, Kansas, and Texas west to the
Pacific coast. It has now become extinct over
much of this area and is everywhere greatly
reduced in numbers.

It appears to thrive equally well on the plains
of Alberta, in the open pine forests of the
Sierra Nevada in California, and on the dry
tropical lowlands at the southern end of the
Peninsula of Lower California.

ARCTIC WOLF (Canis tundrarum)

In order to fit properly into a high northern
environment, Arctic wolves have developed
white coats, which they wear throughout the
year. They are among the largest of their kind
and have all the surpassing vigor needful for
successful beasts of prey in the rigors of such
a home. Nature is more than ordinarily hard
on weaklings in the far North and only the
fittest survive.

The range of the white wolves covers the
treeless barren grounds bordering the Arctic
coast of Alaska and Canada and extending
thence across the Arctic islands to the north
coast of Greenland beyond 83 degrees of lati-
tude.

The short summer in the far North is the
season of plenty, during which swarms of wild-
fowl furnish a bountiful addition to the regu-
lar food supply. Young wolves are reared and
the pack feeds fat, laying up a needed reserve
strength for the coming season of darkness.
When winter arrives lemmings and Arctic
hares and an occasional white fox furnish an
uncertain food supply for such insistent hun-
ger as that of wolves, and larger game is a
necessity.

In the northern part of their range they
share with the other denizens of that land the
months of continuous night. There, amid re-
lentless storms and iron frosts, the trail, once
found, must be held to the end. The chase is
made in the gloom of continuous night and the
white caribovi or musk-ox herd is brought to
bay, and by the law of the pack food is pro-
vided.

White wolves are the one dreaded foe Na-
ture has given the musk-ox and the caribou in
the northern wilds. The number of the wolves,
as with other carnivores, varies with the abun-
dance of their chief prey, and they will disap-
pear automatically with the caribou and musk-
oxen.

GRAY, OR TIMBER, WOLF (Canis
nubilus and its relatives)

Large wolves, closely related to those of Eu-
rope and Siberia, once infested practically all
of Arctic and temperate North America, ex-
cepting only the arid desert plains. This range
extended from the remotest northern lands be-
yond 83 degrees of latitude south to the moun-
tains about the Valley of Mexico.

When America was first colonized bv white

men, wolves were numerous everywhere in pro-
portion to the great abundance of game ani-
mals. With the increased occupation of the
continent and the destruction of most of its
large game, wolves have entirely disappeared
from large parts of their former domain. They
still occur in varying numbers in the forest
along our northern border from Michigan
westward, and south along the Rocky Moun-
tains and the Sierra Madre to Durango, Mex-
ico, and also in all the Gulf States.

The variations in climate and other physical
conditions within their range has resulted in
the development of numerous geographic races,
and perhaps of species, of wolves, which show
marked differences in size and color. The
white Arctic wolf, described on pages 421 and
424, is one of the most notable of these, but the
gray wolf of the Rocky Mountain region and
the eastern United States is the best known.

Since the dawn of history Old World wolves,
when hunger pressed, have not hesitated to at-
tack men, and in wild districts have become a
fearful scourge. American wolves have rarely
shown this fearlessness toward man, probably
owing to the abundance of game before the
advent of white men and to the general use of
firearms among the pioneers. That wolves are
extremely difficult to exterminate is shown by
their persistence to the present day in parts of
France and elsewhere in Europe. This is due
both to their fecundity (they have from eight
to twelve young), and to their keen intelli-
gence, which they so often pit successfully
against the wiles of their chief enemy — man.

Gray wolves appear to mate permanently,
and in spring their young are born in natural
dens among great rocks, or in a burrow dug
for the purpose in a hillside. There both par-
ents exercise the greatest vigilance for the pro-
tection of the young. The male kills and
brings in game and stands guard in the neigh-
borhood, while the mother devotes most of her
time to the pups while they are very small. At
other times of year packs made up of one or
more pairs and their young hunt together with
a mutual helpfulness in pursuing and bringing
down their prey that shows a high order of in-
telligence. Wolves are in fact first cousins of
the dog, whose mental alnlity is recognized by
all.

During the existence of the great buffalo
herds, packs of big gray "buffalo wolves"
roamed the western plains, taking toll wher-
ever it pleased them. Since these vast game
herds have disappeared only a small fraction
of the wolves have survived. There are
enough, however, not only to commit great
ravages among the deer and other game in
northern Michigan and on the coastal islands
of Alaska, but also to destroy much live stock
in the Rocky Mountain region.

So serious have the losses in cattle and sheep
on the ranges become that Congress has re-
cently made large appropriations for the de-
struction of wolves and other predatory ani-
mals, and these disturbers of the peace will
soon become much reduced in numbers. The

THE PEARY CARIBOU

One of the geographic forms of the Barren Ground Caribou

(see text, page 460)

ARCTIC VVOI.F

422

GRAY, OR TIMBER, WOLF

BLACK WOLF

;#-•

I'LAINS 1(J1CJ|I, i)R I'RAIRIE WOLF

ARIZONA, OK. MI:AK\S, <.(>\()IE

423

424

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

necessity for action of this kind is shown by
the recent capture in Colorado of a huge old
dog wolf with a definite record of having
killed about $3,000 worth of stock. Interesting
as wolves are, filling their place in the_ wilder-
ness, their habits bar them from being tol-
erated in civilized regions.

PLAINS COYOTE, OR PRAIRIE WOLF
(Canis latrans)

Western North America is inhabited by a
peculiar group of small wolves, known as
coyotes, this being a Spanish corruption of the
Aztec name coyotl. They range from north-
ern Michigan, northern Alberta, and British
Columbia south to Costa Rica, and from west-
ern Iowa and Texas to the Pacific coast. As
a group they are animals of the open plains
and sparsely wooded districts, ranging from
sea-level to above timber-line on the highest
mountains. They are most at home on the
wide brushy or grassy plains of the western
United States and the table-lands of Mexico.

Within their great area coyotes have devel-
oped several distinct species and a number of
geographic races, distinguished by differences
in size, color, and other characteristics. Some
attain a size almost equaling that of the gray
wolf, while others are much smaller.

They are less courageous and have less of
the social instinct than gray wolves, _ and on
the rare occasions when they hunt in packs
they form, no doubt, a family party, including
the young of the year. They appear to pair
more or less permanently and commonly hunt
in couples. The young, sometimes numbering
as many as fourteen, are born in a burrow
dug in a bank, or in a den among broken rocks
and ledges. Young animals are readily tamed,
and it is entirely probable that some of the
dogs found by early explorers among western
Indians may have descended from coyotes.

Coyotes are a familiar sight to travelers in
the wildest parts of the West. Here and there
one is seen trotting through the sagebrush or
other scrubby growth, or stopping to gaze
curiously at the intruder. If suddenly alarmed,
they race away across the plains with amazing
speed. At night their high-pitched, wailing
howls voice the lonely spirit of waste places.

With the growth of settlement in the West
and the steady decrease of large and small
game, coyotes have become more and more de-
structive to poultry and all kinds of live stock.
As a result, every man's hand is against them,
reinforced by gun, trap, and poison. Despite
years of this persistent warfare, their acute
intelligence, aided by their extraordinary fe-
cimdity, has enabled them to hold their own
over a great part of their original range. Their
depredations upon live stock have been so great
that many millions of dollars have been paid
in bounties for their destruction.

This method of control has proved so in-
effective, however, that the Federal Govern-
ment has engaged in the task of suppressing
them, tagethcr with the other less numerous

predatory animals of the West, and has placed
about 300 hunters in the field for this purpose.
The complete destruction of coyotes would, no
doubt, upset the balance of nature in favor of
rabbits, prairie-dogs, and other harmful ro-
dents, and thus result in a very serious in-
crease in the destruction of crops.

The coyote supplies much interest and local
color to many dreary landscapes and has be-
come a prominent figure in the literature of
the West. There it is usually symbolic of
shifty cunning and fleetness of foot. What-
ever his faults, the co>ote is an amusing and
interesting beast, and it is hoped that the day
of his complete disappearance from our wild
life may he far in the future.

ARIZONA, OR MEARNS, COYOTE
(Canis mearnsi)

The Arizona coyote is one of the smallest
and at the same time the most handsomely col-
ored of all its kind. Its home is limited to
the arid deserts on both sides of the lower
Colorado River, but mainly in southwestern
Arizona and adjacent parts of Sonora. This
is one of the hottest and most arid regions
of the continent, and for coyotes successfully
to hold their own there requires the exercise
of all the acute intelligence for which they
are noted. Instead of the winter blizzards
and biting cold encountered in the home of
the plains coyote, this southern species has
to endure the furnacelike heat of summer,
with occasional long periods of drought, when
water-holes become dry, plant life becomes dor-
mant, and a large part of the smaller mammal
life perishes.

The Arizona coyote, like others of its kind,
is omnivorous. In seasons of plenty, rabbits,
kangaroo rats, pocket gophers, and many other
desert rodents cost only the pleasant excite-
ment of a short stalk. With the changing sea-
sons the flesh diet is varied by the sugary
mesquite beans, juicy cactus fruit, and other
products of thorny desert plants. Wherever
sufficient water is available for irrigation, small
communities of Indians or Mexicans are to
be found. About such centers many coyotes
usually establish themselves and fatten on
poultry, green corn, melons, and other fruits
provided by the labor of man. Many of them
also patrol the shores of the Gulf of California
and feast upon the eggs of turtles and other
spoils of the sea.

The arrival of men at a desert water-hole is
quickly known among these alert foragers, and
when the travelers arise at daybreak they are
likely to see tell-tale tracks on the sand where
one or two coyotes have walked in and out be-
tween their sleeping places and all about camp.
Shortly afterward the campers, if inexpcrir
cnced, may learn that bacon and other food
are contraband and always confiscated bv these
dogs of the desert. These camp marauders
often stand among the bushes only 75 or 100
yards away in the morning and watch the in-
truders with much curiosity until some hostile
movement starts them off in rapid flight.

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

425

WHITE, OR ARCTIC, FOX (Alopex
lagopus)

The Arctic fox, clothed in long, fluffy white
fur, is an extremely handsome animal, about
two-thirds the size of the common red fox. It
is a circumpolar species, which in America
ranges over all the barren grounds beyond the
limit of trees, including the coastal belt of
tundra from the Peninsula of Alaska to Ber-
ing Straits, the Arctic islands, and the frozen
sea to beyond 83 degrees of latitude.

The blue fox of commerce is a color phase
of this species, usually of sporadic occurrence,
like the black phase of the red fox. The white
fox makes its burrow either in a dry mound,
under a large rock, or in the snow, where its
young are brought forth and cared for with
the devotion which appears to characterize all
foxes.

How this small and delicately formed animal
manages to sustain life under the rigorous
winter conditions of the far north has always
been a mystery to me. I have seen its tracks
on the sea ice miles from shore. It regularly
wanders far and wide over these desolate icy
wastes, which can offer only the most remote
chance for food. However, it appears to thrive,
with other animal life, even where months of
continuous night follow the long summer day.

The food of the Arctic fox includes nearly
all species of the wild-fowl which each summer
swarm into the far North to breed. There on
the tundras congregate myriads of ducks,
geese, and waders, while on the cliffs and
rocky islands are countless gulls and other
water birds. In winter they find lemmings and
other northern mice, occasional Arctic hares,
and ptarmigan, as well as fragments of prey
left by Arctic wolves or polar bears. Now
and then the carcass of a whale is stranded or
frozen in the ice, furnishing an abundance of
food, sornetimes for a year or more, to the
foxes which gather about it from a great dis-
tance.

Perhaps owing to its limited experience with
rnan, the northern animal is much less sus-
picious than the southern red fox. During
winter sledge trips in Alaska I frequently had
two or three of them gather about my open
camp on the coast, apparently fascinated by
the little camp-fire of driftwood. They would
sit about, near by in the snow, for an hour or
two in the evening, every now and then utter-
ing weak, husky barks like small dogs.

The summer of i8(Si, when we landed from
the Corzvin on Herald Island, northwest of
Bering Straits, we found many white foxes
living in burrows under large scattered rocks
on the plateau summit. They had never seen
men before and our presence excited their
most intense interest and curiosity. One and
sometimes two of them followed closely at my
heels wherever I went, and when I stopped to
make notes or look about, sat down and
watched me with absurd gravity. Now and
then one at a distance would mount a rock to
get a better view of the stranger.

On returning to the ship, I remembered that

my notebook had been left on a large rock
over a fox den, on the island, and at once went
back for it. I had been gone only a short
time, but no trace of the book could be found
on or about the rock, and it was evident that
the owner of the den had confiscated it. Sev-
eral other foxes sat about viewing my search
with interest and when I left followed me to
the edge of the island. A nearly grown young
one kept on the Corzviii was extraordinarily
intelligent, inquisitive, and mischievous, and
afforded all of us much amusement and occa-
sional exasperation.

PRIBILOF BLUE FOX (Alopex lagopus
pribilofensis)

The blue fox is a color phase of the Arctic
white fox and may occur anywhere in the
range of the typical animal. In fact, the blue
phase bears the same relationship to the white
that the black phase does to the red fox. In
the Pribilof, or Fur Seal, Islands of Alaska,
however, through the influence of favorable
climatic conditions, assisted by artificial selec-
tion in weeding out white animals, the blue
phase has become the resident form. Isola-
tion on these islands has developed other char-
acters also which, with the prevailing color,
render the Pribilof animal a distinct geo-
graphic race of the white species. A blue fox
is also the prevailing resident animal in Ice-
land.

In years when fur-seals were killed in con-
siderable numbers on the Pribilofs their car-
casses remained on the killing grounds as a
never-failing store of food through the winter.
During summer there is an abundance of nest-
ing water-fowl, and throughout the year there
are mice on land and the products of the sea
along shore. As a result the foxes have thrived
amazingly and several hundred skins have been
produced a year. With the lessening number
of seals now being killed on the islands and
the resulting scarcity of winter food, the fate
of the foxes is somewhat in doubt. The Prib-
ilof skins are of high market value, bringing
from $40 to $150 each in the London market.

Stock from the Pribilofs has been intro-
duced on a number of the Aleutians and other
Alaskan islands for fur-farming purposes. The
value of these fur-bearers is so great that soe-
cial effort should be made not only to keep up
the stock on the islands, but still further to
improve it.

The Pribilof foxes liavc from five to eleven
young, which are usually born above ground
and are later carried to the shelter of dens
dug in the open or under the shelter of a rock.
Foxes have become so accustomed to people
on these islands that they have little fear and
come about boldly to satisfy their curiosity or
to seek for food. They often show an amus-
ing interest in the doings of any one who in-
vades the more remote parts of their domain.
White animals l^orn on the islands or coming
in by chance when the pack ice touches there
in winter are killed, whenever possible, in order
to hold the blue strain true.

426

427

428

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

WOLVERINE (Gulo luscus)

The wolverine, or carcajou of the Canadian
voyageurs, is a circumpolar species belonging
to the northern forested areas of both conti-
nents. In North America it formerly ranged
from the northern limit of trees south to New
England and New York, and down the Rocky
Mountains to Colorado, and down the Sierra
Nevada to near Mount Whitney, California.
It is a low, squat, heavy-bodied animal, with
strong legs and feet armed with sharp claws,
and is the largest and most formidable of the
weasel family.

The wolverine is extraordinarily powerful
and possesses what at times appears to be a
diabolical cunning and persistence. It fre-
quently trails trappers along their trap lines,
eating or destroying their catches and at times
hiding their traps. It is a tireless wanderer,
and the hunter or traveler in the northern
wilds always has this marauder in mind and
is put to the limit of his wits to provide caches
for his provisions or other supplies which it
can not despoil.

What it can not eat it is likely to carry away
and hide. A wolverine has often been known
to expend a surprising amount of labor in
apparently deliberate mischief, even carrying
numerous articles away from camps and hiding
them in different places. It sometimes trails a
traveler for many miles through winter snow,
always out of sight, but alert to take advantage
of any carelessness in leaving game or other
food unguarded.

Mingled with these mischievous traits the
wolverine possesses a savage ferocity com-
bined with a muscular power which renders it
a dreaded foe of all but the largest animals of
its domain. When guarding her young, the
female is no mean foe, even for a man.

As a consequence of its mental and physical
character, the wolverine, more than any other
animal of the north, has impressed itself on
the imagination of both native and white hunt-
ers and travelers. A vast amount of folk-lore
has grown up about it and both Indians and
Eskimos make offerings to propitiate its ma-
lignant spirit. The Alaskan Eskimos trim the
hoods of their fur garments with a strip of
wolverine fur, and Eskimo hunters wear belts
and hunting bags made of the skin of the legs
and head, that they may acquire some of the
power of the animal from which these came.

The value of the handsome brown fur of the
wolverine, as well as the enmity the animal
earns among hunters and trappers, has resulted
in its being so persistently hunted that it has
become extinct over much of its former terri-
tory, and wherever still found it is much re-
duced in numbers.

PACIFIC WALRUS (Odobenus obesus)

The walruses, or "sea horses" of the old
navigators, are the strangest and most gro-
tesque of all sea mammals. Their large, rugged
heads, armed with two long ivory tusks, and
their huge swollen bodies, covered with hair-

less, wrinkled, and warty skin, gives them a
formidable appearance unlike that of any other
mammal. They are much larger than most
seals, the old males weighing from 2,000 to
3,000 pounds and the females about two-thirds
as much.

These strange beasts are confined to the
Arctic Ocean and the adjacent coasts and
islands and are most numerous about the bor-
ders of the pack ice. Two species are known,
one belonging to the Greenland seas, while the
other, the Pacific walrus, is limited to Bering
Sea and the Arctic basin beyond Bering Straits.

The Pacific walruses migrate S(Hithward
through Bering Straits with the pack ice in
fall and spend the winter in Bering Sea and
along the adjacent coast of eastern Asia. In
spring they return northward through the
straits and pass the breeding season about the
ice pack, where they congregate in great herds.
One night in July, 18S1, the U. S. steamer Cor-
zvin cruised for hours along the edge of the ice
pack off the Arctic coast of Alaska and we saw
an almost unbroken line of walruses hauled
out on the ice, forming an extended herd which
must have contained tens of thousands.

Walruses were formerly very abundant in
Bering Sea, especially about the Fur Seal
Islands and along the coast north of the Pen-
insula of Alaska, but few now survive there.
Owing to the value of their thick skins, blub-
ber, and ivory tusks, they have been subjected
to remorseless pursuit since the early Russian
occupation of their territory and have, as a re-
sult, become extinct in parts of tlieir former
range and the species is now in serious danger
of extermination.

Like many of the seals, walruses have a
strong social instinct, and although usually seen
in herds they are not polygamous. They feed
mainly on clams or other shellfish, which they
gather on the bottom of the shallow sea. On
shore or on the ice they move slowly and with
much difificulty, but in the water they are thor-
oughly at home and good swimmers. When
hauled out on land or ice, they usually lie in
groups one against the other. They are stupid
beasts and hunters have no difficulty in killing
them with rifles at close range.

Walruses have a strongly developed mater-
nal instinct and show great devotion and dis-
regard of their own safety in defending the
young. Tlie Eskimos at Cape Vancouver, Ber-
ing Sea, hunt them in frail skin-covered kyaks,
using ivory- or bone- pointed spears and seal-
skin floats. Several hunters told me of excit-
ing and dangerous encounters they had experi-
enced with mother walruses. If the young are
attacked, or even approached, the mother does
not hesitate to charge furiously. Tiie hunters
confess that on such occasions there is no op-
tion but to paddle for their lives. Occasionally
an old walrus is unusually vindictive and, after
forcing a hunter to take refuge on the ice, will
remain patrolling the vicinity for a long time,
roaring and menacing the object of her anger.

When boats approach the edge of the ice
where walruses are hauled up, the animals
plunge into the sea in a panic and rise all about

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

429

the intruders, bellowing and rushing about,
rearing their huge heads and gleaming white
tusks high out of water in an alarming manner.
As a rule, however, they are timid and seek
only to escape, although occasionally, in their
excitement, one has been known to attack a
boat and by a single blow of its tusks to do
serious damage and endanger the crew.

ALASKA FUR SEAL (Callorhinus
alascanus)

Several species of fur seals are known, all
of them limited to the southern oceans or the
coasts and islands of the North Pacific. All
are strongly gregarious and formerly sought
their island breeding grounds in vast numbers.
At one period, soon after the purchase of
Alaska, it was estimated that several million
fur seals were on the Pribilof Islands in one
season. During the height of their abundance
the southern fur seals were equally numerous.

The value of their skins and the facility with
which these animals may be slaughtered have re-
sulted in the practical extermination of all but
those which breed under governmental protec-
tion on the Russian islands off the coast of
Kamchatka and on the Pribilof Islands in
Alaska. Owing mainly to wasteful pelagic
sealing prior to the recent international treaty,
the numbers on both these groups of islands
were much reduced.

The Alaska fur seal is a migratory species,
wintering down the Pacific coast as far as
northern California. The migrations of these
seals are of remarkable interest. In spring
they leave the northwest coast and many of
them travel steadily across more than two
thousand miles of the North Pacific. For days
at a time they swim through a roaring gale-
swept sea, under dense, low-hanging clouds,
and with unerring certainty strike certain pas-
sages in the Aleutian Islands, through which
they press to their breeding grounds, more than
100 miles beyond, on the small, fog-hidden
Pribilof Islands.

Fur seals are extremely polygamous and the
old males, which weigh from 400 to 500 pounds,
"haul up" first on the breeding beaches. Each
bull holds a certain area, and as the females,
only one-fifth his size, come ashore they are
appropriated by the nearest bulls until each
"beach master" gathers a harem, sometimes
containing more than 100 members.

Here the young are born, and after the mat-
ing season the seals, which have remained
ashore without food from four to six weeks,
return to the water. The mothers go and
come, and each is able to find her young with
certainty among thousands of apparently iden-
tical woolly black "pups."

From the ages of one to four years fur seals
are extremely playful. They are marvelous
swimmers and frolic about in pursuit of one
another, now diving deep and then, one after
the other, suddenly leaping high above the sur-
face in graceful curves, like porpoises. Squids
and fish of various species are their main food.
Their chief natural enemy is the killer whale,

which follows their migrations and haunts the
sea about their breeding grounds, taking heavy
toll among them.

Since the discovery of the Pribilof Islands
by the Russians the fur seal herds there have
yielded more than five million recorded skins.
A census of the herds in I9i4gave these islands
nearly three hundred thousand seals. Now that
pelagic sealing has been suppressed and the
herds are being protected, there is every reason
to expect that the seals will increase rapidly to
something like their former numbers.

STELLER SEA-LION (Eumetopias
jubata)

Sea-lions are near relatives of the fur seals
and have a nearly similar distribution, both in
far southern and northern seas. The males of
the several species are more than twice the
size of the females and are characterized by
an enormous development of neck and shoul-
ders. The Steller sea-lion is the largest mem-
ber of the group, the old bulls weighing from
1,200 to 1,500 pounds. All are extremely gre-
garious and polygamous.

The Steller sea-lions belong to the North
Pacific, whence they range in winter as far
south as the coasts of California and Japan.
In spring they migrate northward to their
breeding grounds among the Aleutian, Pribilof,
and other rocky islands of the North Pacific.
The early histories of this region record their
great abundance, including several hundred
thousand which were reported to have congre-
gated to breed each season on the Pribilof
Islands. Although less valuable than the fur-
seal, persistent hunting has gradually reduced
their numbers on these islands until in 1914
only a few hundred remained.

In summer range they are less limited than
the fur seals, occurring in herds about ihe
shores of many rocky islands along the main-
land coast of the North Pacific and the Aleu-
tian chain.

Since the primitive days before the arrival
of civilized men in their haunts, sea-lions were
of the greatest economic importance to the
Aleutian Islanders and other coast natives.
Food and fuel were obtained from their flesh
and blubber; coverings for boats were made of
their skins; water-proof overshirts of their in-
testines ; boot soles from the tanned skin of
their flippers; trimmings of fancy garments
from their tanned gullets and bristles, and
thread from their sinews.

They are preeminently animals of the most
rugged of shorelines and the stormiest of seas,
being superbly powerful beasts with extraordi-
nary vitality. The ease with which they pass
tln-ough a smother of pounding seas to mount
their rugged resting places is an admirable ex-
hibition of skill and strength. The males have
a bellowing roar, which rises continually from
the herds on the rocks in savage uni.son with
the booming of the sea against the base of
their refuge.

The harems of tlie bulls on Pribilof Islands
rarclv exceed a dozen members, which are

430

ALASKA FUR SEAL

STELLER SEA LION

431

432

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

under less strict discipline than the harems of
the fur seals. The old bulls, especially during
the mating season, are aggressive and savage
fighters, inflicting severe wounds on one an-
other. At all times they are more courageous
and belligerent than fur seals, and hunters
driving parties of them back from the beach
on the Pribilofs approach them with extreme
caution, to avoid the dangerous charges of
angry bulls. It is reported that an umbrella
opened and closed suddenly in the faces of the
old sea-lions appears to terrify them more than
any other weapon and is used successfully in
drives. At sea they have only a single known
enemy to fear — the fierce killer whale.

SEA OTTER (Latax lutris and its sub-
species)

Sea otters, distant relatives of land otters, are
heavy-bodied animals, about 4 feet long, with
broad webbed hind feet. When in the water
they have a general resemblance to seals, whose
mode of life is similar to theirs. Their fur is
extremely dense and on the skins of adult
males is almost black, closely sprinkled with
long white-tipped hairs. The fur of prime
skins has a silky luster, equaled in beauty by
only the finest silver-tipped fox skins. For
centuries sea-otter fur has been highly prized
and single skins have brought more than $1,000
in the London market.

Otters are limited to the coasts of the North
Pacific, where formerly they were incredibly
abundant all the way from the shores and is-
lands of Lower California to the Aleutians,
and thence along the Asiatic coast to the
Kuriles. Through excessive hunting, they are
now extinct along most of this extended coast-
line.

In the days of the Russian occupation of
Alaska the discovery of the abundance of sea
otters led to intense activity in their pursuit.
Otter-hunting expeditions were organized by
the Russians along the storm-swept coast from
Unalaska to Sitka, sailing vessels being used
as convoys for hundreds of Aleut hunters in
their skin-covered boats. The loss of -life
among the hunters under their brutal task-
masters was appalling and resulted in seriously
and permanently reducing the native population
of the Aleutian Islands. At the same time
enormous numbers of sea-otter skins were
taken. Afterward both English and .A.merican
ships engaged in the pursuit of otters farther
down the coast.

The first year after the discovery of the
Pribilof Islands the records show that 5,000
sea otters were taken there. Many expeditions
in other directions secured from one to several
thousand skins. When sea otters were most
abundant they were found all down the coast,
even in San Francisco Ray, and one American
trading vessel obtained 7,000 skins in a few
weeks from the natives of the northern coast
of Lower California.

The otters formerly frequented the shores
of rocky islands and outlying reefs, but con-
stant persecution has driven the few survivors

to remain almost constantly at sea, where they
seek resting places among kelp beds. They are
now excessively shy and, aided by keen eyes
and an acute sense of smell, are difficult to
approach. When anything excites their curi-
osity they commonly raise the body upright,
the head high above water, and gaze steadily
at the object. If alarmed, they dive and re-
appear at a long distance.

Otter hunters report the animals very play-
ful in pleasant weather, and sometimes floating
on their backs and playing with pieces of kelp.
The mother is devoted to her young and is
said to play with it in the water for hours at
a time.

All efforts to rear the young in captivity
have failed. The food of the sea otter is
mainly of shellfish of various kinds, secured by
them from the bottom of the sea.

Practically the only sea otters left among the
hordes which once frequented the American
shores of the North Pacific are now scattered
along the Aleutian Islands. Government regu-
lations prohibit their being hunted and it is
hoped that enough still remain to restock the
wild and stormy sea where they have their
home.

NORTHERN SEA-ELEPHANT, OR

ELEPHANT SEAL (Mirounga

augustirostris)

Sea-elephants are the largest and among the
most remarkable of the seals. Two species
are known — one from islands on the borders
of the Antarctic Ocean and the other from the
Pacific coast of Upper and Lower California.
The northern species formerly existed in vast
numbers along the coast and among outlying
islands from Point Reyes, north of San Fran-
cisco, south to Cedros Island, but is now re-
duced to a single small herd living about
Guadalupe Island, off Lower California.

The old males attain a length of 22 feet or
more and are huge, ungainly beasts, moving
with difficulty on land, but with ease and grace
in the water. The name sea-elephant is ob-
viously derived from the broad flexible snout
of the males, which, when relaxed, hangs 6 or
8 inches below the muzzle. This curious pro-
boscis can be moved about and raised verti-
cally, giving the animal a strange appearance.
The males have a loud roar like the bellowing
of an ox.

The breeding season extends from February
to June, and during this period these seals are
far more numerous on shore than at any other
time. They are gregarious in haliits and for-
merly hauled up in herds on the islands or on
remote and inaccessi1)le beaches of the main-
land. On shore they are sluggish, having none
of the alertness shown bv many other seals.
They lie supine on the sand and permit a man
to walk quietly up and touch them without
showing signs of fcir. When attacked by
sealers or otherwise alarmed, however, they
become panic-stricken and make ungainly ef-
forts to escape, but quicklv become exhausted
by the exertion necessary to move their great

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

433

bodies. Their only natural enemy appears to
be the killer whale.

Between 1855 and 1870 the great numbers
of northern sea-elephants, combined with their
helplessness on shore and the value of their
oil, attracted numerous sealing and whaling
ships to the coast of Lower California. The
resulting slaughter reduced these animals from
swarming abundance to a few scattered herds.
Since then their numbers have steadily de-
creased, and there is a serious probability that
these strange and interesting habitants of the
sea will soon disappear forever.

The small remaining herd on Guadalupe Is-
land is without protection and hes at the mercy
of wanton hunters. The people of the coastal
towns of California should exert themselves
to discourage hunters from killing these seals,
since the only hope for the preservation of this
noteworthy species lies in an awakened public
sentiment in its favor. Even within recent
years they have occasionally visited the Santa
Barbara Islands, California, and if the existing
survivors can be saved they may again become
resident there.

HARBOR SEAL. OR LEOPARD SEAL
(Phoca vitulina)

The harbor seal, one of the smallest of the
hair seals, attaining a length of only 5 or 6
feet, is one of the most widely distributed and
best known of its kind. It is a circumpolar
species, formerly ranging well south on the
European coast and to the Carolinas on the
American side of the Atlantic, though now
more restricted in its southern extension. On
the North Pacific it ranges south to the coast
of Japan on the Asiatic side and to Lower
California on the American side.

Throughout its range the harbor seal haunts
the coast-line, frequenting rocky points, islets,
bays, harbors, and the lower courses of rivers.
It commonly frequents the sandy bars exposed
at low tide about the mouths of rivers, and has
been known to ascend the St. Lawrence to Lake
Champlain and Lake Ontario, and the Yukon
to several hundred miles above its mouth. It
is still a common and well-known animal on
the coast of Maine and eastern Canada and
about many harbors on the Pacific coast. Jt
appears to be a non-migratory species and in
northern waters frequents the pack ice along
shore in winter. Where the pack is unbroken,
the seal makes breathing holes through the ice,
which it visits at intervals, and where it is
hunted by the Eskimos.

It is not polygamous and is not so strongly
gregarious as some of the other seals. That
it has some social instinct is evident, however,
since it commonly gathers in small herds on
the same sand spits, rocky points, and islets.
The young are born in early spring and at first
are entirely covered with a woolly white coat.
The mother is devoted to the "pup" and shows
the deepest anxiety if danger threatens.

The flesh and blubber of this seal are highly
prized by the Eskimos as the most palatable of

all the seals, and th^skin is valued for cloth-
ing and for making strong rawhide lines used
for nets and other purposes. On the Alaskan
coast of Bering Sea in fall the Eskimos cap-
ture many seals in nets set- off rocky points,
just as gill nets are set in the same places in
spring for salmon.

Owing to the presence of this seal along so
many inhabited coasts, much has been written
concerning its habits, especially as observed
about the shores of the British Isles. Where
not disturbed it shows little fear and will swim
about boats or ships, raising its head high out
of water and gazing steadily with large in-
telligent eyes at the object of its curiosity; but
when hunted it becomes exceedingly shy and
wary. All who have held the harbor seal in
captivity agree in praising its intelligence. It
becomes very docile, often learning a variety
of amusing tricks, and develops great affection
for its keeper.

The small size of this seal and its limited
numbers are elements which save it from ex-
tensive commercial hunting and may preserve
it far into the future to add life and interest
to many a rocky coast.

HARP SEAL, SADDLE-BACK, OR

GREENLAND SEAL (Phoca

groenlandica)

The black head, gray body, and large dorsal
ring of the male harp seal are strongly dis-
tinctive markings in a group generally char-
acterized by plain dull colors. The harp seal
is a large species, the old males weighing from
600 to 800 pounds.

It is nearly circumpolar in distribution, but
its area of greatest abundance extends from
the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Greenland, and
thence eastward in that part of the Arctic
Ocean lying north of Europe and western Si-
beria. Its reported presence in the Arctic basin
north of Bering Straits or along the coasts to
the southward is yet to be confirmed. It is an
offshore species, migrating southward with the
ice pack in fall to the coast of Newfoundland
and returning northward with the pack after
the breeding season in spring. For a day or
two during the fall migration, when these seals
are passing certain points on the coast of Lab-
rador, the sea is said to be thickly dotted with
their heads as far as the eye can reach, all
moving steadily southward.

The harp seal is extremely gregarious and
gathers on the pack ice well offshore during
March and April to breed. The main breeding
grounds are off Newfoundland and off Jan
Mayen Land in the Arctic. During the breed-
ing season, in the days of their abundance, they
gathered in enormous closely packed herds,
sometimes containing several hundred thou-
sand animals and covering the ice for miles.

From all accounts it is evident that originally
there were millions of these animals in the
North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Their gre-
garious habits made them an easy prey, and
the value of their skins and blubber formed

S.HA (.) 1 1 hK

-LI. I. I'll A\ I , 1 I,; 1 I.l.I'll.W r SI- AI.

434

435

436

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

the basis for a great industry. Hundreds of
vessels were sent out from north European
and American ports and nearly 1,000,000 harp
seals were killed during each breeding season.
This tremendous slaughter and its attendant
waste has resulted in the disappearance of
these seals from many of their former haunts
and has alarmingly reduced their numbers
everywhere. Some are still killed off the coast
of Newfoundland, but the seaUng industry,
now insignificant as compared with its former
estate, is practically dead.

The hunting of harp and other seals on the
pack ice is an occupation calling for such
splendid qualities of virile hardihood in the
face of constant danger to life that its brutality
has been little considered. In this perilous
work great numbers of hunters have been cast
away and frozen miserably on the drifting ice
and many a sealing ship has been lost with all
hands.

Off Newfoundland the young harp seal is
born early in March, wearing a woolly white
coat. At first it is tenderly cared for by its
mother, but before the end of April it has
learned to swim and is left to care for itself.
The young do not enter the water until they
are nearly two weeks old and require several
days of practice before they learn to swim
well. The adults are notable for their swift-
ness in the water. In the tremendous herds of
these seals the continual cries uttered by old
and young is said to produce a steady roar
which may be heard for several miles. Their
food is mainly fish. Man is their worst enemy,
but they are also preyed upon by sharks and
killer whales.

RIBBON SEAL (Phoca fasciata) (see polar
bear group, page 438)

The broad-banded markings of the male rib-
bon seal render it the handsomest and most
strongly characterized of the group of hair
seals to which it belongs. Its size is about that
of the harbor seal. Its range extends from
the Aleutian Islands, on the coast of Alaska,
and from the Kuriles, on the Asiatic shore of
the Pacific, north to Bering Straits.

This seal is so scarce and its home is in
such remote and little-frequented waters that
its habits are almost unknown. Apparently it
is even less gregarious than the harbor seal
and usually occurs singly, although a few may
be seen together, where individuals chance to
meet. There are records of its capture at vari-
ous places along the Asiatic coast, especially
about Kamchatka and the shores of Okhotsk
Sea. In Alaska it is a scarce visitant to the
Aleutian Islands and appears to be most com-
mon on the coast south of the Yukon Delta
and from Cape Nome to Bering Straits.

The few individuals taken by the Alaskan
Eskimos are captured while they are hunting
other seals on the pack ice in winter, and while
at sea in kyaks in spring and fall. Owing to
its attractive markings, the skin of the male
ribbon seal is greatly prized by the Eskimos,

as it was formerly by the fur traders, for use
as clothes-bags. The skin is removed entire
and then tanned, the only opening left being a
long slit in the abdomen, which is provided
with eyelet holes and a lacing string, thus mak-
ing a convenient water-proof bag to use in
boat or dog-sledge trips.

The scarcity of the ribbon seal and its soli-
tary habits will serve to safeguard it from the
destructive pursuit which endangers the exist-
ence of some of its relatives.

POLAR BEAR (Thalarctos maritimus)

Both summer and winter the great ice bear
of the frozen north is appropriately clothed in
white. It is also distinguished from all other
bears by its long neck, slender pointed head,
and the quantity of fur on the soles of its feet.
It is a circumpolar species, the limits of whose
range nearly everywhere coincide with the
southern border of the pack ice. The great
majority live permanently on the ice, often
hundreds of miles from the nearest land.

During summer the polar bear rarely visits
shore, but in winter commonly extends its
wanderings to the Arctic islands and the bor-
dering mainland coasts. In winter it ranges
southward with the extension of the ice pack.
In spring, by an unexpectedly sudden retreat
of the ice, individual bears are often left south
of their usual summer haunts, sometimes being
found swimming in the open sea far off the
coast of Labrador. Occasionally some of those
which migrate southward with the ice through
Bering Straits fail to turn north early enough
and are stranded on islands in Bering Sea.

That a carnivore requiring so much food as
the polar bear can maintain itself on the fro-
zen polar sea is one of the marvels of adapta-
tion to environment. The activity of these
bears through the long black night of the far
north is proved by records of Arctic ex-
plorers, whose caches have been destroyed and
ships visited by them during that season. In
this period of privation they range far over
land and ice in search of food, and when in
desperate need do not hesitate to attack men.
I have seen several Eskimos who had been
seriously injured in such encounters, and
learned of other instances along the Arctic
coast of Alaska in which hunters had been
killed on the sea ice in winter. During the
summer season of plenty, polar bears are mild
and inoffensive, so far as men are concerned.
At that time they wander over the nack ice,
swimming in open leads, and, when hungry,
killing a seal or young walrus.

When spring opens, many polar bears are
near the Arctic coast. At that time the na-
tives along the northeast coast of Siberia kill
many of them on the ice with dogs and short-
haftcd, long-bladed lances. The dogs bring
the bear to bay, and the hunter, watching his
opportunity, runs in and thrusts the lance
through its heart.

During the cruise of the Cnrzvin we saw
many of these bears on the broken ice off Her-
ald and Wrangel Islands. One large old male

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

437

climbed to the top of an uptilted ice-pan and,
after looking about, lay down on one side and,
giving a push with one hind foot, slid down
head foremost 30 or 40 feet, striking the water
with a great splash. He then climbed out and
walked sedately away.

Another bear saw a seal basking on the ice
by a large patch of open water and, swimming
across, suddenly raised himself half out of the
water to the edge of the ice, and by a blow of
his paw crushed the seal's skull. He then
climbed out and made a feast within 500 yards
of where the Comnii was anchored to the ice
pack.

Once while we were anchored in a dense fog
several miles off the pack a bear came swim-
ming out to us, stopping every now and then
to raise its head high out of water to sniff the
attractive odors from the ship. Although
strong and tireless swimmers, these bears lack
the necessary speed to capture their prey in
the water.

The female retires in winter to a snug den
among the hummocks on the sea ice, where
one or two naked cubs are born, which by the
time the ice begins to break up are ready to
follow the mother. Until the cubs are well
grown the mother cares for and defends them
with the most reckless disregard for her own
safety. On one occasion I saw a wounded
mother bear shield her cub, twice the size of a
Newfoundland dog, when bullets began to
strike the water about them, by swimming
straight away with the cub safely sheltered be-
tween her forelegs.

The inaccessible character of so large a part
of the home of the polar bear will long pre-
serve it from the extermination that is over-
taking some of the land bears.

BLACK BEAR (Ursus americanus and its

subspecies)

Numerous species of black bears varying in
size occur in North and South America and in
Asia. In North America a black bear, remark-
ably uniform in general appearance, but repre-
senting various geographic races and possibly
species, is generally distributed throughout the
forested areas from the borders of the Arctic
barrens, at the northern limit of trees, south
throughout the United States and down the
wooded Sierra Madre to Jalisco, Mexico, and
from Newfoundland on the east to Queen
Charlotte Island on the west.

These bears are usually entirely black except
for a brown patch covering the muzzle and an
occasional white spot on the breast. Their
weight is variable, the largest ones exceeding
500 pounds, but they average much less.

The cinnamon bear, so common in the West
and Northwest, long supposed to be a distinct
species, has proved to be merely a color phase
of the black bear— cinnamon cubs being born
in the same litters with black ones.

Since the days of primitive man and the
great cave bear, the ways of bears have had a
fearsome interest to mankind. Childhood rev-
els in the delicious thrills of bear stories and

dwells with wonder on the habit bears have of
standing upright like droll caricatures of man,
on the manlike tracks of their hind feet, and
on their fondness for sweets and other pala-
table food.

From the landing of the tirst colonists on
(,ur shores, hunters and settlers have encoun-
tered black bears so frequently that these are
among the best-known large forest animals of
the continent. During winter they hibernate
for months, seeking a hollow tree, a low cave,
the half shelter of fallen tree trunks and brush,
or else digging a den for themselves. The
female chooses a specially snug den, where in
midwinter from one to four cubs are born.
At birth the young, only 8 or 9 inches long, are
practically naked and have their eyes closed.
They are so undeveloped at this time that it
is more than a month before their eyes open
and more than two months before they can
follow their mother.

Although powerful beasts, black bears are so
shy and timid that to approach them requires
the greatest skill on the part of a still hunter.
They only attack people when wounded or so
cornered that they must defend themselves or
their young. To safeguard themselves from
danger they rely mainly on a fme sense of
hearing and an exquisite delicacy of smell.
They have poor eyesight, and where a sus-
picious object is seen, but no sound or scent
can be noted, they sometimes rise on their
hind feet and look long and carefully before
retreating.

To bears in the forest everything is game.
They often spend the entire day turning over
stones to lick up the ants and other insects
sheltered there, and at night may visit settlers'
cabins and carry off pigs. They raid the set-
tlers' cornfields for green corn and are pas-
sionately fond of honey, robbing bee trees
whenever possible. In season they delight in
wild cherries, blueberries, and other fruits, as
well as beechnuts, acorns, and pinyon nuts.
They are mainly nocturnal, but in districts
where not much disturbed wander widely by
day.

The success of black bears in caring for
themselves is well demonstrated by the num-
bers which still survive in the woods of Maine,
New York, and other long-settled States.
Their harmlessness and their exceeding interest
to all render them worthy of careful protec-
tion. They should be classed as game and
thoroughly protected as such except for cer-
tain open seasons. If this is done throughout
the country, as is now the case in certain
States, the survival of one of our most char-
acteristic large wild animals will be assured.

GLACIER BEAR (Ursus emmonsi)

When first discovered the glacier bear was
supposed to be a distinct and well-marked
species. Recently cubs representing the glacier
bear and the typical black bear have been
found in the same litter, thus proving it to be
merely a color phase of the black l)ear. Its
color varies exceedingly, from a light smoky,

438

439

440

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

almost bluish, gray to a dark iron gray, becom-
ing almost black. Some individuals are ex-
traordinary appearing beasts, quite unlike any
other bear. The interest in this curious color
development is increased by its restricted dis-
tribution.

The glacier bear is an Alaskan animal, which
occupies the seaward front of the Mount St.
Elias Range, about Yakutat Bay, and thence
southeast to Glacier Bay and a short distance
beyond toward the interior. The popular narne
of this bear was well chosen, as its home is in
the midst of innumerable stupendous glaciers.
Here, where the contours of gigantic mountain
ranges are being steadily remade by glaciers,
Nature appears to have begun the evolution of
a new kind of bear. That the task is in prog-
ress is evidenced by the excessive variation in
color, scarcely two individuals being the same.

The food of this bear consists largely of
mice, ground squirrels, and marmots, which it
digs from their burrows on the high mountain
slopes. Its food is varied by salmon during
the spawning season and by various herbs and
berries during the summer. The winters in the
home of the glacier bear are less severe than
across the range in the interior, but are so
long and stormy that the bear must spend
more than six months each year in hibernation.

Owing to the remote and little-frequented
region occupied by this bear, little is known of
its life history. For this reason it is irnpor-
tant that all sportsmen visiting its country
bring back careful and detailed records of their
observations. Up to the present time so few
white men have killed glacier bears that a skin
of one taken by fair stalking is a highly prized
trophy. As the glacier bear country becomes
more accessible, more stringent protection will
be needed to prevent the extermination of these
unique animals.

GRIZZLY BEAR (Ursus horribilis and its

relatives)

Recent research has shown that the popular
terms grizzly or silver-tip cover a group con-
taining numerous species of large bears pecu-
liar to North America, some of which, espe-
cially in California, have become extinct within
the last 25 years. These bears vary much in
size, some about equaling the black bear and
others attaining a weight of more than 1,000
pounds. They vary in color from pale dull
buffv to nearly black, usually with lighter tips
to the hairs, which produce the characteristic
grizzled or silver - tipped appearance upon
which the common names are based.

The strongest and most distinctive external
character of the grizzlies is the long, propor-
tionately slender, and slightly curved claws on
the front feet, sometimes more than 3 inches

long. r .1

Grizzly bears have a wule range — trom the
Arctic coast of Alaska southward, _ in a belt
extending from the Rocky Mountains to the
Pacific, through western Canada and the
United States, and thence along the Sierra

Madre of Mexico to southern Durango. They
also occupy the barren grounds of northern
Canada, and vague reports of a large brown
bear in the interior of the Peninsula of Labra-
dor indicate the possibility of the existence
there of an unknown species of grizzly.

From the days of the earliest explorers of
the Rocky Mountain region grizzly bears have
borne the undisputed title of America's fiercest
and most dangerous big game. In early days,
having little fear of the primitive weapons of
the Indians, they were bold and indifferent to
the presence of man, and no higher badge of
supreme courage and prowess could be gained
by a warrior than a necklace of grizzly claws.
Since the advent of white men with guns,
conditions have changed so adversely to the
grizzlies that they have become extremely shy,
and the slightest unusual noise or other alarm
causes them to dash away at a lumbering, but
surprisingly rapid, gallop. The deadly modern
gun has produced this instinctive reaction for
self-preservation. It does not mean, however,
that grizzlies have lost their claim to the re-
spect of even the best of hunters. They are
still considered dangerous, and even in recent
years experienced hunters have been killed or
severely mauled by them. They are much
more intelligent than the black bear, and thus,
when wounded, are a more dangerous foe.

Like the black bear, the grizzlies are com-
monly nocturnal, but in remote districts often
wander about in search of food by day. They
roll over stones and tear open rotten wood in
search of grubs and insects. They also dig out
ground squirrels and other rodents and eat a
variety of acorns and other wild nuts and
fruits. As an offset to this lowly diet, many
powerful old grizzHes, from the Rocky Moun-
tains to California, have become notorious
cattle-killers. They stalk cattle at night, and,
seizing their prey by the head, usually break
its neck, but sometimes hold and kill it by
biting. These cattle-killing grizzlies still occur
on the Western ranges. One or more wily
marauders of this kind have run for years
with a bounty of $1,000 on their heads.

Like other bears, grizzlies hibernate in win-
ter, seeking small caves, or other shelter, and
sometimes digging a den in the ground. The
young, from one to four in number, are born
in midwinter and are very small, naked, and
but partly developed at birth. They go about
with the mother tliroughout the summer and
commonly den up with her the following win-
ter. Although full-grown grizzlies are ordi-
narily solitary in habits, parties of from four
to eight are sometimes seen. The object of
these curious but probably brief companion-
ships is not known.

Grizzlies are disappearing so rapidly that it
is very desirable that they be placed on the list
of game protected during part of the year, ex-
cept in the case of the few individuals which
become stock-killers. They are among the
finest of native animals and their absence from
the rugged slopes of the western mountains
would leave a serious gap in our wild life.

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN AJAMAIALS

441

ALASKAN BROWN BEAR (Ursus gyas

and its relatives)

(See frontispiece of this Mayaziiic for the
illustration of this rcniarkahlc animal )

The Alaskan brown bears form a group of
gigantic animals peculiar to North America
and limited to the coast and islands of Alaska,
from the head of Norton Sound to the Sitka
Islands. The group includes a number of spe-
cies, individuals of two of which, Ursus gyas,
of the Alaska Peninsula, and Ursus midden-
dorffi, of Kodiak Island, sometimes attain a
weight of 1,500 pounds or more, and are not
only the largest existing bears, but are the
largest living carnivores in the world. They
can be likened only to the great cave bears,
which were the haunting terror of primitive
mankind during the "Old Stone Age" in Eu-
rope. Brown bears stir, exist in Europe and
Asia, but they form a distinct group of much
smaller animals than the American species.

The Alaskan brown bears vary much in color,
from a dull golden yellowish to a dusky brown,
becoming almost black in some species. In
color some of the darker species are indistin-
guishable from the great grizzlies, with which
in places they share their range ; but the rela-
tively shorter, thicker, and more strongly
curved claws on the front feet of the brown
bears are distinctive.

As a rule they are inoffensive giants and
take flight at the first sign of man. The taint
left by a man's recent track or the faintest
odor on the passing breeze, indicating the
proximity of their dreaded enemy, is enough
to start the largest of them in instant flight.
Instances are reported- of their having attacked
people wantonly, but' such cases are extremely
rare. When wounded or suddenly surprised
at close quarters, the instinct of self-defense
not infrequently incites them to attack their
enemy with furious energy. Many Indian and
white hunters have been killed or terribly
mauled by them in such encounters. At close
quarters their great size, strength, and activ-
ity— astonishing for such apparently clumsy
beasts — render them terrific antagonists.

Some of the species occupy open, rolling, or
hilly tundras, and others live on the ste est
and most rugged mountain slopes amid gla-
ciers, rock slides, and perpetual snow-banks.
On the approach of winter all retreat to dry
locations, usually in the hills, where they dig
dens in the earth or seek other cover to which
they retire to hibernate, and here the young,
usually two or three in number, are born.
They usually emerge from hibernation in April
or early May and wander about over the snow-
covered hills and mountains. At this time their
dark forms and their great tracks in the snow
are so conspicuous that hunters have little
difficulty in finding them.

Despite their size, brown bears devote much
of their time to hunting such game as mice,
ground squirrels, and marmots, which they dig
from their burrows with extraordinary ra-
pidity. During the salmon season, when the

streams swarm with fish, bears frequent the
lowlands and make trails along the water-
courses, where they feed fat on this easy prey.
During the summer and fall these great car-
nivores have the strange habit of grazing like
cattle on the heavy grasslike growth of sedge
in the lowland flats and benches, and also of
eating many other plants.

Although Alaska was long occupied by the
Russians and has been a part of our territory
since 1867, not until 1898 was there any defi-
nite public knowledge concerning the existence
of these bears, notwithstanding their size and
abundance. Since that time they have become
well known to sportsmen and others as one of
the wonders of the remarkable region they
occupy. Their comparatively limited and easily
accessible territory renders their future pre-
carious unless proper measures for their rea-
sonable protection are continued. They are
certain to be exterminated near sett'ements;
but there are ample wild and inhospitable areas
where they may range in all their original free-
dom for centuries to corne, provided man per-
mits.

AMERICAN BEAVER (Castor canadensis

and its subspecies)

When North America was first colonized,
beavers existed in great numbers from coast
to coast, in almost every locality where trees
and bushes bordered streams and lakes, from
near the Yukon Delta, in Alaska, and the Mac-
kenzie Delta, on the Arctic coast, south to the
mouths of the Colorado and the Rio Grande.
Although now exterminated from mrst of
their former range in the eastern United States,
they still occur in diminished numbers over
nearly all the remainder of their original ter-
ritory, even in the lower Rio Grande and the
delta of the Colorado. Their vertical distri-
bution extends from sea-level to above an alti-
tude of 9,coo feet.

Beavers are heavily built, round-bodied ani-
mals, with powerful chisel-shaped front teeth,
short legs, fully webbed hind feet, and a flat,
scaly tail. They are covered with long, coarse
hairs overlying the short, dense, and silky
underfur to which beaver skins owe their value.
Their range covers the northern forested parts
of both Old and New Worlds. The American
species closely resembles in general appearance
its Old World relative, but is distinctly larger,
averaging 30 to 40 pounds in weight, but some-
times attaining a weight of more than 60
pounds. Owing to the different physical con-
ditions in its wide range, the American animal
has developed a number of geographic races.

Beavers mate permanently and have from
two to five young each year. Their abundance
and the high value of their fur exercised an
unparalleled influence on the early exploration
and development of North America. Beaver
skins were the one ready product of the New
World which the merchants of Europe were
eager to purchase. As a consequence compe-
tition in the trade for these skins was the
source of strong and bitter antagonisms be-

fJRIZZLY BEAK

442

.JiSl

AMERICAN BEAVER

443

444

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

tween individuals and companies, and even
caused jealous rivalries among the Dutch, Eng-
lish, and French colonies.

Disputes over the right to trade in certain
districts often led to bloodshed, and even to
long wars, over great areas, where powerful
rival companies fought for the control of a
new empire. This eager competition among
daring adventurers resulted in the constant ex-
tension of trading posts through the North and
West, until the vanguard of civilization reached
the far borders of the continent on the shores
of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.

Among the fur traders the beaver skin be-
came the unit of value by which barter was
conducted for all sorts of commodities. This
usage extended even throughout northern
Alaska, where it was current among the Amer-
ican fur traders until the discovery of gold
there upset old standards.

Beavers belong to the rodent family — a group
of animals notable for their weak mental pow-
ers. The beaver is the striking exception to
the rule, and its extraordinary intelligence, in-
dustry, and skill have long excited admiration.
It is scarcely entitled to the almost superhu-
man intelligence many endow it with, yet it
certainly possesses surprising ability along cer-
tain lines. Furthermore, it can alter its habits
promptly when a change in environment ren-
ders this advantageous.

In wild places, where rarely disturbed, beavers
are unsuspicious, but where they are much
trapped they become amazingly alert and can
be taken only by the most skillful trapping.
They are very proficient in building narrow
dams of sticks, mr.d, and small stones across
small streams for the purpose of backing up
water and making "beaver ponds." In the border
of these ponds a conical lodge is usually con-
structed of sticks and mud. It is several feet
high and about 8 or lo feet across at the base.
The entrance is usually under water, and a
passageway leads to an interior chamber large
enough to accommodate the pair and their
well-grown ycung. From the ponds the ani-
mals sometimes dig narrow canals several hun-
dred feet long back through the flats among
the trees. Having short legs and heavy bodies,
and consequently being awkward on land,
heavers save themselves much labor by con-
structing canals for transporting the sticks and
branches needed for food and for repairing
their houses and dams.

Along the Colorado, lower Rio Grande, and
other streams with high banks and variable
water level, beavers usually dig tunnels lead-
ing from an entrance well under water to a
snug chamber in the bank above water level.
Under the varying conditions in different areas
they make homes showing every degree of in-
lergradation between the two types described.
Beavers live almost entirely on twigs and
bark, and their gnawing powers are surpris-
ing. Where small trees less than a foot in
diameter abound they are usually chosen, but
the animals do not hesitate to attack large
trees. On the headwaters of the San Francisco
River, in western New Mexico, I saw a cotton-

wood nearly ^^o inches in diameter that had
been felled so skillfully that it had fallen with
the top in the middle of a small beaver pond,
thus assuring an abundance of food for the
animals at their very door.

In the cold northern parts of their range,
where streams and ponds remain frozen for
months at a time, beavers gather freshly cut
green twigs, sticks, and poles, which they
weight down with mud and stones on the bot-
toms of ponds or streams near their houses, to
be used for food during the shut-in period.

The mud used by beavers in building dams
and houses is scooped up and carried against
the breast, the front feet being used like hands.
The flat tail serves as a rudder when the ani-
mal is swimming or diving, and to strike the
surface of the water a resounding slap as a
danger signal.

Beavers ar^. usually nocturnal, but in dis-
tricts wherenOt disturbed they sometimes come
out to work by,day, especially late in the after-
noon. Among the myriads of small streams
and lakes in the great forested area north of
Quebec they are very plentiful; their dams and
houses are everywhere, sometimes four or five
houses about one small lake. Their well-worn
trails lead through the woods near the lake
shores and frequently cross portages between
lakes several' hundred yards apart.

Where beavers continue to occupy streams in
settled districts, they often make regular trails
from a slide on the river bank back to neighbor-
ing cornfields, where they feast on the succulent
stalks and green ears. They also injure or-
chards planted near their haunts, by girdling or
felling the trees. Within recent years laws for
their protection have been passed in many
States, and beavers have been reintroduced in
a number of localities. They should not be
colonized in streams flowing through lands
used for orchards or cornfields, n'Or where the
available trees are too few tO' afford a con-
tinuous food supply.

FISHER, OR PEKAN (Mustela pennanti)

The fisher is one of the largest and hand-
somest members of the weasel family. Like
others of this group, it is a long-bodied, short-
legged animal. It attains an extreme length of
from 3 to 3^ feet and a weigjit of 18 or 20
pounds, but the average is decidedly lower than
these figures. In general, it is like a gigantic
marten, and from its size and dark color is
sometimes known locally as the "black cat" or
"black fox."

It lives in the forested parts of Canada and
the United States, where it originally occurred
from the southern shores of Hudson Bay and
Great Slave Lake south throughout most of
eastern Canada and New England and along
the Alleghanies to Tennessee; also in the Great
Lakes region, south to the southern end of
Lake Michigan; along the Rocky Mountains to
Wyoming, down the Cascades to northern Cal-
ifornia, and from the Atlantic coast of Nova
Scotia and Maine to the Pacific coast of south-
eastern Alaska and British Columbia. Tliey

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAAJAIALS

445

still occur regularly in the Adirondacks of New
York and the Green Mountains of Vermont
and in Maine, but are gone from most of the
southern border of their former range.

Fishers are powerful and agile animals,
probably for their size by far the swiftest and
most deadly of all our forest carnivores. So
swift and dextrous are they in the tree-tops
that they not only capture ■ sqtiirrels without
difficulty, but are able to overtake and kill the
marten, almost an incredible feat. When in
pursuit of their prey or wdien alarmed, they
make astonishing leaps from tree to tree.
While not so speedy on the ground as some
other animals, they have the tireless persist-
ence of their kind and capture snovvshoe hares
in fair chase.

Among the habitants of the forest the fisher
is a fearless and savage marauder, which feeds
on frogs, fish, and nearly every bird and mam-
mal its domain afTords, except species so large
that their size protects them. Porcupines are
among its favorite victims and are killed by
being turned over and attacked on their under-
parts. As a consequence of such captures, the
fisher often has many quills imbedded in its
head and the foreparts of its body.

The fisher, like many other predatory ani-
mals, has more or less regular "beats" along
which they make their rounds over the terri-
tory each occupies. These rounds commonly
require several days to accomplish. In winter
they keep mainly along wooded ridges, where
they are trapped.

It follows trap lines like the wolverine am!
eats the bait or the captured animal, but, un-
like the wolverine, appears to have no pro-
pensity for further mischief. When overtaken
by dogs or when at war with any of its forest
rivals, it is so active and ferocious that it is
worthy all due respect from antagonists several
times its size.

Although essentially a tree animal, much of
the fisher's time is spent on the ground. In
summer it appears to be fond of heavy forests
in low-lying situations and the vicinity of
water. Its dens are usually located in a hollow
high up in a large tree, but sometimes in the
shelter of fallen tree trunks or crevices in the
rocks, where, the last of April or early in May,
the young are born. These may number from
one to five, but are usually two or three. The
young begin to follow the mother in her wan-
derings when quite small and do not leave her
guardianship until nearly grown.

The fisher is not a common animal and onl>-
about 8,000 of its skins are marketed each year.
Owing to its size, it is conspicuous, and its
very fearlessness tends to jeopardize its exist-
ence. It is gone from most of the southern
part of its former range and will no doubt
continue steadily to lose ground with the in-
creasing occupation of its haunts.

OTTER (Lutra canadensis and its relatives)

Land otters arc common throughout a large
part of the Old World, and when America was

explored the animals were found generally
distributed, and sometimes common, from the
northern limit of trees in North America to
southern South America. Within this great
area a considerable number of species and geo-
graphic races of otters occur, all having a close
general resemblance in appearance and habits.

The Canadian otter is the well-known type
throughout the United States, Canada, and
Alaska. It is a slender, dusky brown animal.
from 4 to 5 feet in length, frequenting streams
and lakes which contain a good supply of fish.
Otters are too short-legged to move easily on
land, but are remarkable for their admirable
grace, agility, and swiftness in the water. Al-
though so poorly adapted to land travel, they
are restless animals, constantly moving up and
down the streams in which they live and often
crossing from one stream to another. In the
far north in midwinter they travel surprising
distances across snow-clad country, following
the banks of streams or passing between them
searching for an entrance to water, wh.ether
through the ice or in open rapids.

In Alaska I saw many otter trails in the
snow crossing the Yukon and through the ad-
jacent forest. In such journeys it was evident
that the animals progressed by a series of long
bounds, each leaving a well-marked, full-length
impression in the snow, so characteristic that
it could not be mistaken. These trails, often
leading for miles across country, always ex-
cited my deepest interest and wonder as to
how these animals could succeed in finding
holes through the ice in this vast snow-bound
waste. Nevertheless they seemed to know full
well, for the trails always appeared to be lead-
ing straight away for some known objective.

Although never very abundant, otters are so
shy and solitary in their habits that they have
managed to retain almost all of their original
range. They occur now and then in the Po-
tomac, near Washington, and in other rivers
throughout the country, where their tracks may
occasionally be detected on sand-bars and in
the muddy shallows along the banks. A s'ght
of the animals tlicmselves is rare. Their dens
are usually in the banks of streams or lakes
above or below the surface of the water, under
the roots of large trees, or beneath rocky
ledees.

Otters are extremely playful and amuse
themselves liy sliding down steep banks into
the water, repeatedly using the same place
until a smooth chute or "slide" is defined.
They usuilly have two to five yoimg, which
remain with the mother until nearly grown.

While close relatives of the weasel, they arc
much more intellisent, have a gentler disposi-
tion, and make playful and most interesting
pets. Their fur is highly prized and always
brings a good price in the market. As a re-
sult, they have been persistently hunted and
trapped since our pioneer days. That the spe-
cies should continue to exist, though in much
diminished numliers. throughout most of its
original range 's a strikin.g evidence of its re-
tiring haliits and mental acuteness.

FISHER. OR PEKAN

''*^."^M^,'-'**''**

rtfTm ^3^^

;,.. , ^i'>:^t.

446

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP

COLLARED PECCARY, OR MUSRHOG

447

448

THE NATIONAL (;ROr;RAPHIC MACxAZINE

COLLARED PECCARY, OR MUSKHOG
(Pecari angulatus)

The numerous and extraordinarily varied
species of wild pigs of the Old World are rep-
resented in America by the peccaries, a special-
ized group containing two species of small pigs
peculiar to North and -South America. One of
the many differences between them and their
Old World relatives is their having but two
young. The name muskhog, applied to them, is
based on their possession of a large gland, lo-
cated high up on the middle of the rump, which
emits a powerful odor. The musky odor from
this quickly permeates the flesh of a peccary,
unless it is cut out as soon as the animal is
killed.

The collared peccary is the smaller of the
two species, usually weighing less than 75
pounds. It ranges from the southwestern
United States south to Patagonia. Within this
range numerous geographic races have devel-
oped, varying from light grizzled gray to nearly
black. It formerly occurred within our bor-
der north to the Red River of Arkansas, but is
now limited to the southern half of Texas and
the southern parts of New Mexico and Ari-
zona.

In tropical America collared peccaries arc
found in dense forests or in low jungles, but in
northern Mexico and the southwestern United
States they are equally at home among scat-
tered t'.iickets of cactus and other thorny plants
on p'ains and in the foothills. They are strictly
gref^arious and live in bands of from a few
individuals up to thirty or more, usuaUv led by
the oldest and rrost powerful boar. They are
omnivorous, feeding on everything edible, from
roots, fruits, nuts, and ether vegetable prod-
ucts to reptiles and any other available animals.
They are specially numerous in many tropical
forests where wild figs, nut palms, and other
fruit-bearing trees provide abundant food. In
the arid ncrthern part of their range dense
thickets of cactus ard mesquite afford both
food and slielter. Their presence in a locality
is often indicated by the rooted-up soil where
they have been feeding.

Young peccaries become very tame and make
most intelligent and amusing pets. One moon-
light night m the coast of Guerrero two of
us, after a bath in the sea by a small Indian
village, strolled along the hard white sand to
enjoy the cool breeze. Suddenly a little pec-
cary, not weighing over eight or ten pounds,
came running to meet us and, after stopping at
our feet to have its head scratched, suddcnlv
circled about us, away and back again in whirl-
ing zigzags, with all the joyous frenzy of a
playful puppy. Continuing this performance,
it accompanied us for several hundred yards,
until we returned to the village.

Tales of the ferocity of bands of the collared
peccaries and of their treeing hunters who have
disturbed them read well to the novice, but
have little foundation in fact. In reality the
animals are shy and retiring and fight only
when forced to do so for self-protection. When
brought to bay by dogs or other animals, they

fight viciously, and with their sharp, knife-
edged tusks can inflict serious wounds. Their
natural enemies are mainly the jaguar in the
south and bobcats and coyotes, which prey
upon their young, in the north.

The increasing occupation of our Southwest
has already resulted in the extermination of
peccaries from most of their former range
within our border, and unless active steps are
taken to protect the survivors their days will
be few in the land. They are such unique and
harmless animals that it is hoped interest in
their behalf may be awakened in time to retain
them as a part of our wild life.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP (Ovis

canadensis and its relatives)

Wild sheep inhabit mountain ranges in both
Old and New Worlds. Northern Africa and
southern Europe have representative species,
but Asia appears to be the true home of the
group. There the greatest variety of species
is found, including such giants as Ovis poH.

In the New World they occur only in North
America, where there are two or three species,
with numerous sfeographic races. Among these
the sheep inhabiting the main Rocky Mountain
region is best known. It is a heavier animal
than its northern relatives of the Stikine coun-
try and Alaska, with larger and more mas-
sively proportioned horns. It occupies the
main range from south of Peace River and
Lake Babine, in British Columbia, to Colorado,
and possibly northern New Mexico. Closely
related geographic races occur elsewhere in the
mountains of the western United States and
northern Mexico.

The usual conception of wild sheep as hab-
itants of the cold, clear upper world at tim-
berline and above is justified in the case of
the Rocky Mountain sheep. In early spring its
one or two young are born amid these rugged
elevations, where it remains until the heavy
winter snows drive it down, sometimes through
the open timber to the foothills. Thnt wild
sheep thrive equally well under very different
conditions, however, is shown by their abun-
dance on the treeless mountains of our south-
western deserts, among cactuses, yuccas, and
other thorny vegetation, where water is ex-
tremely scarce and summer temperatures rise
high above 100° Fahrenheit in the shade.

The Rocky Mountain sheep, like other spe-
cies, appears to feed on nearly every plant
growing within its domain. In spring many
lambs are killed by bald and golden eagles, and
in winter, when driven down to lower levels by
snow, it becomes easy prey for mountain lions,
wolves, and coyotes. Owing to continuous
hunting, this sheep has disappeared from many
of its former haunts and is decreasing in most
of its ran,ge. When effective protection is un-
dertaken in time, however, as in Colorado, the
range is readily restocked.

The sure-footedness with which a band of
these sheep will dash in full flight up or down
seemingly impossible slopes, where a misstep

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

449

would mean death, is amazing. Even the old
rams, with massive sets of horns, bound from
point to point up a steep rock slope with mar-
velous grace and agility. Mountain sheep liv-
ing among the rugged summits of high ranges
possess the courage and prowess of skillful
mountaineers, so admired by all, and the mere
sight of one of these animals in its native
haunts is an adventure achieved by few.

No other big-game animal carries with it the
romantic glamour which surrounds this habit-
ant of the cold, clear upper world. Big-game
hunters prize above all others their mountain-
sheep trophies, which form vivid reminders of
glorious days amid the most inspiring sur-
roundings and evidence their supreme prowess
in the chase.

STONE MOUNTAIN SHEEP (Ovis
stonei)

Owing to its dark, iron gray color, Ovis
stonei is often called the '"black" mountain
sheep. Despite its dark color, the Stone sheep
is probably a geographic race of the pure white
Dall sheep of Alaska. It has the same slender,
gracefully coiled horns, frequently amber col-
ored and extended in a widely spread spiral.

Its range lies in northern British Columbia,
. especially about the upper Stikine River and
its tributaries ; thence it extends easterly to
Laurier Pass in the Rocky Mountains, north
of Peace River, and south perhaps to Babine
Lake. Unfortunately it appea:rs to have be-
come extinct in the southern border of its
range, so that its real relationship with the
Rocky Mountain sheep farther south may never
be determined.

The sheep occupying the mountains between
the home of typical stonei and that of dalli in
northwestern British Columbia and southeast-
ern Yukon Territory are characterized by hav-
ing white heads, with bodies of a varying shade
of iron gray, thus showing evident intergrada-
tion on a great scale between the white north-
ern sheep and the "black" sheep of the Stikine.
These intermediate animals have been called
the Fannin, or saddle-backed, sheep {Ovis fan-
nini). Hunters report a considerable mingling
of entirely white animals among flocks of these
intergrading animals, and occasionally white
individuals are seen even in flocks of the typi-
cal dark sheep of the Stikine country.

Like the white Alaskan sheep, the Stone
sheep exists in great abundance in many parts
of its range, especially east of Dease Lake. It
usually ranges in flocks, those made up of
ewes and young rams often containing a con-
siderable number. The old bucks, except in
fall, keep by themselves in smaller bands in
separate parts of the range. The Stone sheep
lives in one oi the most notable big-game fields
of the continent. Its home above timberline
is shared with the mountain goat and in the
lower open slopes with the caribou, while within
the adjacent forests wander the moose and two
or more species of bear.

Owing to its frequenting remote and sparsely

inhabited country, it continues to exist in large
numbers; but if its range becomes more ac-
cessible, only the most stringent protection can
save this splendid animal from the extermina-
tion already accomplished on the southern bor-
der of its range.

DALL MOUNTAIN SHEEP (Ovis dalli)

The only variation in the pure white coat of
the Dall sheep is a mixture of a few black
hairs on the rump, sometimes becoming plen-
tiful enough to form a blackish spot on the
tail and a light brownish stain over the entire
body, due to the slight discoloration at the
tips of the hairs from contact with the earth
in their bedding-down places. Their horns are
usually dull amber yellow and are notable for
their slender proportions and the grace of their
sweeping coils, which sometimes curve close to
the head and again spread in a wide, open
spiral.

As their white coats indicate, the Dall slieep
are the northernmost of their kind in America.
Their home lies mainly in Alaska, where they
were formerly abundant in many mountain
ranges, from those bordering the Arctic coast
south through the interior to the cliffs on Ke-
nai Peninsula, but are now scarce or gone
from some mountains. To the eastward they
are numerous across the border in much of
Yukon territory, nearly to the Mackenzie
River. Their haunts lie amid a wilderness of
peaks and ridges, marked in summer with scat-
tered glaciers and banks of perpetual snow and
in winter exposed to all the rigors of a severe
Arctic climate. They are extraordinarily nu-
merous in some districts, as among the outly-
ing ranges about the base of Mount McKinley.

In their high, bleak homes these sheep have
little to fear from natural enemies, although
the great Canada lynx, the wolf, the wolverine,
and the golden eagle, as overlords of the
range, take occasional toll from their numbers.
Their one devastating enemy is man, with his
modern high-power rifle. Even so long ago as
the summer of 1881, I saw hundreds of their
skins among the Eskimos at Point Bnrrow,
taken that spring with the use of Winchester
rifles among the mountains lying inlai'd from
the Arctic coast. Of late years the advent of
miners and the establishment of mining camps
and towns have greatly increased the demand
for meat, and this has resulted in the kil'ing
of thousands of these sheep. Large numbers
of these splendid animals have also been killed
to serve as winter dog food.

The advent of thousands of men engaged in
the construction of the government rai'road
which, when completed, will pass through the
Mount McKinley region, makes innninent the
danger of extermination that threatens the
mountain sheep, as well as the moose and cari-
bou, in a great area of the finest big-game
country left under our control.

Properly conserved, the game animals of
Alaska will continue indefinitely as one of its
richest resources, but heedless wastefulness
may destroy them forever. All sportsmen and

;T0NE S, FANNIN S, AND DAI.I.'S MOUNTAIN SHEEP

450

.w^"^;

PRONG-HORN ANTELOl'E

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT

451

462

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

other lovers of wild life should interest them-
selves in an effort to safeguard the future of
Alaskan game animals before it is too late;
for, under the severe climatic conditions pre-
vailing, the restocking of exhausted game fields
in that region will be extremely difficult, if not
practically mipossibie.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT (Oreamnos
monianus and its subspecies)

The numerous wild goats of the Himalayas
and other mountains of Asia are represented
in America solely by the Rocky Mountain goat.
This is one of the most characteristic, but least
graceful in form and action, of our big-game
animals. It is distinguished by a long ungainly
head, ornamented with small black horns ; a
heavy body, humped at the shoulders like a
buffalo, and a coat of long shaggy white hair.

The range of these habitants of the cliffs ex-
tends from the head of Cook Inlet, Alaska,
easterly and southerly through the mountains
to Montana and Washington. Unlike moun-
tain sheep, the goats do not appear to dislike
the fogs and saline winds from the sea, and
at various points along the coast of British
Columbia and Alaska they range down pre-
cipitous slopes nearly to the shore.

They are much more closely confined to
rugged slopes and rocky ledges than the moun-
tain sheep, which in winter commonly descend
through the foothills to the border of the
plains. Through summer and winter, goats
find sufficient food in the scanty vegetation
growing among the rocks, and their heavy coats
of hair protect them from the fiercest winter
storms.

Owing to their small horns and unpalatable
flesh they are less sought after by hunters
than mountain sheep, and thus continue to ex-
ist in many accessible places where otherwise
they would long since have become extermi-
nated. They are frequently visible on the high
ledges of a mountain across the bay from the
city of Vancouver and are not difficult to find
in many other coastal localities.

Although marvelously surefooted and fear-
less in traversing the faces of high precipitous
slopes, goats lack the springy grace and vivac-
ity of mountain sheep and move with compara-
tive deliberation. They are reputed to show at
times a stupid obstinacy when encountered on
a narrow ledge, even to the point of disputing
the right of way with the hunter.

Their presence lends interest to many other-
wise grim and forbidding ranges where, amid
a wilderness of glacier-carved escarpments,
thev endure the winter gales which for days at
a time roar about their cliffs and send snow
banners streaming from the jagged summits
overhead.

Owing to tlie character of their haunts,
mountain goats have few natural enemies.
The golden and bald eagles now and then take
toll among their kids, but the lynx and moun-
tain lion, their four-footed foes, are not known
to prey upon them to any considerable extent.

Through overhunting they have vanished from
some of their former haunts, but still hold
their own in many places, and with effective
protection will long continue to occupy their
peculiar place in our fauna.

PRONG-HORN ANTELOPE (Antilocapra
americana and its geographic races)

Unique among the antelope of the world,
among which it has no near relatives, the
prong-horn, because of its beauty of colora-
tion, its grace, and fleetness, claims the atten-
tion of sportsmen and nature lovers alike. It
is a smaller and slenderer animal than the
larger forms of the Virginia deer. Its hair is
coarse and brittle, and the spongy skin lacks
the tough fiber needed to make good buckskin.
Both sexes have horns, those of the doe being
smaller and slenderer. One of the extraordi-
nary peculiarities of this antelope is its habit
of shedding the horns every fall and the de-
veloping new horns over the remaining bony
core.

The rump patch of the prong-horn is formed
of long pure white hairs, which in moments of
excitement or alarm are raised on end to form
two great chrysanthemum-like white rosettes
that produce an astonishingly conspicuous di-
rective color mark. The power to raise these
hairs is exercised by the fawns when only a
few days old. Even when the hairs are not
erected the rump patch is conspicuous as a
flashing white signal to a distance of from
one to two miles as the antelope gallops away.
When the animal whose rump signal has been
plainly visible at a distance suddenly halts and
faces about to look back, as is a common cus-
tom, its general color blends with that of the
background and it vanishes from sight as by
magic.

Early explorers discovered antelope in great
abundance over a vast territory extending from
near the present location of Edmonton, Al-
berta, south to near the Valley of Mexico, and
from central Towa west to the Pacific coast in
California. They were specially numerous on
the limitless plains of the "Great American
Desert," where our pioneers found them in
great bands, containing thousands, among the
vast herds of buffalo. So abundant were they
that it has been estimated that on the Great
Plains they equaled the buffalo in numbers.
Now reduced to a pitiful remnant of their for-
mer numbers, they exist only in widely scat-
tered areas, where they are constantly decreas-
ing. Fortunately they are strictly protected by
law in most of their remaining territory.

The great herds containing thousands of
antelope were usually formed late in fall and
remained together throughout the winter, sep-
arating into numerous smaller parties during
the summer. For years following the comple-
tion of the transcontinental railroads they were
commonlv seen from the car windows as trains
crossed the Great Plains. At such times their
bright colors and graceful evolutions, as they
swept here and there in erratic flight or

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

453

wheeled in curiosity to gaze at the passing
train, never failed to excite the deepest interest.

In early days prong-horns were noted for
their curiosity and were frequently lured within
gun-shot by waving a red flag or by other de-
vices. I have repeatedly seen them circle or
race a team, or a horseman, crossing their
range. In racing a horseman traveling along
an open road or trail they gradually draw
nearer until finally every member of the band
dashes madly by only a few yards in front and
then straight away across the plains in full
flight.

The prong-horns appear to possess a highly
nervous temperament, which requires for their
welfare the wide free sweep of the open plains.
They do not thrive and increase in inclosures.
even in large game preserves, as do deer, elk,
and buff'alo. For this reason, it will require
the greatest care to protect and foster these
attractive members of our fauna to save them
from soon being numbered among the many
wild species whicli have been destroyed by the
coming of civilized man.

WAPITI, OR AMERICAN ELK (Cervus
canadensis and its relatives)

By a curious transposition of names the
early settlers applied to the American wapiti
the term elk, wiiich belongs to the European
representative of our moose. Our elk is a
close relative of the European stag. It is the
handsomest and, next to liie moose, the largest
member of the deer family in America. The
old bulls, weighing more than 800 pounds, bear
superb widely branched antlers, which give
them a picturesque and noble mien. This is
the only American deer which has a well-
marked light rump-patch. Tiie young, num-
bering from one to three, are white spotted,
like the fawns of other deer.

Originally the elk was the most wide ranging
of our hoofed game animals. It occupied all
the continent from nortli of Peace River, Can-
ada, south to southern New Mexico, and from
central Massachusetts and North Carolina to
the Pacific coast of California. Like the buf-
falo, it appeared to be equally at home in the
forested region east of the Mississippi River
and on the open plains flanking the Rocky
Mountains. Its range also extended from sea-
level to above timberline on lofty mountain
ranges.

Exterminated throughout most of their orig-
inal range, elk still occupy some of their early
haunts in western Canada, Montana, Wyo-
ming, Colorado, and the Pacific Coast States.
The last elk was killed in Pennsylvania about
60 years ago, and in Michigan and Minnesota
some 20 years later. The main body of the
survivors are now in the Yellowstone Park
region. Tlieir size and the readiness with
which they thrive in captivity has led to serious
consideration of elk farming as an industry.

In the West, before the settlement of their
range crowded the elk back, large numbers
lived throughout the year on the plains and
among the foothills. They have now become
mountain animals, spending the spring and

summer largely in the timberline forests and
alpine meadows, where many bands linger until
the heavy snows of early winter force them
down to the foothills and valleys. During the
last days of^ their abundance in the Rocky
Mountains winter herds numbering thousands
gathered in Estes Park and other foothill
valleys.

Elk are the most polygamous of all our deer,
each bull gathering a small herd of cows dur-
ing the fall. At the beginning of the mating
season the bulls wander widely through the
high forest glades, their musical bugling pierc-
ing the silence with some of the most stirring
notes of the wilderness. Amid the w-ild gran-
deur of these remote mountain fastnesses the
appearance of a full-antlered buck on the sky-
line of some bare ridge presents a noble pic-
ture of wild life.

There are probably over 40,000 elk still left
in the United States, and of these more than
30,000 are located in Wyoming, mainly in and
about Yellowstone National Park.

During the last few years great interest has
been shown in the reintroduction of elk in
parts of their former range, where they had
been exterminated and where conditions are
still suitable for their perpetuation. Such ef-
forts are meeting with much success. Not
only do tiie animals thrive and increase rapidly,
but local sentiment is almost unanimous in
their favor. This is well shown by the active
interest taken by both cattle and sheep owners
in northern Arizona in regard to a band of elk
introduced a few years ago on their mountain
stock ranges. The stockmen exercise a virtual
wardenship over these animals that insures
them against molestation, and the herd is rap-
idly increasing.

As against this, we have the despicable work
of poachers, who are shooting elk for their
two canine teeth and leaving the body to the
coyotes. Information has been received that
more than 500 elk were ruthlessly slaughtered
for this purpose about the border of Yellow-
stone National Park during the winter of
1915-1916.

MULE DEER (Odocoileus hemionus and

its subspecies)

Mule deer are larger than the common white-
tails, with a heavier, stockier form. Their
strongest characteristics lie in the large doubly
branching antlers, large broad ears, and
rounded whitish tail with a brusblike black
tip. Their common name in this country and
the name "venado burro" in ]\Iexico are de-
rived from the great, donkeylike ears. Their
antlers vary much in size, but in some exam-
ples are almost intermediate between those of
the white-tail and of the elk. Antlers of the
mule deer and of the black-tail agree in hav-
ing the tines all pronged, in contrast with the
single spikes of the white-tails. In summer
these deer have a rich, rusty red coat which is
exchanged in winter for one of grayish brown.

The range of mule deer extends from north-
ern Alberta, Manitoba, and western Iowa to
the State of San Luis Potosi, on the Mexican

WAPITI, OR AMERICAN KI.K

454

MUI.E DEEK

BLACK-TAII.EI) DEER

455

456

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

table-land, and west to Lower California and
the coast of California. Within these limits
they inhabit different types of country, from
the deciduous forests along streams on the
eastern border of the Great Plains to the open
pine forests of the high western mountains, the
chaparral-covered hillsides of southern Cali-
fornia, and the thickets of mesquites, acacias,
and cactuses on the hot and arid plains of
Sonora. Several geographic races of this deer
have resulted from these varied conditions.

In spring in the Rocky Mountains the does
leave the bands with which they have passed
the winter and seek undisturbed retreats among
forest glades or along scantily wooded slopes
of canyons, where they have two or three hand-
somely spotted fawns with which they remain
apnrt throughout the summer.

The bucks usually keep by themselves during
the summer, in parties rarely exceeding ten. As
their horns lose the velvet and the mating sea-
son draws near, the old bucks gather in bands
of from six to ten.

At this time they are in perfect physical con-
diticn, and a br^nd of them in the open forest,
their ant'.ers held proudly aloft and their glossy
coats sl-ining in the srn, presents a superb pic-
ture. They have little of the protective cau-
tion so characteristic of the white-tails, and
when a shot is fired at a bard they often begin
a series of extraordinary 'buck jumps," bound-
ing high in the air, facing this way and that,
sometimes nr.t taking fight until after several
additional shots have been fired. These high,
bounding leaps are characteristic of rnule deer
and are commonly made when the animals are
suddenly alarmed ard often when they are in
full flight throurh brushy thickets.

After the mating season, bucks and does join
in bands, sometimes of fifteen or twenty, and
descend to the foothills and sometimes even to
the adjacent plains. Their preference, how-
ever, is for rough and broken country, such as
that cf cnnyon-cut mountains or the deeply
scored badlands of the upper Missouri River.
These deer are not good runners in the open.
On several occasions, on level country in Ari-
zona, I have ridden after and readily_ overtaken
parties of them within a mile, their heaving
flanks and open mouths showing their distress.
The moment rough country was reached, how-
ever, with amazing celerity a series of mighty
leaps carried them away from me over decliv-
ities impossible for a horse.

The sight of a party cf these splendid deer
bounding away through the aisles of a moun-
tain forest always quickens one's pulse and
gives the finishing touch of wildness to the
scene. Mule deer are characteristic animals of
the beautiful open forests and forest parks of
the Rocky Mountains and the high Sierras,
where they may be perpetuated if given rea-
sonable protection.

BLACK-TAILED DEER (Odpcoileus
columbianus and its subspecies)

In general appearance the black-tails have a
close resemblance to the mule deer, but average

smaller. They have the same large ears,
forked tines to the antlers, and rather "stocky"
body; but the brushy all-black tail distinguishes
them from any other American deer. In color
they have much the same shade of brown as
the Virginia deer. They have the usual cycle
of annual changes common to most American
deer — assuming a dull coat in fall and losing
their horns in winter, followed by the resump-
tion of a brighter coat in spring and the re-
newal of their horns in summer.

The black-tails have one of the most re-
stricted ranges among our deer. They are
limited to the humid heavily forested belt along
the Pacific coast from Juneau, Alaska, south-
ward to the Coast range in central California.
This coastal belt is characterized by superb
growths of cedars, spruces, and firs in the
north and by redwoods and firs in the south,
uniting to make one of the most magnificent
forest areas in the world. Here the deer live
in the midst of rank undergrowths of gigantic
ferns and other vegetation, as luxuriant in
many places as that of the humid tropics.

Their home on the abruptly rising slopes of
the islands in the Alaskan Archipelago is so
restricted that both in summer and winter they
fall an easy prey to native and white hunters.
It has been reported that there has been much
wasteful killing of the deer on these islands
for commercial purposes. When the heavy
snows of winter on the islands force the deer
down to the shore, great numbers of them are
also killed by wolves.

Black-tails commonly have two or three
young, and this fecundity, combined with the
effective protection given by the dense forest
where many of them live, will aid in their per-
petuation. At the same time they have not
developed the mental alertness of the Virginia
deer, and there is imminent need for prompt
and effective action in safeguarding the deer
in the Alaskan part of their range if their
extermination on some of the islands is to be
prevented. In this northern region the black-
tnils share their range with strange tribes of
coastal Indians, whose huge sea-going canoes,
totem poles, and artistic carvings are unique
among native Americans.

VIRGINIA, OR WHITE-TAILED, DEER

(Odocoileus virginianus and its sub-
species)

The aptness of the name "white-tail" for the
Virginia deer is obvious to any one who has
startled one in the forest and seen it dash away
with the tail upright and flashing vivid white
signals at every leap. The ad\ilts have two
strongly contrasted coats each year: brownish
gray in winter and rusty red in summer. The
fawns, usuallv two in number, are dull rusty
brown, marked with a series of large white
spots, which remain until the gray winter coat
is assumed in the fall. Large bucks sometimes
attain a weight of more than 300 pounds.

The white-tad is the well-knnwn deer of all
the forest areas in eastern North America.
With its close relatives, it ranges from north-

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

457

ern Ontario to Florida and from the Atlantic
coast to the Great Plains; also in the Rocky
Mountains south to New Mexico, and in the
Cascades and Sierra Nevada to northern Cali-
fornia.

The supreme importance of this deer to the
early settlers of the Eastern States is made
plain in all the literature covering the occupa-
tion of that region. Its flesh was one of the
most reliable staples in the food supply, and
not infrequently was the only resource against
starvation. In addition, the tanned skins served
for clothing and the sinews for thread. Many
of the most striking and romantic characters
in our early history appear clad in buckskin,
from fringed hunting shirt to beaded mocca-
sins.

As no other American game animal equaled
the white-tail in economic value to the settlers,
so even to-day it remains the greatest game
asset in many of the Eastern States. Partly
through protective laws and partly through its
acute intelligence and adaptability, the Virginia
deer continues to hold its own in suitable
woodland areas throughout most of its former
range, and in recent years has pushed hundreds
of miles northward into new territory in On-
tario and Quebec.

Even in the oldest and most densely popu-
lated States, as New York and Massachusetts,
white-tails still exist in surprising numbers.
Over 7,000 were killed during the hunting sea-
son of 1915 in Maine, and an average of about
2,800 are killed yearly in Vermont. The great
recreational value of the white-tail to a host of
sportsmen is obvious. To the growing multi-
tude of nature lovers the knowledge that a
forest is inhabited by deer immediately endows
it with a delightful and mysterious charm.

In summer wliite-tails are usually solitary or
wander through the forest in parties of two
or three. In winter, where the snowfall is
heavy, they gather in parties, sometimes of
considerable size, in dense deciduous growth,
where food is plentiful. There they remain
throughout the season, forming a "yard" by
keeping a network of hard-beaten paths open
through the snow in order to reach the browse
afforded by the bushes and trees.

Ordinarily Virginia deer are shy and elusive
habitants of dense forests, where they evade
the unpracticed intruder like noiseless shadows.
Where they are strictly protected for a period
of years under State laws, they become sur-
prisingly confident and often damage young
orchards and crops on farms near their haunts.
Several States pay for the damage thus done.
Happily this attractive species thrives so well
under protective laws that its continued future
in our forests appears to be assured.

ARIZONA WHITE-TAILED DEER
(Odocoileus couesi)

The Arizona white-tails are slight and grace-
ful animals, like pigmy Virginia deer, so small
that hunters often ride into camp with a full-
grown buck tied back of the saddle. They have

two seasonal pelages — gray in winter and more
rusty brown in summer. The antlers, very
small, but in form similar to those of the Vir-
ginia deer, are shed in winter and renewed be-
fore the end of summer.

These handsome little deer, the smallest of
our white-tails, are common in many of the
wooded mountains of middle and southern
Arizona, southern New Mexico, western Texas,
and in the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua and
Sonora, Mexico. By a curious coincidence this
area was the ancient home of the Apache In-
dians and has had one of the most tragic his-
tories of our western frontier.

During summer and early fall in the higher
ranges small bands of Arizona white-tails oc-
cupy the lower parts of the yellow-pine forests,
between 6,000 and 9,000 feet altitude, where
they frequent thickets of small deciduous
growth about the heads of canyons and
gulches. As winter approaches and heavy
snowstorms begin, they descend to warm can-
yon slopes to pass the season among an abun-
dant growth of pinyons, junipers, oaks, and a
variety of brushwood.

In the White Mountains of Arizona, between
the years 18S3 ^nd i8go, when wild hfe was
more abundant than at present, I often saw,
on their wintering grounds, large herds of
these graceful deer, numbering from 20 to
more than lOO individuals. Such gatherings
presented the most interesting and exciting
sight, whether the animals were feeding in un-
conscious security or streaming in full flight
along the numberless little trails that lined the
steep slopes. Where these deer live on the
more barren and brush-grown tops of some of
the desert mountains in southwestern Arizona
and Sonora, the snowfall is so li'rht that their
summer and winter range is practically the
same.

Although far more gregarious than our other
white-tails, the herds of Arizona deer break
up in early spring. At this time one or two
fawns are born, amid early flowers in the
charming vistas of the open forest. Very
young fawns are hidden in rank vegetation
and sometimes left temporarily by their moth-
ers. If a horseman chances by the fawns may
rise and follow innocently at the horse's heels.
On such occasions I have had difficulty in driv-
ing them back to prevent their becoming lost.

In the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua one sum-
mer I found these little white-tails occupying
"forms," like rabbits, located in the sheltering
matted tops of fallen pine trees which had been
overthrown by spring storms. In these shel-
ters they rested during the middle of the day,
secure from the wolves and mountain lions
which prowled about the canyon slopes in
search of prey.

With the growing occupation of their terri-
tory by cattle and sheep and the increase in the
number of hmiters, these once abundant deer
are rapidly diminishino-. It is high time more
careful measures he taken for their conserva-
tion, else extermination awaits them through-
out most of their original haunts.

VIRGINIA. OR VVHITE-TAIl-ED, DEER

ARIZONA \\ HriK lAlLED UEER

458

W ()(i|>l W I

459

460

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

WOODLAND CARIBOU (Rangifer cari-
bou and its subspecies)

The caribou lacks the symmetry and grace
of the true deer. Its large head topped with
irregular antlers, heavy body, and thick, sturdy
legs, ending in large, broad-spreading hoofs,
produce a distmctly ungainly animal. It is the
only member of the deer family in which both
sexes have antlers, those of the female being
smaller and slenderer than those of the male.
It varies in size in different parts of its range,
hut large old bulls usually weigh from 300 to
400 pounds. A single calf is the rule, but oc-
casionally there are two.

The woodland caribou, the southern repre-
sentative of the barren ground caribou, in-
habits almost the same northern forest of
spruce, tamarack, birch, and alder as those
sheltering the moose. It ranges from the
northern border of the forests in Alaska and
Canr.da south to Maine, northern Minnesota,
northern Idaho, and British Columbia. It is
far less gregarious than the barren ground
caribou, during summer only small parties of
cows, calves, and partly grown young keeping
together, while the bulls are solitary or in still
srnaller separate parties. In winter all unite in
larrer herds.

The curiotisly ungraceful appearance of the
caribou, so different from other deer, gives it
a strong individuality, which seems to belong
with its remote haunts in the wilderness. This
great animal has an added appeal to our in-
terest, owing to its close relationship to that
other woodland caribou which was such an im-
portant resource to the cave-men of France
and other parts of Europe, as shown by bone
and horn implements, carvings, and other rec-
ords discovered in their homes.

During summer and fall in eastern Canada,
where this caribou is distributed through mucli
f)f the wilder forests, it has a habit of coming
out of the woods to sun itself and bathe on
the borders of shallow lakes. Here the old
bulls wallow in the water, and on rising shake
themselves like a dog, filling the air wifh a
Irilo of sparkling water drons. In such places
the bulls frequently stand basking in the sun
for hours. To a canoeman gliding silently
around a jutting point, this rugged habitant of
the wilds, discovered across the shining waters,
standing outlined against the dark green for-
est, represents a wonderfully picturesque sight.
When alarmed at such times the caribou dashes
shoreward through the water amid clouds of
flying spray struck up by its broad feet and
vanishes in the sheltering forest, accompanied
by a loud crashing of dry branches.

The woodland cnribou is neither so swift nor
so astute in avoiding dano-er as the Virginia
deer or the moose. It falls an easy prey to
hunters and to wolves, and when not pronerly
safeguarded is readily exterminated. This is
shown bv its complete d'sannearance from the
Adirondacks. in northern New York, and by
its threa^^ened disappearance from the forests
of Maine, Minnesota, and Idaho; in fnct, the
woodland caribou is in more imminent dangc"

of complete and early extermination within the
United States than any other game animal and
can be sa\'ed onh- by stringent laws and care-
ful guardianship.

BARREN GROUND CARIBOU (Rangifer

arcticus and its subspecies) (see
illustration, page 422)

The typical barren ground caribou is smaller
and paler colored than the woodland species.
Several geographic races have been distin-
guished, among which the most notable is the
Peary caribou, the palest of all and the subject
of the accompanying drawing. Like other
members of the group, this species is a heavily
built animal, with thick legs and large feet.

The barren grotind caribou is characteristic
of the desolate Arctic barrens and tundras be-
yond the limit of trees, ranging to the north-
ernmost limit of land beyond 83 degrees of
latitude. When explorers first visited these
northern wilds, including the treeless coastal
belt from the Peninsula of Alaska to Bering
Straits, they found these animals almost every-
where in extraordinary abundance. Over great
areas of this territory straggling herds of cari-
bou, sometimes numbering hundreds of thou-
sands, drifted with the season from one feed-
ing ground to another.

The advent of white men with guns has re-
sulted in their rapid decrease everywhere and
in their extermination over great areas. In
many of their old haunts the only trace of
their former abundance is in well-marked trails
winding by easy grades to the bare tops of the
low mountains. They are still ntimerous on
the Peninsula of Alaska and in much greater
numbers in parts of the barren grounds of
Canada. There, on the shores of Artillery
Lake, during the summer of 1907 a small mi-
grating herd of about 2,000 was seen.

When alarmed these caribou often break into
a clumsy gallop, which soon changes to a
steady shambling trot, their characteristic gait,
carrying them rapidly across country. In win-
ter their tracks in the snow show that their
feet, instead of being raised high at each step,
like those of a Virginia or mule deer, drag
through the snow like those of domestic cattle.
Their large, broad-spreading hoofs, with sharp,
cup-shaped edges, are admirably adapted to
secure a firm footing in the yielding and hum-
mocky surface of their haunts in summer and
on the snow and ice in winter.

The barren ground caribou, living under se-
vere climatic conditions, has developed an ex-
traordinary method of storing up fat to carry
it through winter stresses. Early in fall a layer
of pure tallow, called "backfat," is formed over
the entire top of the ba'-k from between the
shoulders to the rump. This is a solid slab of
tallow lying between the superficial ninsHes
and the skin. It is almost as thin as a knife-
blade at the shoulders, but thickens gradually
to a denth of from 4 to 6 inches at the rump.
This slab nf tallow is gradually absorbed dur-
ing the winter and has totallv d'sapneared by
spring. In early winter the "backfat" is easily

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

461

removed and transported in its original form.
It is highly prized for food and as an article
of trade among the Eskimo and Indian hun-
ters, and figures as one of the chief delicacies
at their winter feasts.

The Peary caribou lives in Ellesmere, Grin-
nell, and other of the northernmost Arctic
lands to beyond 83 degrees of north latitude,
where in places it is common. It appears to
thrive on moss, lichens, and other dwarf and
scanty Arctic vegetation, and holds its own
against the depredations of packs of the white
Arctic wolves. In these northern wilds, amid
the most intense cold, the caribou passes from
three to five months of continuous night, its
wanderings lighted only by the moon, stars,
and the marvelous displays of weaving northern
lights.

Tame reindeer, which are kept by the people
of the Arctic border of the Old World from
Lapland to Bering Straits, are domesticated
descendants of the barren ground caribou of
that region. They are used by their owners to
pack burdens and haul sledges as well as to
supply them with food and clotliing. These
animals have been successfully introduced in
Alaska, and both natives and white men are
developing this new and promising stock in-
dustry. The herds of tame reindeer are ex-
tremely gentle and easily handled. Their pro-
genitors were like other wild caribou — of a dull
and nearly tmiform color — but domestication
has resulted, as with cattle, in producing end-
less color variations, from white to black, with
every imaginable piebald variation.

The changed conditions of life in Alaska,
due to the recent development of that terri-
tory, have seriously affected the welfare of the
natives. Fortunately the introduction of rein-
deer herds appears to open a promising future
for both Eskimos and Indians.

MOOSE (Alces americanus and its sub-
species)

The American moose is a large cousin of the
elk of the northern forests of Europe and Si-
beria. The Old World animal is characterized
not only bv its smaller size, but also by smaller
antlers. The moose is a large, grotesquely
formed animal, with the most impressive in-
dividuality of any of our large game. Its great
head, with oddly formed nose, huge palmated
antlers, pendulous bell under the neck, short
body, and disproportionately long legs unite to
lend the impression that it may be a strange
survivor from some remote geologic period.

The moose inhabits our northern forests,
where it wanders among thickets of spruce,
tamarack, birch, aspen, and alder, from the
mouth of the Yukon and the lower Mackenzie
southward to Maine, northern Minnesota, and
down the Rocky Mountains to Wyoming. It
varies in size in different parts of its range.
The bulls of the Kenai Peninsula and adjacent
region in Alaska are the largest of their kind
in the world, sometimes weighing more than
1,400 pounds. The enormous antlers of these
great northern beasts attain a spread of more

than six feet and make the most impressive
trophy the big-game hunter can secure in
America.

Although taller than an ordinary horse,
weighing more than half a ton, and adorned
with wide-spreading antlers, the bull moose
stalks with ghostly silence through thickset
forests, where man can scarcely move without
being betrayed by the loud crackling of dry
twigs. Ir summer it loves low-lying, swampy
forests interspersed with shallow lakes and
sluggish streams. In such places it often wades
up to its neck in a lake to feed on succulent
water plants, and when reaching to the bottom
becomes entirely submerged. These visits to
the water are sometimes by day, but usually be-
night, especially during the season when the
calves are young and the horns of the bulls
are but partly grown.

Late in the fall, with full-grown antlers, the
bulls wander through the forest looking for
their mates, at times uttering far-reaching calls
of defiance to all rivals, and occasionally clash-
ing their horns against the saplings in exuber-
ance of masterful vigor. Other bulls at times
accept the challenge and hasten . to meet the
rival for a battle royal. At this season the
call of the cow moose also brings the nearest
bulls quickly to her side. Hunters take advan-
tage of this, and by imitating the call through
a birch-bark trumpet bring the most aggressive
bulls to their doom.

Ordinarily moose are extremely shy, but dur-
ing the mating season the males become so bold
that when encountered at close range they have
been known furiously to charge a hunter. They
strike vicious blows with their front feet, as
well as with their heavy antlers, and make dan-
gerous foes for man or beast.

Moose have disappeared from the Adiron-
dacks and have become scarce in many districts
where once plentiful. Through wise protec-
tion they are still numerous abort the head of
Yellowstone Lake, and are still among the
available game animals of Maine and the east-
ern provinces of Canada. Indeed, during the
last few years they have steadily extended
their range in northern Ontario and British
Columbia. They occupy great areas of little-
visited wilderness, which are becoming more
and more accessible; as a result the future ex-
istence of these superb animals depends upon
their receiving proper protection.

AMERICAN BISON (Bison bison and its
subspecies)

The American bison, or buffalo, is a close
relative of the larger bison which once inhab-
ited Europe and survives in limited numbers in
certain game preserves of Poland and the Cau-
casus. The size, dark shaggy coat, great head,
and high arched shoulders of our bison give
them a unique individuality among American
big game. They once roamed in vast numbers
over a broad territory, extending from Great
Slave Lake, Canada, south to southern New
Mexico, and from Pennsylvania and eastern
Georgia to Arizona and northern Nevada. It

462

•^

AMERICAN BISON, OR BUFFALO

463

464

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

is thus evident that they were at home in the
forested country east of the Mississippi River,
as well as on the treeless plains of the West.
In the northern part of their range they are
larger and darker than elsewhere and form a
local geographic race called the wood buffalo.
Originally buffalo were enormously abundant
in America, and it has been variously estimated
that when the continent was first discovered
their numbers were from 30,000,000 to 60,000,-
000. With the settlement of eastern America,
they gradually retreated across the Mississippi
River, but continued to exist in great but rap-
idly diminishing numbers on the Great Plains
up to within the last fifty years.

The crossing of their range by the first trans-
continental railroad quickly brought the re-
maining herds to an end. In 1870 there were
still about 5,500,000 head on the plains, but
these were so wastefully slaughtered for their
hides that in 1895 only about 800 remained.
The depletion of the herds was so startling
that sportsmen and nature lovers awoke to the
danger of the immediate extermination of
these splendid animals; the American Bison
Society was organized and the surviving buf-
falo were saved.

Although the bison usually has but a single
calf a year, these are so hardy and do so well
in fenced preserves, and even in the closer con-
finement of small parks, that their number has
now increased to approximately 4,000, about
equally divided between the United States and
Canada. In the district south of Artillery
Lake, northern Canada, a few hundred indi-
viduals, remnants of the wild stock of that re-
gion, survive and are increasing under the wise
protection of the Canadian Government. The
only other herd still existing on its original
ground is that in Yellowstone National Park.
Experiments have been made in crossing
buffalo with certain breeds of domestic cattle
for the purpose of establishing a new and
hardier variety of stock for the Western
ranges. These have not proved successful,
largely owing to the lack of fertility in the hy-
brid, which has been called the "cattalo."

Under primitive conditions, buffalo herds
numbering millions of animals regularly mi-
grated in spring and fall from one feeding
ground to another, often traveling hundreds of
miles for this purpose. The herds followed
the same routes year after year and made last-
ing trails, often from two to three feet in
depth. Investigation has shown that many of
our highways, and even some of our main rail-
way lines, seeking the most convenient grades,
follow trails laid down by these early path-
finders. When a great migrating herd was
stampeded, the thunder of its countless hoofs
shook the earth, and in its flight it rushed like
a huge black torrent over the landscape.

The buffalo was the most important game
animal to the Indians over a great area. Sev-
eral tribes were mainly denendent upon these
animals for food and clothing and the entire
tribal economy was built about them. The
mode of life, customs, and folk-lore of the In-
dians all centered about these animals. Their

clothing and tepee covers were made of the
skins. The tanned skins also served as indi-
vidual and tribal records of the warrior-hunt-
ers, the chronicles being drawn in picture-
writing on the smooth surfaces. The passing
of the buffalo on the free sweep of the west-
ern plains ended forever one of the most pic-
turesque phases of aboriginal life in America.

MUSK-OX (Ovibos moschatus and its sub-
species)

The musk-ox is one of the unique and most
interesting of American game animals. In
general appearance it suggests a small, odd
kind of buffalo, and is, in fact, related to both
cattle and sheep. It is a heavily built, round-
bodied animal, with short, strong legs and long
fringelike hair which hangs so low on the
sides that it sometimes trails on the snow. The
horns — broad, flat, and massive at the base —
curve down and out to a sharp point on each
side of the head and form very effective weap-
ons for defense.

Fossil remains prove that musk-oxen lived
in northern Europe and Asia during Pleisto-
cene times, but they have long been confined
to Arctic America. Up to within a century
they have occupied nearly all of the cheerless
wilds north of the limit of trees, from the coast
of northern Alaska to that of east Greenland.
They appear to have become extinct in nortli-
ern Alaska within the last 75 years, and then-
present range east of the Mackenzie River is
becoming more and more restricted.

They are now limited to that part of the
barren grounds of Canada lying north and
northwest of Hudson Bay and from the Arctic
islands northward and eastward to the north-
ern coast of Greenland. Their range extends to
beyond 83 degrees of latitude and covers some
of the bleakest and most inhospitable lands of
the globe. There a short summer, with weeks of
continuous sunshine, permits the growth of a
dwarfed and scanty Arctic vegetation; but win-
ter brings a long period of night, continuous, in
the northernmost parts, through several months.

Under such rigorous conditions musk-oxen
thrive unless hunted by civilized man. _ They
are strongly gregarious, usually traveling in
herds of from six to twenty, but herds con-
taining about 100 have been recorded. Their
eyesight is not strong, but their sense of smell
is good, and when danger is suspected they
dash away with great celerity for such heavily
formed animals. If rocky ground is near, they
seek refuge in it and ascend steep, broken
slopes with astonishing agility.

Wiien brought to bay, the herd forms a circle
about the calves and, with heads out, presents
to the enemy an unbroken front of sharp horns.
vSo long as the circle remains unbroken such a
defense is extremely effective against _ both
dogs and wolves. The only natural enemies of
musk-oxen are wolves, and against these and
the primitive weapons of the Eskimos they hold
their own very well.

When the Greelv Expedition landed at Lady
Franklin Bav in i88r, musk-oxen were encoun-

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

465

tered and killed practically on the site where
winter quarters were established. Since then
several exploring and hunting parties have
taken heavy toll from the herds of that region.
Some accounts of the wholesale killings do not
make pleasant reading for one who desires the
perpetuation of our native species. Fortu-
nately for the musk-oxen, the adventurers of
these northern quests are few and far between,
so that on departing they leave the game ani-
mals in their vast solitudes to recuperate from
these onslaughts.

Musk-oxen have but a single young, so that
between depredations of wolves and overkill-
ing by white and native hunters these animals
face the very real danger of extermination
threatening so many other game animals in the
far North. For this reason, it is hoped that
sportsmen who visit these remote game fields
will restrain a desire for making large bags.

FLORIDA MANATI (Trichechus
latirostris)

The manatis, or manatees, are strange aquatic
mammals, with seal-like heads and whalelike
bodies. Compared with whales, their flippers
are more flexible at the joints, and thus can be
used much more freely. They have very small
eyes and a heavy upper lip, deeply cleft in the
middle and forming a thick lobe on each side.
The skin is hairless and covered with fine
wrinkles.

These animals inhabit the rivers entering the
sea and shallow coastal lagoons on both sides
of the Atlantic, in tropical parts of West Af-
rica and of eastern North and South America.
The South American species ascends the Ama-
zon and its tributaries well up toward their
headwaters.

The Florida manati regularly frequents the
coast from eastern Florida to Mexico, Central
America, and the West Indies; in summer it
sometimes strays as far north as the coast of
Virginia.

This species attains an extreme length of
more than 15 feet and a weight of more than
1,500 pounds, but the average size is much less.
A large specimen exhibited alive at New Or-
leans the winter of 1912 weighed 1,310 pounds
and is reported to have eaten daily from 60 to
100 pounds of grass. One captured near Point
Isabel, Texas, measured a few inches more
than 15 feet in length.

Manatis were formerly plentiful in the In-
dian River and elsewhere along the Florida
coast, but were shot and netted to the verge of
extermination. They were killed not only for
amusement by thoughtless sportsmen, but many
were killed by residents for their flesh, which
was salted down like beef for future use. The
flesh is said to be well flavored and not unlike
l)eef.

The imminent danger of the extermination
of these curious animals and their evident
value for the interest thev lend the coastal
waters of the State led to the passage of pro-
tective laws with a penalty of $500. As a re-
sult of this, manatis have increased rapidly. A

correspondent, writing on June 20, 1916, from
Ponce Park, on Indian River, says that at this
season scarcely an hour in the day passes but
that from one to half a dozen may be seen in
front of his house. He adds that one with a
"calf" about 3 feet long keeps about his dock
all the time. In this vicinity manatis appear to
be migratory, leaving about the first of Decem-
ber and returning in early spring, the first one
noted in 1916 appearing on March 26. They
are extremely susceptible to cold, as was dem-
onstrated by the number which perished in
Indian River near Micco, February 12, 1895,
when the temperature fell to 20° Fahrenheit.
They are known to winter in Biscayne Bay and
elsewhere in southern Florida.

Within a few weeks after the manatis return
to the vicinity of Ponce Park the young are
born. Just before this the females are said to
seek the protection of a dock, crib, or bridge,
possibly in order that the new-born young may
be safe from the sharks and sawfish which
abound in these waters. Usually there is only
one calf, which is about 30 inches long, but
sometimes the mother is seen accompanied by
two. During this season the females are scat-
tered and, with their young, keep in compara-
tively shoal water near the shore, and not in-
freciuently lie in shallow pools with half their
Iiodies exposed. Later in the season they
gather in herds and often 15 to 20 may be seen
close together. At such times they roll about
and make a great turmoil in the water. The
Mexicans on the coast of southern Vera Cruz
described to me similar summer gatherings of
manatis in small lagoons and claimed they
were there for the purpose of mating.

In fall, near Ponce Park, the larger animals,
probably the old males, separate from the herds
and roam about singly. At this time they often
make a peculiar noise like a loud snort, which
may be heard for half a mile or more.

The Florida manatis are extremely mild and
inoffensive animals, seeming never to fight one
another, nor to show aggressiveness of any
kind. When not molested they are very gentle
and will feed close about a boat or dock regard-
less of the presence of people, but they become
alarmed by any sudden noise. In captivity
they soon learn to eat from their captor's
hands.

Manatis are sluggish, stupid animals, without
other defense than their size. They are not
rapid swimmers and are among the extremely
few herbivorous aquatic mammals. Unlike
seals, whales, and their allies, which feed upon
some form of animal life, manatis feed on the
lush grasses and other vegetation springing
from the oozy bottom of the waters they fre-
quent. When feeding on the bottom they use
their flippers to help rnove slowly about. In
places along the Indian River they are reported
to approach the shore and, with head and
shoulders out of water, to feed on heavy grass-
like plants hanging from the banks.

While they are feedinsr the heavv bi-lobed
upper lips work freelv and are sufficiently pre-
hensile to seize the grass, or other plant food,
between the lobes and thrust it back into the

466

"**v^" -te^?:

u*.

A?0\Af*ff^r <^t,^i

FLORIDA MANATI

467

468

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

mouth. The ends of the flippers are sometimes
used to help convey food to the mouth, Hke
huge hands in thumbless mittens.

When suckHng her young the manati rises
to the surface, her head and shoulders out of
the water, and with her flippers holds the
nursling partly clasped to her breast. This
semi-human attitude, together with the rounded
head and fishlike tail, may have furnished the
basis on which the ancients built their legends
of the mermaids.

KILLER WHALE (Orcinus orca)

The killer whale is a habitant of all oceans
from the border of the Arctic ice fields to the
stormy glacial margin of the Antarctic conti-
nent. So far as definitely known, there appears
to be but a single species. It attains an ex-
treme length of approximately 30 feet and is
mainly black with well-defined white areas on
the sides and underparts of the body. Its
most striking and picturesque characteristic is
the large black fin, several feet long, standing-
upright on the middle of the back.

The killer usually travels and hunts in
"schools" or packs of from three to a dozen
or more individuals. Unlike most whales, the
members of these schools do not travel in a
straggling party, but swim side by side, their
movements as regularly timed as those of sol-
diers. A regularly spaced row of advancing
long black fins swiftly cutting the undulating
surface of the sea produces a singularly sinister
effect. The evil impression is well justified,
since killers are the most savage and remorse-
less of whales. The jaws are armed with
rows of effective teeth, with which the animals
attack and devour seals and porpoises, and
even destroy some of the larger whales.

Killers are like giant wolves of the sea, and
their ferocity strikes terror to the other warm-
blooded inhabitants of the deep. The Eskimos
of the Alaskan coast of Bering Sea consider
killers as actual wolves in sea form. They be-
lieve that in the early days, when the world
was young and men and animals could change
their forms at will, land wolves often went to
the edge of the shore ice and changed to killer
whales, and the killers returned to the edge of
the ice and climbed out as wolves, to go raven-
ing over the land. Some of the natives assured
me that even today certain wolves and killers
are still endowed with this power and, on ac-
count of their malignant character, are much
feared by hunters.

Killers are known to swallow small seals and
porpoises entire and attack large whales by
tearing away their fleshy lips and tongues.
When attacking large prey they work in packs,
with all the unity and fierceness of so many
wolves. The natives of the Aleutian Islands
told me that large skin boats are sometimes
lost in the passes between the islands by sea-
lions leaping upon them in their frenzied ef-
forts to escape the pursuit of killer whales.

The killers are specially detrimental to the
fur-seal industry, owing to their habit of prey-

ing upon seals during their migrations in the
North Pacific and during the summer in Bering-
Sea. They also haunt the waters about the
Fur Seal Islands to continue their depredations
during the summer. It would be a wise con-
servation measure for the Federal Government
to have these destructive beasts persistently
hunted and destroyed each spring and summer
when they congregate on the north side of the
Aleutian passes. Their destruction would not
cinly save large numbers of fur seals, but would
undoubtedly protect the few sea otters still re-
maining in those waters.

WHITE WHALE, OR BELUGA
(Delphinapterus leucas)

The white whale, or beluga of the Russians,
is a circumpolar species, limited to the ex-
treme northern coasts of the Old and the
New Worlds. The adult is entirely of a milk-
white color, is very conspicuous, and as it
comes up to "blow" presents an interesting
sight. The young beluga is dark slate color,
becoming gradually paler for several years
until it attains its growth. The beluga usually
lives in the shallow waters along shore, and
not only frequents sheltered bays and tidal
streams, but ascends rivers for considerable
distances. Plentiful along the coast of Alaska.
esnecially in Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean,
this whale also ascends the Yukon for a long
distance. It also comes down the Atlantic
coast and enters the lower St. Lawrence River.

The white whale is said at times to attain a
length of 20 feet, but its ordinary length is
nearer to or 12 feet. It travels in irregular
"schools" of from three to ten or fifteen indi-
viduals and usually rolls high out of water
when it comes up to breathe. It enters shel-
tered bays and the lower courses of streams,
mainly at night, in pursuit of fish, which_ fur-
nish its main food supply. During the twilight
hours of the Arctic sumn-ier night,_ glowing
with beautiful colors, the ghostly white forms
of these whales breaking the smooth blue-black
surface of a far northern bay add the crown-
ing efifect of strange unworldly mystery to the
scene.

When on hunting trips in early autumn, I
camped many times on the banks of narrow
tide channels leading throu.gh the coastal tun-
dra, and for hours during the darkness of
night, as the tide was rising, heard the deep-
sighing sound of their blowing, as schools of
belugas fished up and down the current, often
only 15 or 20 feet from where I lay.

'The oil and flesh of the white whale is highly
prized by the Eskimos, and they not only pur-
sue it in kyaks with harpoon and float, but set
large-meshed nets of strong seal-skin cords
off projecting points near entrances to bays.
Young or medium-sized animals are often
caught in this manner, but powerful adults
often tear the nets to fragments.

The beluga frequents broken pack ice along
shore, and one trapped alive by the closing ice
north of the Yukon early one winter was re-

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

469

ported by the Eskimos to have uttered curious
squeaking noises when they attacked and killed
it — an interesting fact, as the beluga is said to
be the only member of the whale family to
make vocal sounds of any kind.

When a school has its curiosity aroused by
the approach of a boat or for any other cause,
the members often raise their heads well out
of water, one after the other, and take a de-
liberate look, then dive and swim to a safe
distance before coming up again.

The small size of the beluga has long saved
it from organized pursuit. Recently it has been
announced that its skin has become valuable
for commercial purposes, and that many are
being killed. If this continues, these harmless
and interesting animals are likely soon to dis-
appear from most of their present haunts,
unless proper measures can be taken to protect
them from undue killing.

GREENLAND RIGHT WHALE, OR
BOWHEAD (Balasna mysticetus)

The Greenland right whale is one of the
largest of sea mammals, reaching a length of
from 50 to 60 feet, and has a marvelously
specialized development. Its enormous head
comprises about one-third of the total length,
with a gigantic mouth provided with about 400
long, narrow plates of baleen, or whalebone,
attached at one end and hanging in overlapping
series from the roof of the mouth. These thin
plates of baleen rarely exceed a foot in width
and are from 2 to over 10 feet long. One edge
and the free end of each plate is bordered with
a stiff hairlike fringe.

The northern seas frequented by these whales
swarm with small, almost microscopic, crus-
taceans and other minute pelagic life, which is
commonly so abundant that great areas of the
ocean are tinged by them to a deep brown.
These gatherings of small animal life are called
"brit" by the whalers and furnish the food
supply of the bowhead. The whale swims
slowly through the sea with its mouth open,
straining the water through the fringed whale-
bone plates on each side of its mouth, thus re-
taining on its enormous fleshy tongue a mass
of "brit," which is swallowed through a gullet
extraordinarily small in comparison with the
size of the mouth. Among all the animal life
on the earth there is not a more perfectly de-
veloped apparatus provided for feeding on
highly specialized food than that possessed by
the right whale — one of the hugest of beasts
and feeding on some of the smallest of ani-
mals, untold numbers of which are required
for a single mouthful.

The bowhead is a circumpolar species, which
in summer frequents the Arctic ice pack and
its borders, 'and on the approach of winter mi-
grates to a more southerly latitude. For cen-
turies this huge mammal lias formed the main
basis for the whaling industry in far northern
waters, first in the Greenland sens and later
through Bering Straits into the Arctic basin
north of the shores of Siberia and Alaska.

Each large whale is a prize worth wuming,
since it may yield as much as 200 barrels of oil
and several thousand pounds of whalebone.
All know of the rise and fall of the whaling
Inisiness, on which many fortunes were built
and on which depended the prosperity of sev-
eral New England towns.

Whaling served to train a hardy and cour-
ageous generation of sailors the like of which
can nowhere be found today. They braved the
perils of icy seas in scurvy-ridden ships, and
when fortune favored brought to port full car-
goes of "bone" and oil, which well repaid the
hardships endured in their capture. Many a
ship and crew sailed into the North in pursuit
of these habitants of the icy sea never to re-
turn.

Interest in the brave and romantic life of the
whalers still exists, though the most pictur-
esque quality of their calling passed with the
advent of steam whalers and the "bomb gun,"
which shoots an explosive charge into the
whale and kills it without the exciting struggle
which once attended such a capture by open
boats.

It has been well said that no people ever ad-
vanced in the scale of civilization without the
use of some artificial illuminant at night. The
world owes a great debt to the right whale and
its relatives for their contribution to the "mid-
night oil," which encouraged learning through
the centuries preceding the discovery of mm-
eral oil. It also furnished the whalebone which
built up the "stays" so dear to the hearts of
our great-grandmothers.

The female right whale has a single young,
which she suckles and keeps with her for about
a year. She shows much maternal affection,
and a number of cases are recorded in which
the mother persisted in trying to release her
young after it had been harpooned and killed.

Every year, as the pack ice breaks up for the
season, the bowheads move north through
Bering Straits. As late as 1881 Eskimos along
the Arctic coast of Alaska put to sea in walrus-
hide umiaks, armed with primitive bone-pointed
spears, seal-skin floats, and flint-pointed lances
for the capture of these huge beasts. These
fearless sea hunters, with their equipment
handed down from the Stone Age, were suffi-
ciently successful in their chase to cause trad-
ing schooners to make a practice of visiting the
villages along the coast to buy their wliale-
bone.

From one of the whaling ships encountered
north of Bering Straits the summer of 1881
we secured a harpoon, taken from a bowhead
in those waters, bearing a private mark which
proved that it came from a whaling ship on
the Greenland coast, thus showing conclusively
that these whales in their wanderings make the
"Northwest Passage."

Persistent hunting through the centuries has
vastly decreased whales of all valued species,
and the modern steam whaler is hastening their
end. Their- only hope of survival lies in wise
international action, and it is urgent that this
be secured in time.

kili.hr whale

WHITE WHALE, OR BELUGA

470

GREENLAND RIGHT WHALE. OR BOWHEAD

SPERM WHALE, OR CACHALOT

471

472

THE NATIONAL OKOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

SPERM WHALE, OR CACHALOT
(Physeter macrocephalus)

The cachalot is from 40 to 60 feet long, about
equaling the Greenland bowhead whale in size.
It has a huge blunt head, which comprises
about one-third of the entire animal. The
mouth is large and the under jaw is provided
with a row of heavy teeth, consisting of ivory
liner in gram than that from an elephant's tusk.

The great whaling industry of the last two
centuries was based mainly on the sperm and
the bowhead whales. The largest of the bow-
heads is limited to the cold northern waters,
but the sperm whale frequents the tropic and
subtropic seas around the globe. The mnin
hunting area for them lies in the South Pacific,
but they frequently visit more temperate coasts,
especially when seeking sheltered bays, where
their young may be born. The young are
suckled and guarded carefully until old enough
to be left to their own devices. Sperm whales
sometimes occur off both coasts of the United
States, especially off southern California.

The feeding grounds of these whales are
mainly in the deepest parts of the ocean,
where they cruise about in irregular schools
containing a number of individuals. Their
food consists almost entirely of large octopuses

and giapt squids, which are swallowed in large
sections.

As befits a gigantic mammal possessing hvige
jaws armed with rows of fighting teeth, the
sperm whale is a much more pugnacious ani
mal than the bowhead. There are many rec-
ords of whale-boats being smashed by them,
and several well-authenticated cases of enraged
bull cachalots having charged and crushed in
the sides of whaling ships, causing them speed-
ily to founder.

The sperm whale yields oil of a better quality
than the bowhead. Its huge head always con-
tains a considerable nunil)er of barrels of spe-
cially fine-grade oil, which produces the sper-
maceti of commerce. Ambergris, having an
excessively high value for use in the manufac-
ture of certain perfumes, is a product occa-
sionally formed in the digestive tract of the
sperm whale.

The name cachalot is one to conjure with.
It brings up visions of three-year voyages to
the famed South Seas, pahn-bedecked coral
islands, and idyllic days with dusky islanders.
As in the case of the Greenland bowhead, how-
ever, this animal has been hunted until only a
small fraction of its former numbers survives
and the romantic days of its pursuit are gone,
never to return.

THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS

INDF.X TO TEXT AND ILLUSTRATION PAGES

Ilhis-
'I'ext t ration
Ijago. pase.

-ViUi'loije, ri-onj;-lii)rii 452 451

IJadger 420 419

I'.ear, Alaskan Urowii — i Froiitiniiicic) 441

Bear, Klack 437 439

r.tai-, ("iiniainoii oi- P.Iack 437 439

lU-ar, (ilacier 437 439

Wear, (Jrizzly 440 442

W^i; I'olar 436 438

Iteaver, Araerienn 441 443

lU-luya or While Wliaio 46S 470

I'.ison, Aiiicrif'an, or Buffalo 461 463

r.()l)ca( or Bay Lyn.\: 409 411

Bowhrad or Greenland Kight Whale.. 469 471

Buffalo or American Bison 461 463

Cachalot, or Sperm Whale 4.72 471

('aril)Oii, Barren (! round 460 422

('aril)oii, Woodland 460 459

Caribou, I'eary. or Barren Croiuid. 460 422

Cat, .Ia^:narLindi, or I^yra 413 415

Coyote, Arizona or Moarns 424 423

Coyote. Mearns or Arizona 424 423

Coyote, I'lains. or I'rairie Wolf 424 423

Deer, Arizona While-tailed 457 458

Deer, Black-tailed 456 4,55

1 )wr. Mule 453 4.55

Deer, Virsrinia or While-tailed 456 458

Deer, White-tailed 456, 457 458

lOlk, American 453 454

lOyra or Jaguannidi Cat 413 415

IMshor or I'ekan 444 446

Kox. Alaska Ued 417 418

Kox, Arctic or White 425 426

Fox, (^ros.s 417 418

I'^ox, Desert 420 419

Kox, (!rav 417 419

Wax, I'rihilof Blue 4.''5 426

Kox, Ued - 416 418

I'"ox, Silver ..•.....-. 417 418

Fox. While or Arctic 425 426

Coat, IJockv Monnlain 452 451

.lagnar 413 414

lllus-
Text t ration
page. page.

Lion, Jlountain 412 414

Lynx, Bay 409 411

Lynx. Canada 409 411

Manati. I<'l(>rid;i 465 467

.^loosi' 461 462

^Lisliho'.;- or Feccary 443 447

:\[usk-(>x 464 466

Ocelots or Tiger-cats 416 415

Opossum, Virginia 408 410

Otter 445 446

Otter. Sea 432 434

Focc'ary, Collared, or .Miiskhog 448 447

Fekan or Fisher 444 446

Kaccoon 40S 410

Sea-elephant. Xorlhcrn. or 101(>|iluint

Seal 432 434

Sea-lion. Stellei- 429 431

Seal, Alaska Fur 429 431

Seal, lOlephant, or Sea-elephant 432 434

Seal, Creenland, or llai-p Seal 433 435

Seal, Ilarhor 433 435

Seal, Harp, Saddle-back, or Creenhiiid 433 435

Seal. I-eopard, or Harbor Seal 433 4.35

Seal, Bibbon 436 438

Seal, Saddle-back, or Harp Seal 433 435

Slieei). Dall :\I()nnl;un 449 450

Sheei), Uockv .Mounlaiii 448 447

Sheei). Stone Mountain 449 450

Tis;er-cats or Ocelots 416 415

Walrus. Facific 428 430

Wapiti or American Elk 453 454

Whale, <;reenland lUght or Bowhead. 469 471

Whale, Killer <16S 470

Whale, Sperm, or Cachalot 472 471

Whale. White or Beluga 468 470

Wolf. Arctic White 421 422

Wolf, B.lack 423

Wolf, (irav or Timber 421 423

Wolf, I'rairie, or Flains Cdvole 424 423

Wolf. Timber or Crav 421 423

Wolverine 428 427

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

By Edward W. Nelson

Chief, U. S. Biological Survey

With illustrations in color from paintings by Louis Agassia Fiicrtcs

IN THAT part of North America
lying north of Mexico more than
1,300 species and geographic races
of mammals are known to exist. Of
these by far the greater number, both of
species and individuals, fall into the class
of smaller mammals.

Some of the most characteristic types
which appear to have originated in North
America are the mountain - beavers,
pocket-gophers, kangaroo-rats, pocket-
mice, wood - rats, white - footed mice,
muskrats, skunks, and ring-tailed cats.

In Siberia and Europe live close coun-
terparts of our northern weasels, minks,
martens, field - mice, lemmings, north-
ern hares, conies, marmots, moles, and
others ; and on our southern border the
armadillo and the hog-nosed skunk intro-
duce a faint tinge of a strange fauna
from South America.

FURRY FRIENDS AND CNFMIFS

The muskrats, minks, martens, and
skunks for many years have yielded an
enormous annual return from their furs ;
the squirrels and rabbits afiford sport and
a large supply of excellent flesh for food ;
the prairie-dogs and some of the ground-
squirrels existing in enormous numbers
have been excessively destructive to
crops ; and others, like the porcupine and
the armadillo, have attracted particular
attention because of their strange char-
acteristics.

ANIMALS THAT LEARNED TO "dIG IN"

The smaller mammals live everywhere,
from the tropical end of Florida to the
uttermost lands of the frozen North, and
from the seashore to the limit of vegeta-
tion on the high mountains. The heav-
iest forests, open meadows, rugged moun-
tain slopes, arctic barrens, and sun-
scorched desert plains all have their small
four-footed habitants. INTany modifica-
tions of parts and organs of the various
species have been necessary to adapt the
small mammals to specialized modes of
life.

This is strikingly illustrated in the case
of those true rodents, the pocket-gophers,
which apparently found competition on
the surface of the ground so acute that
they took the unoccupied territory below
the surface, where they live as miners
and tunnel from place to place in search
of edible roots, with an occasional stealthv
excursion above ground to seize some of
the food available there.

Another excellent illustration is fur-
nished by the moles, which, leaving the
numerous closely related species — the
shrews — to feed upon insects above
ground, have descended and, like the
pocket-gophers, live in tunnels which they
make in the pursuit of earthworms and
insects below the surface ; like the go-
phers, they, too, make occasional excur-
sions above ground in search of food.

The mink and the muskrat, represent-
ing the carnivores and rodents, have
rivals for their food supply on land and
have become amphibious, being as much
at home in the water as on shore, one
feeding on fish and flesh and the other on
aquatic vegetation. Certain forms of the
squirrel tribe are heavy-bodied and live
in underground burrows, while other
more slender and graceful species make
their homes in the tree-tops.

A DEPARTURE FOR EVERY NEED

Another member of this group, the fly-
ing-squirrel, has developed an extension
of the skin uniting the front and hind
legs, so it may glide freely from tree to
tree. The bats have gone still further,
and the skin uniting their lengthened
front and hind limbs and long finger
bones forms broad wings which lend
them powers of flight scarcely equaled by
those of l)irds.

The gophers, pocket-mice, chipmunks,
and others are provided with little cheek
pouches in the skin on each side of the
mouth, in which they may carry food
home to their store-rooius and otlier hid-
ing places.

473

TIEREDITARV KN'KMIKS: A CAT WATCHING
A GRAY SQUIRRRL

At one time the gray squirrel was so abund-
ant as to make ruinous inroads on the corn
and wheat crops of our pioneers. Tn Ohio, a
hundred years ago, there was a law requiring
each free white man to deliver lOO squirrel
scalps every year or pay a penalty of $3. To-
day the gray squirrel needs legal protection to
Jirevent its extermination.

The hares have developed long legs for
running on open plains, and the weasels
have long, slender bodies and an exceed-
ing quickness which enables them to fol-
low and capture their elusive prey in its
burrows and among crevices in the rocks.

The hairy coat of the mole is short and
equal to the finest velvet, while that of
the porcupine stands out in strong, sharp
spines ; the skin of the armadillo is prac-
tically hairless, but forms a bony armor
covering its upper parts.

The front feet of squirrels and most
other rodents are slender and used with
deftness as hands in manipulating food,
while those of the badger and skunk are
heavily clawed and strongly muscled for
the purpose of digging up their prey.

The tails of many species are varied
in form to serve special purposes. The
long-haired tails of tree-squirrels have a
plttme-like character, which adds much to
the beauty of these attractive animals.
The long tails of the kangaroo-rats and
the jumping-mice serve as balances for
their bodies during long leaps. The ver-
tically flattened tail of the muskrat and
the broad horizontally flattened tail of
the beaver are useful as rudders. Per-
haps the oddest of all is the naked pre-
hensile tail of the opossum, which coils
about branches or other support and thus
is a safeguard against a possible fall, and
even permits the animal to hang sus-
pended by it alone.

STRANGE ADAPTATIONS TO MEET CONDI-
TIONS OE ENVIRONMENT AND
COMPETiTlON

In such ways, by thousands of adapta-
tions and modifications of the typical
four-footed mammal, are they fitted to
their varied modes of life, each so far as
possible in some special place of its own.

The efi:'ect of the pressure of environ-
ment and competition upon the various
species of mammals in any region could
not be better shown than by the kanga-
roos of Australia. That continent is oc-
cupied by many species of these peculiar
mammals, some of which inhabit the
open plains like our jack-rabbits in the
West; others have learned to climb and
live arboreal lives in the tree-tops ; and
still other members of this group have
become burrowers and live in dens under-
ground like some of our native rats and
mice.

From the instances mentioned above
it is evident that the mammalian organ-
ism is very plastic and has been molded

474

^) I'. j. II.

CADES IN THE WOOD

The American black bear, of which the brown bear is a color phase, is not aggressive
and will attack man only when wounded or in defense of its young. The hungry twins were
born m mid-winter and came into the world entirely devoid of fur overcoats. ' Their coats
soon developed, however; in a month their eyes were open, and in two months they were fol-
lowing their mother about the great forests of the Yellowstone.

475

476

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

by the environment to which it has been
subjected during the ages. The larger
effects evidenced by profound modifica-
tions in the anatomy are the result of
continued pressure extending far back in
time. The far more nmnerous, modern,
and superficial changes known to natu-
ralists as geographic variations are every-
where in evidence.

By the collection of great series of
specimens in North America and else-
where in the world it has been proved
that it is common for a single species of
mammal to occupy a great area, includ-
ing such diverse climatic conditions as
humid forested districts near the sea-
level, sections of arid desert plains in
the interior, and high rugged mountain
slopes. In each area of differing condi-
tions it is ordinarily found that represen-
tatives of a species, under certain con-
ditions, vary from those in other areas
mainly in shades of color and in propor-
tions.

GEOGRAPHY AND COLOR

In arid areas the colors are usually dis-
tinctly paler and grayer, in the humid
districts they are darker and browner.
Other conditions also effect these changes
among members of the same species, as
is showai in some of the most arid and
desert plains of the southwestern United
States, where mammals living among
dark-colored lava beds are darker than
those found, sometimes within a few
rods, on paler adjoining soil. Complete
isolation under the same climatic and
other conditions sometimes produces
marked changes, as is well illustrated by
the difference between the Abert and
Kaibab squirrels on the two sides of the
Grand Canyon in Arizona (see page 448) .

The different forms of a species oc-
cupying areas under varying conditions
are commonly termed geographic races.
They grade imperceptibly into one an-
other along the border between their
ranges, step by step with the gradations
of the climatic and other conditions which
have produced their differences.

AXIMAL CIIKMISTS CITAXGl; STARCH IXTO
WATKR

One of the most striking modifications
of mammalian economy by environment

is that shown in many small mammals of
our southwestern desert region and ad-
jacent parts of Mexico, in which such
species as the kangaroo-rats, pocket-mice,
prairie-dogs, and others are able to exist
under the most arid conditions without
drinking. The liquid necessary for sup-
plying their bodily needs is obtained
through chemical action in their digestive
tracts, whereby some of the starchy parts
of their food are changed into water.

Over considerable areas in the water-
less deserts on the peninsula of Lower
California periods of from three to five
years sometimes pass Avithout a drop of
rain falling. In these areas the small
desert mammals named above, as well as
wood-rats, white-footed mice, cotton-
tails, and jack-rabbits, are numerous and
successfully pass these dry periods with-
out inconvenience. The absolute inde-
pendence of water of these animals has
been demonstrated in southern California
in the case of pocket-mice kept for
months in captivity in a box and fed
solely upon thoroughly dried seeds with-
out their showing the slightest sign of
discomfort.

Our small mammals may be roughh-
classified by their food habits into three
main groups : Rodents, or gnawing ani-
mals ; carnivores, or flesh eaters, and in-
sectivores, or insect eaters.

GXAWCRS MOST XUMCROUS OF MAMMALS

The rodents vastly outnumber all other
mammals and are typified by the squir-
rels, rats, and mice ; their food is mainly
vegetable matter, but many of them eat
insects and meat whenever available.
The carnivores, including such species as
the weasel, mink, and marten, are mainly
flesh eaters, preying largely upon rodents,
but they also eat insects and fruits of
many kinds. The insectivores include
the moles and shrews, which, with all the
bats found within our limits, are almost
exclusively eaters of w^orms and insects.

While rodents primarily feed on vege-
table matter, it is surprising to note the
large number of species among them
which commonly feed on insects and have
strong carnivorous propensities. This is
not so much the case with such larger
rodents as the beaver, porcupine, and
woodchuck, but most of the smaller kinds.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

477

i-'hotoyraph by Howard Tayli.n" 3,Iiddlcton

a millenniaiv scene: a rabbit-iiound and a young rabbit enjoying each

other's society

Here the camera records a friendship almost as remarkal)le as that whicli is to mark the
association of the Hon and the lamb in the tinal days of the world's history

from squirrels to mice, have been fotind
to be confirmed flesh eaters.

The destruction of the eggs and yotmg
of birds, both on the ground and in the
trees, by these animals must have a far-
reaching effect in reducing the number
of insectivoroits and other small birds.
Some small rodents, as the grasshopper-
mice, subsist mainly upon insects and
flesh.

The naturalist who sets traps for small
rodents in field or forest is constantly
annoyed by finding trapped animals partly
devottred by their fellows. When mice
or rats are confined together in cages and
provided with an abundance of vegetable
food, it is a common experience to find
that the stronger kill and eat the weaker
ones, until in a short time only a single
survivor remains. These cannibalistic
traits are strongly developed in the com-
mon house rat, which is notorious for
its savagery toward others of its kind.

CASES OE CONCENTRATED EEROCITY

To a certain extent the ferocity of
mammals appears to increase in propor-
tion to a decrease in their size. The
smaller members of the weasel family — •
the weasels — are relatively far more ac-
tive and bloodthirsty than the minks, mar-
tens, and other larger members of the
group.

If the common weasel should be in-
creased to the Ijulk of a mountain-lion
and retain ks nature and physical prow-
ess, it wottld be many times more danger-
ous than any existing carnivore and the
devastations it wottld commit would be
appalling. Even the tiny insect-eating
shrews are endowed with a fierce and ag-
gressive spirit scarcely equaled among
larger animals.

Rodents and insectivorous mammals
are without effective weapons of offense
or defense against the birds and beasts

478

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

Pliotograpli by Iloward Taylor Middleton

A WEASEL AT BAY ON A TREE-TRUNK

Wolves, coyotes, and foxes are the natural enemies of this fe-
rocious little creature. In spite of its diminutive size, it is a foe to
be respected, for its attack is always aimed at a vital point— com-
monly the l)rain, the back of the neck, or the jugular vein of its ad-
versarv.

of prey whicli beset them. Many, how-
ever, are surprisingly courageous when
brought to bay, and, using their front
teeth, will fight to the death with vigor
and spirit. This is especially notable of
the muskrats and their cousins, the field-
mice. Carnivores, both great and small,
have teeth and claws with which to de-
fend themselves against attack.

WHY THE SKUNK NEVER HURRIES

In addition, skunks have an even more
potent weapon in the secretion of a vile-

smelling liquid which
is sprayed on a dan-
gerous enemy. S o
confident are skunks
in the efficacy of this
weapon that they are
extremely calm and
unhurried in their
manners and take
little trouble to avoid
an encounter with
man or beast. Their
odorous weapon is not
used among them-
selves and appears to
be held for service
against more danger-
ous enemies.

Scent glands are
common among r o -
dents, carnivores, and
insectivores, but are
ordinarily used for
purposes of communi-
cation with others of
their kind, sometimes
to attract the opposite
sex and sometimes
merely to give notice
of their presence in a
locality.

The hard school of
experience holding
through the ages has
taught many of our
rodents the necessity
of lying up stores of
food to meet periods
of scarcity. M a n y
species store food in
a desultory way when-
ever a surplus is avail-
able, but when harvest
time comes, at the close of summer, the
work is taken up as a serious occupation
during many busy hours each day or
night by the species living where the se-
vere northern winters make the stores a
necessity.

The storage instinct is possessed as well
by many of the southern desert species,
where climatic conditions permit activity
throughout the year. In such regions the
su]^]ilies serve during storms and m
])eriods of drought, when the yield of
plant food is limited.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

479

li;i liy I[r)\vai-(i Tayi.^r ^.H^MIlIuh

ARMED NDUTRAI^ITY : A DOG AND A SKUNK PREPARE FOR COMBAT

Once in a lifetime the photographer of wild Hfe gets an opportunity such as is recorded
here. Luck was with the camera man, but not with the terrier, as a moment after this picture
was made the dog was a very nauseated and embarrassed animal, the skunk having employed
its natural weapon with overpowering odoriferous effect.

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING IN RODENT LAND

One can but marvel at the wise pre-
science with which northern rodents
gather their winter stores and hide them
away safe from the weather in secret
places in hollow trees, old logs, crevices
among the rocks, or in neat storage cham-
bers dug for the purpose adjoining under-
ground burrows. The size of the stores
and the tireless industry of these little
husbandmen in gathering them might
well serve as examples worthy of emula-
tion by some of their human neighbors.
The seeds gathered are freed from chaff,
the grasses and herbs are dried as "hay,"
and roots are carefully cleaned before
being stored.

The storing habit appears to be nearly
alwa3^s for purely individual benefit. The
food is usually stored in bulk, but squir-
rels and chipmunks often bury liere and
there single nuts, which they are able to
recover long afterward through their ex-
traordinary powers of smell.

Stores are laid by for a single season,
and a single faihire of a nut or seed crop
will cause the starvation of many small
animals, and the failure of the crops for

two or more seasons is so disastrous that
the rodents may nearly or quite all die of
famine over great areas. The reverse of
this occurs during successive years of
bountiful nut and seed crops.

An abundant food supply appears to
be a powerful stimulant to the fecundity
of mammals, and the number of young
at a birth, as well as the number of litters
born during a season, are greatly in-
creased by it, until their haiuits fairly
swarm with them.

THE EBB AND ELOW OF ANTAGONISTIC
SPECIES

With this stimulated increase of rodent
life goes a related increase in the number
of birds and mammals which prey upon
them. The close relationship between
the numbers of rodents and of the car-
nivores which prey upon them is shown
by the records of the Hudson Bay Com-
pany, in which with the increase or de-
crease in the abvmdance of varying-hare
skins secured by the fur traders goes a
corresponding increase or decrease in the
number of lynx skins taken.

After rodents become cnorniouslv

480

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

Photograph by Howard Taylor Middleton

IT IS NOT VANITY WHICH PROMPTS THIS MOUSE) TO TAKD ITS OWN PICTURE)

The bait is a grain of corn attached to one end of a thread ; the other end operates the
camera shutter; but the pose is almost "studied"

abundant, if food becomes scarce they
sometimes make extended migrations,
during which vast numbers swarm across
the country, Hke the lemmings of the
North or tlie gray squirrels during their
historic migrations of early days in the
eastern United States. At such times vast
numljers of the wandering hordes perish;
epidemic disease also plays its part in re-
ducing their numbers. Nature thus is
self-limiting in restraining the permanent
increase of any species beyond the num-
bers needed to preserve its balance.

The advent of man in new regions with
his clearing of forests, cultivation of the
soil, and destruction of animal life for
food or other purposes, quickly upsets
the balance of nature, and some species
are much reduced in iiumbers or disap-
pear, while others, especially among the
smaller kinds of mammals, may greatly
])enetit through added food supplies, and
then increase until they become a pest, to

be destroyed by the farmer as a measure
of self-protection.

ANIMALS THAT SI'K K SAPDTY IN DARKNESS

For some reason, perhaps owing to
their small size and defenselessness
against birds and beasts of prey, the great
majority of small mammals, incltiding
hundreds of species and untold millions
of individuals, are nocturnal or live such
obscure and hidden lives they are un-
known except to the comparatively few
people who go much afield, with all their
IK)wers of observation alert by day and by
night. Many of the mainly noctttrnal spe-
cies pursue minor activities by day, where
shelter of one kind or another gives them
a reasonable feeling of security.

Under tlie revealing light of day most
small mammals, especially the rodents,
are extremely watchful and timid, lead-
ing lives filled with alarms which com-
monly end in tragic deaths. By night

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

481

Phntoiji-nph by Howard Taylor Middleton

A NEST OF YOUNG WIIITR-FOOTKn MICE

One form of this small animal has been found living at an elevation of from 15,000 to 16,000
feet on Mt. Orizaba, Mexico, the highest record of any North American mammal

they appear to have far greater confi-
dence ; yet this also is a time of imminent
danger from the owls and many beasts
of prey then prowling about.

That the small rodents have good cause
for their timorous ways is plain when we
consider the array of enemies which en-
compass them, including owls, herons,
gulls, bears, foxes, bobcats, weasels and
their cousins, with snakes, and on occa-
sion fishes, which take endless toll from
their numbers. Fortimately for them,
these small folk live wholly in the present
and quickly forget the shadow of death
cast by the passage of a hawk or the
skulking form of a four-footed enemy.

COUNTLESS BEASTS THAT ROAM THE
NIGHT

By day the squirrels, chipmunks, wood-
chucks, and spermoi)hiles are abroad and
unite with the birds to lend an air of
pleasant animation to forest and plain.
With the falling shades of night, near
the abodes of mankind as well as in the
remote wilderness, everywhere a count-

less multitude of small beasts come forth
and form a little, bright - eyed furry
world, clad in delicate shades of gra\-
and brown and characterized by remark-
able grace and agility.

These small folk of the night swarm
out from sntig nests hidden in burrows in
the earth, in crevices among the rocks, in
hollow trees, under logs or other cover,
and even from the shelter afforded by
buildings. In number and variety of
forms they far exceed anything seen by
day. The air is filled with the flitting
forms of bats, while among the trees or
on the ground, varying with the locality,
are multitudes of rabbits, flying-squirrels,
rats and mice of many kinds, lemmings,
pocket-mice, kangaroo-rats, pocket-go-
phers, shrews, and even moles.

This abundance of night life brings
forth the prowling powers of darkness in
the form of velvet-winged owls, weasels,
skunks, minks, martens, and other car-
nivores, which by scent and by keen vision
find abundant harvest. The small car-
nivores, in turn, are subject to the pred;i-

482

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

"<l

.^ ^'

|!«^'3^.?

Pliotograpli by George Shiras. 3rJ

A MINK TAKING ITS OWIM IMCTURE CY I'LASHIJGIIT

This is one of many remarkable nature studies which have been made possible by Dr.
George Shiras 3rd's invention and development of animal flashlight photography, with the
animals themselves as the photographers. The naturalist may have to spend hours, some-
times days, waiting in swamp or desert to study his quarry, but by means of flashlight photo-
graphs the inhabitants of the wild are revealed in their native haunts to all who read a story
told in pictures. Dr. Shiras's notable contributions to this magazine have always won hearty
appreciation from members of the National Geographic Society.

tory law of might and are at times hunted
by the larger carnivores, as the great-
horned owls, the wolves, foxes, fishers,
bobcats, and mountain-lions.

To most people the majority of small
rodents are classed as "rats" or "mice"
and are viewed with the prejudice born
of long familiarity with those omnipres-
ent pests, the house rats and mice. The
small beasts of field and forest are com-
monly of remotest kinship to these re-
pulsive household parasites and are of
entirely difTerent lineage, having nothing
in common but their size.

ANI^tAL IXTlCLLlGKXCIv AKIN TO MAN'S

When viewed with unbiased attention,
these little animals of the \vilds are cer-
tain to charm the observer either by their
beauty and grace or by their varied and
interesting habits. No one can long study

mammals, large or small, without observ-
ing many traits of intelligence so akin to
his own that they awaken feelings of
friendly fellowship.

The modes of life of small mammals
are much more varied than those of the
larger species. At times radical differ-
ences in habits may be noted among dif-
ferent individuals of the same species, as
instanced by the wood-rats of Santa Mar-
garita Island, some of which live in bur-
rows dug by themselves in the ground
and others in nests built of sticks in the
tops of mangroves rising amid the waters
of a lagoon.

An even mcjre extraordinary variation
is shown among the heavy - bodied
meadow-mice of the genus Phcnacomys,
most of whicli live in underground bur-
rows ; but one member of the group in
Oregon builds its nests in the tops of tall

SMALLER AlAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

483

conifers, sometimes at an altitude of So
feet, and rarely or never descends to the
ground.

PEEPS INTO FUR-FOLK HOMES

The hom-es of small mammals vary
greatly. The species living in under-
ground burrows usually excavate an oval
chamber which is filled with fine vege-
table material to form a snug retreat.
The muskrat places a conical lodge on
the border of a marshy stream or lake.
The wood-rat lives in an underground
burrow, in a nest of sticks and trash
heaped above the ground or in a stick
nest placed among the branches of low
trees. Harvest mice build a little hollow
ball of grass blades, lined with finer ma-
terial, among the branches of bushes sev-
eral feet above the ground. White-footed
mice may lodge in a knot-hole 50 feet or
more above ground in the trunk of a tree.

As a rule, small mammals are of incon-
spicuous colors which harmonize so well
with their surroundings that when not in
motion, especially if lying close to the
ground, they are difficult to distinguish.
Exceptions to this rule are obvious in the
case of jack-rabbits when standing on
bare plains, or other mammals which are
apart from the usual partly concealing
growth of vegetation or other surround-
ings.

In contrast to the protective coloration
are certain markings, like the cottony
white underside of the tail of the cotton-
tail rabbit, which renders the flight of
this animal conspicuous in the gloomiest
shades of the forest, or even on the ap-
proach of night, when it is impossible to
distinguish the animal itself. The white
underside of the tail of the antelope chip-
munk is another well-defined instance of
this kind.

NEW COATS FOR BOREAS' COURT

The most marked of all examples of
"directive" coloration among the small
mammals appears to be that of certain
white-sided jack-rabbits, in which the
white areas on the sides and rump are
drawn up and down as the animal runs
across the plains, giving a flashing efifect,
which attracts attention to them exactly
as does the white rump-patch of the
antelope.

In the northern part of the continent,
where snow lies for many months, several
species of hares are dusky or buffy gray
in summer and change to a pure white
coat in winter. This change is of enor-
mous protective value to these animals.
In Greenland, where the summer is short
and snow exists throughout the year, the
highest northern representative of the
hares remains permanently white, while
near the southern border of snow in the
United States the varying hares and
white-tailed jack-rabbits, which become
pure white in the northern parts of their
range, make only a partial change.

Weasels are the only carnivores which
change from the brown of summer to a
white winter coat. Owing to their small
size and the need for activity in the
snowy northern regions, where they would
be peculiarly susceptible to danger from
birds of prey and larger predatory ani-
mals, their protective white coats serve
them well.

It was formerly considered that the
change of mammals from the brown of
summer to the white winter coat in the
fall, and from the white to the brown in
spring, was due to a change in the color
of the hairs, but it is now known that it
is entirely due to molt. The time of
these changes depends on the season, and
this varies several weeks, according to
whether the fall or spring is early or late.

The general shades of mammals are of
delicate tints, and the spots, stripes, and
other markings, as in the case of chip-
munks and the little spotted skunk, are
often of great beauty.

ANIMALS THAT HAVE TO SING

Small mammals vary greatly in their
vocal powers, but the changes in intona-
tion and character of the notes and calls
indicate plainly that they are used to con-
vey a variety of meanings.

Some are practically voiceless, as in
the case of rabbits and hares, except
when in an extremity of fear they utter
loud shrieks of terror. Squirrels, prairie-
dogs, and some other small mammals
bark and chatter, while mice and bats
have a variety of curious squeaking notes.
Marmots and ground-scjuirrels have chat-
tering notes and sharp, whistling calls.

In addition, some of the squirrels and

484

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

many mice are known to have continuous
series of notes which are as evidently
songs as the utterances of birds. Some
of these notes, as in the case of singing
mice, have a remarkably musical char-
acter, similar to the warblings of cana-
ries. Various unrelated species of mice
have been observed singing, and a closer
study of the life habits of these small
animals may develop the fact that all are
songsters to some degree.

House rats and mice have, undoubtedly,
been parasitic about the haunts of man
from early times. From Asia they have
accompanied him through his advance in
civilization. With the growth of com-
merce they have traveled around the
world, becoming transplanted to all lands
and thriving in all climates. In various
parts of America they have not only be-
come pests about human habitations, but
where climatic conditions were favorable
have reverted to the wild state and are
competing with the native species in the
fields.

Of all the small mammals none have
become modified to such an extent as the
bats. As a group these mammals are of
world-wide distribution except in the in-
hospitable polar regions. They are true
mammals and present an extraordinary
variation in - size, from tiny little crea-
tures, almost as small and fragile as
butterflies, to the huge fruit-bats, with a
spread of wings like that of a wild goose.

BATS WITH BULLDOG FACES

The heads of bats are strangely sculp-
tured, some being smoothly contoured
and shaped like those of little foxes ;
others appear like miniature bulldogs ;
and still others have curious cartilaginous
nose-leaves upright on the muzzle. Some
have the entire face molded into a hide-
ous mask repulsive to look upon.

Their habits are equally varied to meet
special conditions: Some are eaters of
fruit alone ; others feed solely upon in-
sects, while others bite other mammals,
including man, for the purpose of drink-
ing the oozing blood, upon which they
subsist. All are nocturnal, but some ap-
pear late in the afternoon, before the sun
sets ; most species, however, wait until
the shades of night have covered the
earth.

Throughout the world the majority of
the species of bats feed upon insects, but
there are many fruit-eaters. The teem-
ing insects and plant life of the tropics
afford a never-failing food supply, and
the center of abundance of these animals
IS found there. In some localities be-
tween twenty and thirty kinds of bats
exist, with such vast numbers of indi-
viduals that the bat population far out-
numbers all other kinds of mammals com-
bined.

ANIMALS THAT PUT THEMSELVES IN COLD
STORAGE

In the northern parts of the Old and
New Worlds many mammals, including
bears, marmots, prairie-dogs, ground-
squirrels, and jumping mice, pass a large
part of the winter months in a lethargic
sleep called hibernation. While hibernat-
ing these animals have extremely slow
and slight heart action and their bodily
temperature falls far below the normal
of their active periods. During the most
profound hibernation an animal may be
awakened if brought into a warm tem-
perature, but when again put into the cold
at once returns to sleep.

Preparatory to this sleep, during the
summer and in the autumn, the hibernat-
ing mammals become exceedingly fat.

It has long been generally accepted that
the fat thus accumulated was for the
purpose of being gradually absorbed to
nourish the animals during their long
fast. As a matter of fact, during this
period the bodily functions appear to be
practically suspended and the animals
may be said to be in cold storage. This
is evident from the fact that observations
have been made of ground-squirrels, and
even bears, emerging in spring, after
their long winter sleep, practically as fat
as when they retired in fall. Hibernat-
ing animals become extremely active as
soon as they come out in spring and
quickly lose the fat which should be of
special service to them, owing to the tem-
porary shortage of food they experience
at this season.

Most hibernating species do not retire
for the winter until cold weather is at
hand, in September or October, at times
remaining out until after the first snow
has fallen. The animals which retire

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

485

latest, like chipmunks and prairie-dogs,
sometimes appear temporarily during cer-
tain warm periods in winter.

Recent observations have established
the fact that the adults of both sexes of
the Richardson ground-squirrel living in
the Northwestern States and adjacent
parts of Canada become excessively fat
by the first of July, and before the first
of August practically disappear for the
season, not appearing again until they
emerge the following March or April.
The retirement of these squirrels for a
part of the summer is a case of imperfect
estivation, as it is termed, followed by
complete hibernation. The young of the
year enter hibernation at a considerably
later date.

defe;nsiv]5 and offensive animal

AIvIvIANCES

A great number of both large and small
mammals live solitary lives except for
brief periods during the mating season
or the association of the young with the
mother. Some species, however, like the
wolves and coyotes, may mate perma-
nently and show great mutual affection
and constancy. Many species have well-
developed social instincts, which appear
in some cases to combine two purposes,
self-defense and the desire for compan-
ionship.

Herds of large herbivorous mammals,
such as musk-oxen and buffalo, fre-
quently present a solid array of bristling
horns to the attacking wolves, and thus
protect the weaker members of the herd
and give an example of the usefulness
to them of the social instinct. Wolves
and some other predatory animals hunt
in couples or in packs and succeed in
pulling down prey which singly they
could not successfully attack.

Prairie-dogs living in colonies have the
advantage of community intercourse as
well as added safety through the chance
that some member of the colony will espy
an approaching enemy and by its warn-
ing cry allow a safe retreat. In other
cases, such as the flying-squirrels, which
gather in considerable numbers in hollow
trees or other shelter, and the bats, which
gather in caves, the congregation appears
to be purely from a desire for close com-
panionship.

■ r

FOOTPRINTS OF NATURE'S WILD FOLK
BY ERNEST THOMPSON SETON

In the drawings accompanying Mr. Nelson's
article I usually give the track of a normal
adult animal in about one inch of snow, that
being ideal for tracking. Some of the smaller
kinds are shown in fine dust. The trail goes
up or across the page at the ordinary gait of
the animal. The scale is indicated, but when
possible the topmost set is given of life size.
While there are endless variants in each kind,
I aim to give the reader at least one typical
set of each.

In all animals which bound, the hind feet
track ahead of the front ones. This is very
plainly seen in the rabbits. There are two ar-
rangements of the fore feet when bounding :
That of the rabbit (b), in which the fore feet
are usually one behind the other, and that of
the tree-squirrel (a), in which the fore feet are
side by side. The latter arrangement is associ-
ated with power to climb a tree. The former
means that the animal is purely terrestrial.
These, however, are true only as generaliza-
tions. There are exceptions in all species. The
ground-squirrels conform to the rabbit type.
The tracks are, of course, ideal, giving far
more detail than is usually to be seen.

486

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

THE ANTELOPE JACK RABBIT (Lepus

alleni and its relatives)

(For illustration, sec page 506)

The antelope, or Allen, jack rabbit is one of
the most picturesque of American mammals.
It is larger than the common western jack
rabbit and is strongly characterized by enor-
mous ears, long, slender legs, short tail, and
contrasting colors. It is a member of the
white-sided group of jack rabbits, which are
distinguished by the extension of the white of
the underparts well up on the sides of the body.

This group is represented in limited areas on
our southern border by two species. One of
these, the Gailliard jack rabbit (Lcpiis gail-
liardi), occurs on the grassy plains of extreme
southwestern New Mexico and is succeeded
by other white-sided species southward across
the Mexican tableland and through interior
Oaxaca to the Pacific coast, on the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec. The other species, the antelope
jack rabbit, occupies a considerable area in
southwestern Arizona, and with its geographic
races ranges southward through the coastal
plains of Sonora and Sinaloa to northern
Tepic.

All jack rabbits are more or less closely re-
lated to the Old World hares, the term "rabbit"
having been so generally misapplied to them by
the early settlers in the western United States
that the name is now fixed by current usage.
In Mexico and among the Mexicans of our
southwestern border the proper distinction is
made and the jack rabbit is termed licbrc, or
hare, and cottontail is called concjo, or rabbit.

The white-sided species are more widely dif-
ferentiated from their Old World relatives
than the other jack rabbits and are the soutli-
ernmost representatives of the true hares in
America, reaching their limit in the tropics a
little beyond the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

The extension of the white on the sides of
these species assists in producing one of the
most extraordinary examples of directive col-
oration known among mammals. I had the
pleasure of discovering this one day in May,
1895, when hunting on horseback over tlie
grassy plain bordering the Pacific coast of the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec. As I rode slowly
along, a big jack rabbit hopped deliberately
from its form in the grass a few yards away,
and by the contraction of a special set of mus-
cles along tlie back drew the dark-colored dor-
sal area forward and together so that it formed
only a narrow band on the middle of the back,
with a corresponding extension of the white
area on the rump and sides until, as the animal
moved diagonally away, it looked almost en-
tirely white.

At a distance of fifty or sixty yards it came
to a stop, and expanded and contracted the
dark dorsal area, thus producing a "flashing"
effect with the changing area of white on the
sides and rump. This solved the riddle of the
mirror-like white flashes I liad often seen as
jack rabbits on the tableland had dashed away

in the brilliant sunshine. The same habit of
"flashing" the white was afterwards observed
in the species of southwestern New ^Mexico and
southwestern Arizona, demonstrating the ap-
propriateness of the name, "antelope jack rab-
bit," given them by the ranchmen.

Formerly the antelope jack rabbit of Arizona
was common on the plains about Tucson,
where inany were shot for rifle practice. They
are now comparatively scarce in that district,
and are never so excessively abundant as the
common species of the West now and then
becomes. They have an extraordinary appear-
ance as, with their great ears erect, they stand
poised on their long, thin legs. When alarmed,
they leap away with amazing celerity in long,
high bounds. They are usually much more
shy and alert than the common jack rabbits
and at times are far more difficult to stalk than
antelope. A peculiarly appropriate setting to
this remarkable species is found in the strange
and wonderful growth of giant cactuses, yuccas,
creosote bushes, fouquerias, palo verde, and
other desert vegetation of the plains in Arizona
and Sonora.

Like other hares, the antelope jack rabbits
occupy forms vmder bushes or in the shelter of
little patches of coarse vegetation. The only
exception to this rule I have seen was west of
the city of Guadalajara, on the Mexican table-
land. There one summer day, in the midst of
a lovely open valley covered with short, velvety
green grass and dotted with scattered acacia
bushes, a caracara eagle suddenly swooped
down upon a young white-sided jack rabbit. In
mortal terror the little beast dashed away at
great speed, the caracara casting at it repeat-
edly from a height of fifteen or twenty feet
and each time striking the ground just behind.
The young animal ran not less than five him-
drcd yards, straight for a little bush on a small
bank, where it vanished as by magic.

The caracara was close behind and, alight-
ing, ran round and round the trunk of
the bush, craning its neck and apparently as
surprised as myself at this sudden disappear-
ance. Riding over to investigate, I found,
partly concealed by coarse grass, the entrance
of a burrow large enough to admit an adult
jack rabbit. It extended almost horizontally
into the bank for about eighteen inches, and
then, turning abruptly to the left, ended in. a
rounded chamber some fifteen inches in diam-
eter, in which the young jack rabbit lay snugly
ensconced. It appeared altogether probable
that this burrow had been made by the old
jack rabbit as a shelter for her young, one of
which in its extreme need had again souglit
asylum there.

White-sided jack rabbits are frequently
found in pairs, occupying forms in close prox-
imity to one another. More rarely several
may be found in a small area. When driven
from the forms, they often run in a wide circle,
and in the course of half an hour or more
may be detected returning slyly and watchfully
from a direction nearly opposite to that in
whicli they departed.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

487

THE CALIFORNIA
JACK RABBIT

(Lepus californicus

and its subspecies)

(For illustration, see
page 30")

rt fore

The common hares,_ or
gray-sided "jack rabbits"
of the Western States,
are among our best
known and most in-
teresting mammals. They
are characterized by long,
thin necks, long ears
tipped with black, long-
legs, grayish sides differ-
ing but little from the
color of the back, and a
rather long tail, black on
its upper side and dingy
gray below.

They are alnmdant and
generally distributed over
a vast and mainly tree-
less area in middle Nortli
America extending from
western Missouri and
eastern Texas to the Pa-
cific coast, and from the
border of South Dakota

and the Columbia River X'alley of Washington
south over the tableland of Mexico and through-
out the peninsula of Lower California. Within
this region tliey range from sea level up to an
altitude of over 9,000 feet. Li the North they
experience severe winters witli much snow, but
never show any winter whitening of their furry
coat, as do more northern hares.

The gray-sided hares over all this extended
range belong to a single species, typified by the
California jack rabbit. The area thus occupied
includes ijiany different climatic and other
physical conditions, from the sweeping grassy
plains of Kansas to the juniper and pine dotted
plateaus of the Rocky Mountain region, the
foggy coast of California, the hot cactus-
grown deserts of the Southwest, and the cool
elevations of the Mexican tableland.

This varying environment has worked on the
plastic organization of the species and modified
it into a considerable number of well-marked
geographic races which together make up the
gray-sided group of jack rabbits, in contrast
with the white-sided group already described.
Some of the races are very dissimilar in color,
but each merges imperceptibly into its neigh-
boring races, and the group thus forms an im-
broken chain of subspecies.

Like other hares, the jack rabbits are both
diurnal and nocturnal in habits. They do not
burrow, but make forms among dense growths
of grass or weeds, or under bushes, where they
lie hidden. It is a question whether they have
more than one litter a season, although it is
known that in some parts of their range young
are born at all times throughout the spring

t h'nci

n ■

Wa.lk

1 ny

A OU.XDRUPED WITH BIPED TRACK: THE COMMON CAT

The cat does not show its claws in the track. In walking, the
hind foot is set exactly in the track of the front foot; this perfect
register offers many advantages and makes for a silent tread. The
track of the cat will probably be noticed more than that of any other
.-.iiimal, owing to the large numbers of them in every locality.

and summer. From one to six are produced
at a time, fully clothed in fur and with their
eyes open. Within a few days they leave the
"form" and run about like little furry balls.
Even at this early period they are amazingly
alert and skillful in evading capture by quickly
doubling and zigzagging when pursued.

Througliout its range the gray-sided jack
rabbit is preyed upon by a host of enemies, in-
cluding wolves, coyotes, wildcats, eagles, and
several species of hawks and owls. As a result
it has become extremely cunning and watchful.
It is a beautiful sight to observe the cautious
grace with wdiich one that suspects danger but
thinks itself unobserved will quietly move out
of its form, pause like a statue for a few sec-
onds, then raise its body into a sitting posture
and look keenly about, its great upstanding ears
turning sensitively to one side and the other,
delicately testing the air for sound waves,
which may spell approaching peril.

If not alarmed it may then move slowly
along by a series of easy little hops, occasion-
ally varied by the single-footed gait of most
other mammals. At such times the ears are
often raised and lowered as though worked
by some mechanism. If the rabbit becomes
alarmed, however, it leaps away in quick,
springy and graceful bounds, now and then
making a high soaring leap as if to command
a better view.

These occasional high leaps mark the first
stages of alarm. In greater stress, when pur-
sued by a coyote or other swift-footed enemy,
the jack rabbit indulges in no such showy per-
formances, but gets down to serious work, and

488

THE NATIONAL GI'OGRAPHIC AIAGAZINE

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■JIII-; 'IRACKS OF THE JACK RABBIT

Tlic tracks of the western jack rabbit re-
seml)le those of the cottontail (se': r^ge 49- )>
but tlie feet are seldom paired; a typical set
is seen in the lower left-hand corner. The
bounds cover lo, I2, or even 15 feet each.
The tail is held down, so that it leaves a mark
in the snow between each bound. Sometimes
the animal makes a spy-hop — that is, hops up
high to look around. This is seen in the track.

developing marvelous action in a continuous
series of rapid, low stretching leaps, with ears
lying flat along the shoulders, it skims over the
ground almost as swiftly as a bird. Coursing
jack rabbits with greyhounds was for many
years a favorite sport in different parts of the
West. No other dog has much chance for suc-
cess in the open pursuit of these animals.

Ordinarily jack rabbits are mute, but when
wounded and caught thev not infrequently
utter a series of long-drawn wailing shrieks
which are movingly expressive of terror and
pain.

Since the settlement of the Western States
numberless predatory animals have been killed
and at the same time the cultivation of the soil
has produced a dependable increase in the food
supply. These changes have resulted in the
sporadic increase of jack rabbits in many parts
of their range, from Texas to Oregon, until at
times they have become a serious menace to
agriculture.

During such periods of abundance they in-
vade fields and devastate grain, forage crops,
vineyards, and young orchards. In places they
sometimes actually destroy entire crops and
force settlers to abandon their locations. In
winter they swarm about haystacks and de-
stroy many tons of hay. Depredations of this
character were committed by them on a con-
siderable scale during 1916 in parts of Oregon,
Idaho, and Utah.

During the early development of the San
Joaquin Valley, California, jack rabbits became
such an intolerable pest that great community
drives were organized. Large woven wire cor-
rals with wing fences leading away several
miles from the entrance were built on the
open plains. Tlie occasions of the drives were
made public holidays through all the surround-
ing region, and people gathered sometimes to
the number of from 5,000 to 8,000. A great
line of beaters was formed, miles in length,
and the jack rabbits were driven between wing
fences into corrals. Four such drives in
Fresno County In the spring of 1892 resulted in
the destruction of 40,000 jack rabbits, one drive
netting more than 20,000 animals.

At this time the level floor of the San Joa-
quin Valley was crossed l)y numberless well-
worn rabbit trails six or eight inches broad and
one or two inches deep, extending in long
straight lines sometimes for miles. On ap-
proaching a patch of large weeds one often
saw twenty or thirtv jack rabbits dash out and,
after hopping away a short distance, sit with
upstanding ears to look curiously at the in-
truder.

It is a general rule that when any species of
animal becomes extremely numerous it loses
its ordinary wariness and, conversely, when its
numbers are materially reduced its wariness is
greatly increased. The periods of abundance
01 jack rabbits usually extend through several
years until, at the height of their increase, a
contagious malady suddenly sweeps them away
almost to the point of extinction, as in the case
of the varying liare. A period of years fol-
lows during which their nunilocrs are slowly
recovered.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

489

Jack rabbits are specially adapted for life on
great plains, where speed and the ability to
subsist on almost any form of vegetation are
prime qualities. They are as grotesquely char-
acteristic of the Western States as the kan-
garoos were of Australia, and have _ entered
largely into the literature of the region they
occupy.

THE VARYING HARES (Lepus ameri-
canus and its relatives)

{For Ulustration, sec page ^o^)

The varying hares, white rabbits, or snow-
shoe rabbits, as they are known, form a small
group of closely related species and geographic
races of hares peculiar to northern North
America. They sometimes attain a weight of
five pounds and are about half the size of the
arctic hares, which they resemble in form, ex-
cept that they are more heavily built and have
proportionately shorter legs and larger hind
feet.

With a single exception they become white
in winter and change to dusk}^ or brownish in
summer. The molt from the brown summer
coat to the white winter one occurs with the
arrival of winter snows, the exact time varying
according to the season, the reverse change in
spring being governed in a similar way by the
disappearance of the snow. In the southern
part of their range the change to the white
winter coat is less complete than in the North.
There has been much controversy over the
manner of this change in color, some maintain-
ing that on the approach of winter the hairs
turn white with the first snow. It has been
definitely proved, however, that both seasonal
changes are due to molt.

The Washington hare (Lepus washingtoni) ,
which remains brown throughout the year, is
the exception to the rule of white winter coats
in this group of hares. It lives in the cool,
dense forests of the humid coast belt of Wash-
ington and adjacent part of British Columbia,
where the snowfall does not affect its pelage.

In winter the large hind feet of the varying
hares and their long, spreading toes are en-
tirely covered with a heavy coat of hair, form-
ing broad snowshoe-like pads, which enable
their possessors to move about freely over the
soft snow, a peculiarity that has given rise to
one of the names in common use.

In cool, forested regions varying hares range
from A-Iaine and extreme eastern Canada, in-
cluding Newfoundland, to the Pacific coast,
and from _ the stunted bushes bordering the
northern limit of trees south to the northern
border of the_ United States and beyond, fol-
lowing the higher Alleghenies to West Vir-
ginia, the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico,
and well down the Sierra Nevada in Cali-
fornia.

As in the case of other species, these hares
make "forms" in which they lie by day, for
they are mainly nocturnal in habits. The mat-
ing season occurs in early spring, when the

males become very restless, several sometime?
congregating in the same vicinity and occa-
sionally fighting and chasing one another about.
At this time, as well as at other seasons, snow-
shoe rabbits have a habit of thumping rapidly
on the ground, making a dull sound audible for
some distance. This is probably done with the
hind feet, as is known to be the case with the
European rabbit.

The thumping is apparently a signal and
may be a part of the mating display, but is
also used for warning purposes. Hunters in
northern Canada call these rabbits by making
a harsh squeaking noise with their lips. Some-
times they become so eager and excited on
hearing this call that with odd little grunting'
sounds they come bounding close up to the
hunter.

The young, varying from two to seven, are
born in nests made of dry leaves, grasses, and
other suitable vegetation, warmly lined with
hair from the mother's body, and usually hid-
den under brush or in dense vegetation. The
young, which have their eyes open and are
fully furred at birth, within a few days leave
the nest and move freely about. Altliough the
mother snowshoe rabbit will defend her young
at first even at the risk of her life, when they
are half grown she leaves them to shift for
themselves. Young hares of various ages
when caught often utter slirill squealing cries
of fright and the older animals when wounded
and caught sometimes do the same.

Periiaps through living so constantly in low
ground, among swamps and along streams,
varying hares become less averse to entering
water than most of their kind. In the delta of
the Yukon River I saw many places where they
had crossed small streams in spring, their wet
tracks entering and leaving the water, thus
furnisliing unmistakable evidence. Curiously
enough, when caught by a flood they will take
refuge on stumps or other support and often
remain to starve rather than swim ashore.

In summer, owing to tlieir nocturnal habits
and the dense thickets they inhabit, varying
hares are rarely seen unless they are unusually
plentiful. In winter their presence is known
by their conspicuous tracks, leading in every
direction through their haunts. A single ani-
mal will in one night so thoroughly track the
snow in a patch of woods it gives the impres-
sion that several must have been there.

In river bottoms, among densely wooded
swamps, these rabbits frequently make definite
beaten runways in the snow ; runways are also
made tlirough thickets in their summer haunts.
This habit renders it easy to snare them, and
enormous numbers are thus captured every
winter.

They feed on a variety of small herbage in
summer and in winter depend on buds, twigs,
and the bark of slirubs and small trees. They
are specially fond of willows, and their winter
distribution in many districts is governed by
the abundance of willow thickets.

Varying hares are one of the most important
mammals of the northern fur country. They
are generallv distributed and exist in such num-

490

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

f-^

SvoWshoe^
rabbit fjs.

to
o

-ItoZft

4P*.

f^-

/oft

■,i^-'

FOOTPRINTS O!" 'inK VARYING HARK, OR SNOWSllOK RARl'.TT

The great size of the feet from wliicli the creature is named is a strong- feature of the track,
distinguishing it from tiiat of the cottontail and others (see pages 4S9 and 507)

bers that the}' are an important source of food
supply both to the Indians and to such preda-
tory birds and mammals as the great horned
and snowy owls, the goshawk, gyrfalcon, lynx,
fox, ermine, fisher, and others. The skins are
also used by the Indians for robes.

Under favorable conditions they steadily in-
crease until they become enormously plentiful

over great areas. After this swarming abun-
dance continues for several seasons it reaches
a maximum, and then, as in the case of many
other mannnals when similarly overabundant,
a mysterious malady suddenly attacks and
sweejis them off, until within a year or two they
iiecome rare o\cr the entire area. Tlie people
of the fur c;:unlry believe these changes in

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

491

numbers run in cycles of about seven years
each.

As the hares increase in numbers some of
the birds and mammals which prey upon them
increase proportionately. This is specially
marked with the big northern lynxes. The
skins of varying hares are gathered and sent
to the London fur market with other furs, in-
cluding those of lynxes. In the records of
sales of the Hudson's Bay Company there are
direct increases of the numbers of Canada
lynx skins sold corresponding with the in-
creases in the sales of varying hare skins. As
the number of hare skins abruptly decreases
following the outbreak of epidemics among
them, there are correspondingly abrupt de-
creases in the numbers of lynx skins sold.

This correlation is shown in the records ex-
tending back many years and illustrates the
interdependence in nature between the vari-
ous forms of animal life. The far-reaching
tragic effect of the sudden disappearance of
the snowshoe rabbits is not confined to the
wild habitants of the forest, as it has not_ in-
frequently brought starvation and death into
many lonely Indian lodges in the great north-
ern wilderness.

THE ARCTIC HARE (Lepus arcticus and

its relatives)

{Por illustration, see page $io)

Many parts of the northernmost circumpolar
lands are occupied by large hares, which attain
a weight of more than ten pounds. They are
about the size of large jack rabbits, but are
more heavily proportioned, with much shorter
ears and shorter, stronger legs. There are sev-
eral species and geographic races of these ani-
mals, all of which are snowy white in winter
except for a small black tip on each ear. In
summer the southern arctic hares change to
a nearly uniform dull iron gray or grayish
brown. The northernmost animals of Elles-
mere Land and north Greenland, where the
summer is brief and severe arctic conditions
prevail, retain their white coat throughout the
year.

In keeping with the cold climate of their ter-
ritory, the furry coat of the arctic hares is
long and thick, especially in winter, when the
ears, legs, and even the soles of *^he feet, as
well as the body, are heavily furred. The
coats of the hares of north Greenland and ad-
jacent region are so heavy and fleecelike that
during the spring molt they come off in felted
patches as the new coat is assumed, giving the
hares a curiously ragged appearance.

In the region between the areas in which the
summer coat remains wholly white and where
it is completely changed to grayish, there is a
gradual transition, with the lessening severity
of the climate, through every intermediate de-
gree between the two. As in the case of the
snowshoe rabbit, the large hind feet and long
spreading toes of its big northern relative are
so heavily covered with hair that they form
broad fluffy pads, which enable the hares to
travel lightly over the arctic snowfields.

The distribution of arctic hares is confined
to the barrens or tundras beyond the limit of
trees. They range practically to the land's end
of northern Greenland and Ellesmere Land.
To the southward in North America they range
down the coast of Labrador and across to
Newfoundland, where they are limited to the
open barrens. They also occur along the
shores of Hudson Bay and follow the tundras
bordering Bering Sea to the peninsula of
Alaska.

In Ellesmere Land they are reported to be
extraordinarily numerous at times in certain
little valleys, and tlie fur traders on the coast
south of the Yukon Delta informed me of
similar gatherings in spring on gently sloping
hillsides in that region. Photographs taken in
Ellesmere Land show many of these hares
scattered over a small area, each crouched in
a compact form and all heading in the same
direction to face the wind. Such gatherings,
at least those in Alaska, occur during the
mating period, after which the animals scatter
over the area they occupy.

An account of the big northern hares would
be incomplete without reference to the wliite-
tailed jack rabbit, the largest of all American
hares and a near relative of the arctic species.
It attains a weight of twelve pounds or more
and appears like a giant of its kind. It has
longer legs than the arctic hare and a longer
tail. In summer it is grayish or buffy, with a
conspicuous pure white tail. Throughout most
of its range in winter it becomes pure white
except the black tips to the ears, but near the
southern border the change to white is not so
complete as in the North. The distribution of
the white-tailed jack rabbit extends from Min-
nesota to the Cascade Mountains and from the
Saskatchewan River, in Alberta, south to south-
ern Colorado.

Arctic hares have from one to seven young
in a litter each spring. Owing to the climatic
conditions under which they exist, it is doubt-
ful if more than a single litter is born each
year.

The manner in which animal life adapts it-
self to its environment is beautifully illustrated
by the arctic hares of north Greenland and
Ellesmere Land. There the conditions are rig-
orously arctic and continuous winter night ex-
tends through a period of several months. In
all this region the scanty and dwarfed vegeta-
tion is covered with snow and ice the larger
part of the year. The hares living there are,
with little question, a geographic race of those
living farther south, but have developed into
larger and stronger animals, with heavier fur,
to meet the sterner conditions of life.

Their claws are nnich larger and heavier, so
tliat they may dig tlie snow from tlie hidden
herbage. Most marvelous of all, the anterior
ends of both jaws are lengthened and the in-
cisors set so that they project and meet at an
acute angle, thus serving, tweezerlike, more
readily to pick out the lowly vegetation im-
bedded in the snow.

In most parts of their range arctic hares are
scarce and rarely encountered. Each winter
during my residence on the coast of Bering

492

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

. f

-c^

to^

o -CI.
s9

i f

olton.t2LiL

THE COTTONTAII. KAlJlilT S IKACK

The large set of four tracks at the top gives
the maximum possible of detail, which is very
rarely seen. The lower figure at the right-
hand corner is a typical track (tt). At the
set marked "sitting" the tail mark is seen, and
in this only are the fore-feet tracks ahead of
the hind tracks. The cottontail has five toes on
the front feet, but only four ever show in the
track (see page 510).

Sea the Eskimos killed only a few individuals.
They were siiy and watchful and the himters
sometimes followed one on snowshoes all day
over the tundra without securing it. In the
Iiigh North they appear to be more numerous
in places, judging from the number killed for
food by members of polar expeditions. Their
flesh is excellent, but a little dry. Their natu-
ral enemies include wolves, foxes, weasels, gyr-
falcons, and snowy owls, all of which share
their desolate haunts and join in destroying
them.

The winter skins of arctic hares have a beau-
tiful snowy white pelage, which make warm
garments and sleeping robes for the North, but
are too delicate to withstand nnich service.

THE COTTONTAIL RABBITS (Sylvi-
lagus floridanus and its relatives)

{For illustration, sec page 510)

North America has several species of hares,
but no typical representative of the European
rabbit. The American cottontails and their
near relatives, the brush rabbits and others,
combine characteristics of both the hares and
ralibits, but are most like the rabbits, of which
they appear to form aberrant groups.

The cottontails are distinctly smaller than
most of the American hares and average from
two to three pounds in weight. They are
otherwise contrasted with the hares by their
short ears, proportionately shorter and smaller
legs and feet, and by the fluffy snow-white
underside of the tail, which shows so conspic-
uously as they run that it lias given them
their distinctive name.

The American mammals to which the term
■'rabbit" may be properly applied include not
only the cottontails, but numerous otiier species
closely similar in form and general appear-
ance, but lacking the cottony white tail. As a
group, these rabbits have a far greater distri-
inition in America than the hares. They range
from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific and from
the southern border of Canada south througii
Central and South America to Argentina.
Their vertical distribution extends from sea
level to above timberline, attaining an altitude
of more than 14,000 feet on Mount Orizaba,
Mexico.

In the United States cottontails are so nu-
merous and generally distributed that tlicy are
well known to nearly every one. They inhabit
all kinds of country, from the deciduous for-
ests of the Eastern States to the grassy or
brush-grown plains and pine-clad mountain
slopes of the West and the sun-scorched des-
erts of the Southwest. As a result of this
extended distribution and the variety of con-
ditions in the areas occupied, these rabbits in-
clude numerous species and geographic races,
which in some instances difi^er greatly in ap-
pearance.

Cottontails are especially conunon about the
brushy borders of cultivated lands throughout
the country, and in fertile brush-grown areas
of foothills, valleys, and river bottoms of the

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

493

West. They are mainly nocturnal, and in areas
where there is an abundance of natural cover
in the way of brushy thickets and dense grass
commonly make concealed "forms" in which
they lie safely hidden.

In areas where shelter is represented by scat-
tered bushes and a comparatively thin growth
of other vegetation they generally occupy bur-
rows in the ground. These may be holes de-
serted by badgers or prairie-dogs or dug by
themselves under a rock or other object. Hol-
low logs or natural cavities and crevices among
the rocks are also frequented. When pursued
by dogs, hares as a rule rely solely on their
speed for safety, while the cottontails take ref-
uge in the first hole they can reach.

Everywhere in their territory, as the shades
of night approach, the cottontails come forth
from their hiding places and skip merrily about
in open ground on the borders of thickets and
similar shelter, where they search for the ten-
der green vegetation on which they love to
feed. After it becomes too dark to distinguish
their forms, the white tail may be seen twink-
ling about in the dusk. During the night they
are often revealed in country roads by the head
lights of automobiles.

Several litters of from two to six young
usually appear during the spring and summer.
These are born blind and practically naked,
their unclad helplessness strongly contrasting
with the open-eyed, fully furred, and alert
young of the hares at the same age. This is a
conclusive indication of the close relationship
between cottontails and European rabbits, the
young of the latter being similarly, but even
more, undeveloped at birth.

The young of the cottontails are born in
nests made of dead grasses warmly lined with
fur from the mother's body. If above ground
the nest is placed in a little depression and so
artfully concealed by a covering of dead
grasses that it can be discovered only by acci-
dent. When caught, young cottontails utter
little cries of alarm ; the wounded adults some-
times shriek in terror.

From the early settlement of the United
States to the present day cottontails have been
so abundant that they have served as a valuable
source of our game food supply. They are
hunted with guns and with dogs, as well as
being snared and trapped. Enormous num-
bers, running into the millions, are killed in
this country yearly, but they are so prolific that
they hold their own in a surprising degree.

Their abundance in many places, however,
has made them a serious pest to agriculture.
They eat growing alfalfa and other forage
plants, many kinds of cultivated vegetables,
young grape vines, and nursery stock and even
kill orchard trees by gnawing the bark from
the base of the trunks. As a result those who
suffer from their depredations consider them
pests to be destroyed, while others look upon
them as desirable game animals to be protected
by law.

As game animals the cottontails furnish
some of the most delightful and interesting
sport available to American hunters. The

scurrymg zigzag rush of a cottontail for the
nearest shelter is so full of energetic motion
that it always excites a pleasurable thrill in the
observer, and even the keenest sportsman has
so friendly a feeling for these Httle animals
that the escape of one of them from an unsuc-
cessful shot nearly always leaves a feeling of
humorous amusement. t

The cottontails have a secure place in Amer-
ican literature and folklore. Who has not read
the \vonder stories of the adventures of "Brer
Rabbit" and ever after had a warmer feeling
of fellowship for his kind? The presence of
cottontails is a source of pleasure to children
of all ages, and their disappearance from the
wild life of a locality creates a more deeply
felt blank than would the passing of many a
nobler animal.

THE MARSH RABBIT (Sylvilagus palus-
tris and its relatives)

{For illustration, sec page ^ii)

The marsh rabbit, or "pontoon," as it is
known in Georgia, is a distinctively American
species alhed to the cottontails, but distin-
guished from them by its more heavily propor-
tioned body, smaller ears, shorter and slenderer
legs and feet, and shorter, nearly unicolored
tail. Its only close relative in the United
States is the swamp rabbit, known in Alabama
as the "cane-cutter."

These two species appear to be members of a
Tropical American group of which other mem-
bers are the wood rabbits of Mexico, Central
and South America. The distribution of the
group was probably at one time continuous, but
a change to arid conditions in northeastern
Mexico and Texas isolated the two species re-
maining in this country.

The distribution of the marsh rabbit is lim-
ited to the soutlieastern coastal States from
Dismal Swamp, Virginia, to Mobile Bay, Ala-
bama. It is common in suitable places in Flor-
ida. Its larger relative, the swamp rabbit,
ranges west from this area to Texas and up
the Mississippi Valley to Illinois and. southeast-
ern Kansas. Swamp rabbits are numerous in
the low, wooded coastal region of Louisiana.
They are larger and longer-legged than marsh
rabbits and fleeter of foot.

Among all the rabbits of the world the marsh
and swamp rabbits are the only species which
have aquatic habits. Both live mainly in
marshes, wooded swamps, and along the low
wooded courses of streams. Other rabbits and
liares are occasionally known to cross water
by swimming, but the marsh and swamp rab-
bits live about the water and take to it with
all the freedom of a muskrat or mink. The
marsh rabbit appears to be the more aquatic of
the two, as the swamp rabbit sometimes lives
in the forest, farther back from the water.

The Tropical wood rabbits are habitants of
the dense forests, where they are well hidden
under the rank undergrowth. They are not
known to enter the water, but, like their north-
ern relatives, make runways through the dense

494

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

vegetation they frequent. The marsh rabbits
live in cypress or other fresh-water swamps,
heavily wooded bottoms, and fresh water, as
well as brackish marshes. They feed on a va-
riety of vegetation growing in such places and
dig up such edible roots as the wild potato and
amaryllis.

Both marsh and swamp rabbits have several
litters of from two to six young each season,
laeginning in April. The young are born in
large, well-made covered nests, which are built
of rushes, grasses, and leaves and lined with
hair from the parents. The nests, which have
an entrance on one side, are usually located in
the midst of dense growths of vegetation or on
tussocks, in low, swampy places, and are some-
times surrounded by water. In the most fre-
quented parts of marsh and swamp these rab-
bits make well-trodden trails through the dense
vegetation.

When alarmed, marsh rabbits run for tlie
nearest water, into which they plunge and swim
quickly to the shelter of aquatic plants or other
cover. When cut off from escape by water
they try to avoid capture by doubling and turn-
ing, but are so short-legged that they are read-
ily overtaken by a dog. The tracks of these
rabbits in the mud differ from those of the
cottontails in showing imprints of the spread-
ing toes.

In South Carolina Bachman once found nu-
merous marsh rabbits in the thickets about re-
cently flooded rice fields and swamps.^ When
he beat the bushes the rabbits plunged into the
water and swam away so rapidly that some
escaped from a Newfoundland dog which ac-
companied him. Several, apparently thinking
themselves unnoticed, stopped and remained
motionless about fifteen yards from the shore,
with only their eyes and noses showing above
water. Thus concealed in the muddy water,
with ears laid flat on their necks, they were
difficult to see. When touched with a stick
they appeared unwilling to move until they saw
that they were discovered, when they quickly
swam away.

Later, when the water subsided to its regular
channels, where it was about eight feet deep,
many of the rabbits were seen swimming
about, meeting and pursuing one another as if
in sport. One which Bachman had in captivity
during warm weather would lie for hours in a
trough partly filled with water, with which the
cage was furnished.

THE PIKA, OR CONY (Ochotona prin-
ceps and its relatives)

(For illustration, sec page ^ii)

The pika, little chief hare, or cony, as it is
variously named, is among the most attractive
and interesting of our mountain animals. It
is about the size and shape of a small guinea-
pig, with a short, blunt head, broad, rounded
ears, short legs, practically no tail, and a long,
fluffy coat of fur. While most nearly related
to the hares and rabbits, it has very different
habits.

The pikas form a group comprising many
species, much alike in general appearance and
distributed among the high mountains, frorn
the Urals of Russia through Asia and north-
ern North America. In Asia they occur mainly
in the mountains through the middle of the
continent south to the Himalayas. In Pleisto-
cene time they ranged across Europe to Eng-
land. In North America they are limited to
the western side of the continent, from the
Mount McKinley region of Alaska down the
Rocky Mountains to New Mexico and along
the Cascades and Sierra Nevada to the Mount
Whitney region, in California.

Giving to these North American animals the
appellation "cony" is one of many instances in
which the name of an Old World animal is
brought to America to designate a totally un-
related species. Once fixed in current use, the
misapplied term is certain to persist.

Pikas are among the few mammals which
live permanently along the high crests of the
mountains, mainly above timberline, but they
also descend in rock slides among the upper
spruces, firs, and pines. The altitude of their
haunts varies with the latitude, being between
8,000 and 13,500 feet in the United States, but
in Alaska much lower.

In these cool, alpine regions the little ani-
mals live wholly within the shelter of rock
slides and among the crevices of shattered rock
masses. Their distribution is unaccountably
broken, and although abundant in many places,
they are absent from many others equally suit-
able. Their homes are in the midst of the
flower-bedecked glacial valleys and basins, the
haunts of the big marmots and mountain sheep.

They are mainly diurnal in habits, and
throughout the day may be heard their odd
little barking, or bleating note, like the sylla-
bles "eh-eh" repeated at intervals in a nasal
tone, resembling the sound made by squeez-
ing a toy dog. Occasionally they may be heard
barking at night, perhaps when disturbed by
some prowling enemy. Their notes have a cu-
riously ventriloquial quality, which renders it
difficult to locate the animals uttering them.

Owing to their dull gray or brownish colors,
the pikas blend with their background so com-
pletely that when quietly sitting on a rock they
are extremely difficult to see. Even when run-
ning about at a little distance they are not
easily noted. Their movements are quick and
they scamper over the rough surface of a rock
slide with surprising agility.

Little is known of their more intimate life
history. Their young, three or four in num-
ber, are born usually during the first half of
summer and are out foraging when less than
half-grown.

Small, bright eyes and big, rounded cars give
pikas an odd and attractive' appearance, unlike
that of any other mountain animal. They are
extremely watchful and at the first alarm dis-
appear in the shelter of their rocky fortresses.
Their little bark, however, continues to come
up from their hiding places vvitii constant itera-
tion. If the observer will sit quietly at some
good vantage point his patience will eventually

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

495

be rewarded by the appearance of the pika on
the top of a stone near the mouth of its retreat.

After a time, if everything is quiet, it re-
sumes its scampering about over the rocks or
may come to the border of the shde and make
little excursions across the open ground after
some of its forage plants. Skipping nimbly
from the border of the slides to neighboring
patches of vegetation, sometimes fifty or more
feet awa3^ the pika nips off the stems of short
grasses or other plants and taking them up,
like small bundles, crosswise in its mouth, runs
back to add them to its "stacks." These sallies
rre quick little runs, made as though in fear of
being long away from the safety of the rocks.
Caution is needful, how-ever, in a world where
lurk such enemies as coyotes, lynxes, foxes,
weasels, hawks, and owls.

During late summer the pikas have the extra-
ordinary habit of gathering stores of small
herbage in piles containing sometimes a bushel
each, usually well sheltered in dry places under
the rocks where they live. Pikas are active all
winter, and these little stacks of well-cured hay,
containing a great variety of small plants,
serve them as food during the severe cold sea-
son, when at these high altitudes they are
buried under many feet of snow.

In pleasant weather, near the end of summer,
visitors to the mountains of Colorado, Glacier
National Park, the high slopes of Mount
Shasta, or of the Sierra Nevada may have the
pleasure of watching the pikas hard at work
doing their "haying." One of their "stacks"
in the mountains of New Mexico contained
thirty-four kinds of plants, including many
flowers. No one who once becomes acquainted
with these unique and gentle little animals will
ever cease to remember them with friendly in-
terest.

THE PORCUPINE (Erethizon dorsatum

and its relatives)

(For illustration, sec page ^14)

The porcupine is one of the most grotesque
of the smaller North American mammals.
With a weight of from fifteen to twenty
pounds, its heavy body is supported on short
legs, the feet resting flat on the ground like
those of the raccoon, instead of on the toes, as
in most small animals.

Its strongest peculiarity is the specialized
development of most of the fur into rigid,
sharp-pointed spines or "quills" from half an
inch to over three inches in length. That the
spines represent the underfur of ordinary
mammals is evident from the fact that they
are overlaid by long, coarse guard hairs, some-
times several times their length.

The spiny armament usually lies flat on
the body, but when the animal is excited or
alarmed it may be raised, by special muscles
on the imderside of the skin, into a bristling
array of barbed points. The spines are so
slightly attached that when their points enter
the skin of an enemy they at once become free
at the base. The points firmly set in the skin

1 ; V t h.

cr-

•C_.

&.S

THE TI^\IL OF A FIELD OR MEADOW MOUSE

When compared with that of the deermouse,
one notes the absence of the tail mark and the
rarit}' of the fore feet being paired (see pages
505 and 522).

of another animal, the spines can be withdrav.ii
only with considerable effort, and if left will
gradually work deeper and may traverse a
considerable part of the victim's body before
finally becoming encysted.

When assailed the porcupine turns down its
head, arches its back, and, on firmly planted
feet with all its spines erected into a bristling
cover, awaits the enemy. The instant its body
is touched the club-shaped tail, armed witii
a multitude of spines, is swung vigorously
around and the animal so incautious as to re-
ceive the blow is pierced by a host of stinging
darts which, freed from tlie porcupine, remain
to torment the aggressor. Tliis swift and ef-
fective sweep of the tail has probably given
rise to the idea that the porcupine can "shoot"
its quills when defending itself.

Despite its defensive powers, however, the
I)orcupine is, on occasion, successfully attacked
by various enemies, including the mountain
lion, bobcat, fisher, and even the eagle and
great horned owl. The fisher is said habitually
to kill and feed upon them, and the encysted
quills are commonly found under its skin.

The frightful eft'ect of an ill-judged attack
on a porcupine is shown by inexperienced dogs

496

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

after their first encounter with this strange
beast. That such an attack is a dangerous
venture, even by the craftiest and most power-
ful of its enemies, is well demonstrated by
occasional fatahties among large carnivores
which result from the great mass of spines im-
bedded in their heads and bodies.

The North American porcupine is a north-
ern animal belonging mainly to coniferous for-
ests, and ranges from sea level to timberline.
It originally occupied nearly all the forested
parts of the continent south to West Virginia,
southern Illinois, the Davis Mountains of west-
ern Texas, and the southern end of the Sierra
Nevada in California, but was absent from the
Southeastern States and the lower Mississippi
Valley.

While characteristically a woodland animal,
at times it wanders from forest shelters and
has been found prowling about above timber-
line on high mountains, and among alder thick-
ets beyond the limit of trees in the far North.
They "are usually silent, but at times utter a
curious squealing cry, and in addition have a
variety of snuffing, growling, and chattering
noises.

In the forests of tropical America, from
Mexico to Brazil, other and shorter-quilled
porcupines occur, characterized by smaller size
and slenderer bodies with a long tail, the ter-
minal half of which is naked and prehensile
like that of an opossum. These animals in-
habit forests where no conifers grow, and are
much more arboreal in habits than their north-
ern relatives. Still other and even more strik-
ingly different porcupines occur in Europe,
Asia, and Africa, some of the African animals
having heavy spines more than twelve inches
long.

All porcupines are true rodents, and the
name hedgehog is erroneously used when ap-
plied to any of them. Hedgehogs are small OM
World insect-eatmg mammals, which have their
backs covered with porcupine-like spines, but
are in no way related to the porcupines.

The American porcupines are mainly noc-
turnal, although they sometimes wander about
by day. While largely arboreal in habits, they
pass much of their time on the ground and
commonly have their dens in caves at the bases
of cliffs, under the shelter of large rocks, logs,
piles of brush, or in hollows at the bases of
trees. They are sluggish, stupid animals, with
poor sight, and are unable to move rapidly,
cither in a tree or on the ground.

Although on the ground they are extremely
deliberate, in the treetops they are even more
sluggish and can be compared only with the
sloth. In consequence they are practically
helpless in the presence of an enemy except
for the defense afforded by their spiny armor.
That in most cases this is effective is evidenced
by their continued presence throughout a large
part of their original range where forests still
exist.

Porcupines are solitary animals, totally de-
void of any qualities of good fellowship with
their kind, but the attraction of woodland
camps often brings a number together. They

are exceedingly fond of salt and persistently
return to camps to gnaw logs, boards, or any
other object having a salty flavor.

They appear to be practically omnivorous so
far as vegetable matter is concerned and feed
upon the bark and twigs of spruces, hemlocks,
several species of pines, cottonwoods, alders,
and other trees and bushes. In orchards and
gardens near their haunts they eat apples, tur-
nips, and other fruits and vegetables and visit
the shores of ponds for waterlily pads and
other aquatic plants growing within reach.

Ordinarily they eat patches of bark from the
tree trunks, but sometimes girdle the tree or at
times denude the entire trunk. They often re-
main for weeks in the top of a single tree, even
in the severest winter weather. I had a practi-
cal illustration of this on one occasion when
stormbound in a fur trader's cabin at the head
of Norton Bay, on the north coast of Bering
Sea, where a belt of spruces reached down
from the interior. We were short of meat, and
when one of the Eskimos reported that some
time before he had seen a porcupine in a spruce
tree he was sent to look for it. A few hours
later he returned bringing the game, having
found it in the very same tree where he had
seen it many days before, although we had just
experienced a period of severe weather, with
temperatures well under 40 degrees Fahrenheit
below zero. It was on this occasion that I first
learned the palatable qualities of porcupine
flesh.

Little is known definitely concerning the
family life of these animals. The young, from
one to four in number, are amazingly large at
birth and appear fully armed with spines.
Even before they are half grown they adopt
the solitary habit, of the adults and wander
forth to care for themselves.

Porcupine's have an intimate connection with
the romantic side of early Indian life in eastern
America. Their white quills were colored in
bright hues by vegetable- dyes known to the
Indians and served to make beautiful embroid-
ery on belts, moccasins, and other articles of
aboriginal clothing until primitive art gave way
to the more tawdry effects of trade goods.

THE JUMPING MOUSE (Zapus hudsonius

and its rehitives)

{For iUiistration, sec page §14)

In several ways the jumping mouse is imique
unong American mammals. Its strongest char-
acteristics arc a dull, rusty yellowish color, a
slender body about three inches long, a remark-
ably slender tail about five inches in length, and
long hind legs and feet, which arc specially
developed for jumping, like those of a little
kangaroo. In addition it is provided with
cheek pouches, one on each side of the mouth,
in which it gathers food to be carried to its
hidden stores.

Tlic long tail serves as a balance during its
extraordinary leaps, some of which in a single
bound cover a distance of about ten feet. If
bv accident one of these animals loses its tail,

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

497

whenever it jumps it is thrown into a series of
somersauks, turning helplessly over and over
in the air.

The jumping mice form a small group of
species and geographic races closely similar in
general appearance. They are the sole repre-
sentatives in North America of the Old World
jerboas and are themselves represented else-
where by a single species occurring in the inte-
rior of China. The jerboa family contains in
addition many larger and curiously diverse spe-
cies distributed over a large part of Asia,
Africa, and southern Europe. Many Old
World jerboas are desert animals, some of
them exact reproductions in shape and color of
the kangaroo rats of arid regions in the West-
ern and Southwestern States and Mexico, al-
though they are in no way related to those
animals.

Jumping mice are distributed over most of
the northern parts of North America from the
Atlantic coast of Labrador to the Bering Sea
coast of Alaska, and southward to North Caro-
lina, Illinois, New Mexico, and California.
They are nocturnal in habits and live in or near
the borders of forests, in thickets of weeds or
brushwood, and in meadows adjoining wood-
land areas or. forest lakes. In prairie country
they occupy belts of woody growth bordering
streams. In congenial locations they range
from sea level up to an altitude of 8,000 feet
or more.

For winter homes they dig burrows two or
three feet deep, in the lower parts of wliich
they excavate oval chambers and fill them with
fine grass and other soft material to make a
warm nest. Other chambers opening from
these burrows serve as store-rooms for berries,
seeds, and nuts of various kinds, among which
beechnuts are a favorite.

The nests occupied as summer homes are
placed in shallow burrows a few inches below
the surface of the ground, or they may be in
a hollow tree, under a piece of bark, in a dense
tussock of grass, or in other makeshift shelter.
In these nests the young, varying from two to
eight in number, are born at varying times be-
tween May and September, indicating the prob-
ability that more than one litter is produced
eacli season.

When suddenly startled from her nest the
female often flees with several of the young
clinging to her teats. She runs swiftly through
the grass, and if hard pressed will take a long
leap, still carrying the pendant young. It is
surprising that such delicately formed animals
can make long leaps in thickly grown places
and apparently land safely, especially when
carrying their young. In the flights of the
mother some of the young must be jarred
loose, but when the alarm is over no doubt
she returns to find and rescue any that may
be missing.

In the northeastern States jumping mice are
common habitants of meadows. They are
equally at home in the rocky meadows of New
England, on the flower-spangled borders of
rushing trout streams in the Sierra Nevada of
California, and the boggv glades of subarctic
Alaska.

My first acquaintance with them was made
many years ago, during haying time, in north-
ern New York. Hidden under a haycock, as
the last forkful was raised one of them was
often revealed, and its startling leaps always
resulted in an exciting chase, which usually
ended in the escape of the strange little beast.

Unlike most of their small fellows of
meadow and thicket, jumping mice regularly
hibernate, occupying the nests near the bot-
toms of the winter burrows. They usually be-
come fat on the abundance of food at the end
of summer, and in September or October, with
the approach of cool weather, enter their win-
ter quarters and sink into the long, hibernat-
ing lethargy. Sometimes two of them arc
found hibernating in the same nest.

During hibernation they are coiled up in
little furry balls, the nose resting on the abdo-
men, the hind feet on each side of the head,
and the tail wound around the body. The
winter sleep usually lasts until spring, but may
be broken at any time by mild weather.

When hibernating the mice appear cold and
lifeless, but if one is carried into a warm
house or even held a long time in the captor's
hands it will slowly awaken and may become
as lively as in summer. When returned to a
low temperature, however, it soon resumes its
mysterious seasonal sleep.

THE SILKY POCKET MICE (Perog-

nathus flavus and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 575)

Soft, shining fur, delicate coloring, and
graceful form distinguish the silky pocket mice
from others of their kind. The family of
which they are members consists of rodents
peculiar to America and includes many other
species of pocket mice and kangaroo rats. All
are provided with little pouches on each side
of the mouth for gathering and carrying food,
have proportionately long tails, and hind legs
and feet more or less developed for jumping.
Only in the most remote way. however, are
they related to the jumping mice of the jerboa
family.

The silky pocket mice vary in size from the
tiny yellow species pictured on the accompany-
ing plate, which weighs much less than an
ounce, to forms considerably larger than the
common house mouse. The little yellow pocket
mouse is one of the smallest mammals in the
world, and in addition is one of the most beau-
tiful of our small species. Its bright eyes and
the delicacy of its form and color, combined
with the readiness with which, in most in-
stances, it appears to lose all fear when caught
and gently handled, render it extremely at-
tractive.

As with the majority of other pocket mice,
the silky-haired species are limited to the more
arid parts of North America, and range from
the Great Plains west of the Mississippi Val-
ley to the eastern base of the Cascades, to the
Sierra Nevada, and farther southward to the
Pacific coast, and from the Canadian border
to the Vallev of Mexico. Vertically, the range

498

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

of these mice extends from sea level to an
altitude of more than 7,000 feet.

As with the majority of our wild mammals,
little accurate information is available concern-
ing their life history. They are habitants
mainly of desert regions, where they prefer the
areas of sandy loam, which produce an abun-
dance of scattered desert vegetation. They are
nocturnal and by day are seen only when
driven from their nests. Their rather shallow
burrows are made in soft soil, the situation
varying a little with the species. Some species
burrow only under the shelter of bushes or
other vegetation; others out in the bare ground.

Each burrow commonly has grouped in a
small area several entrance holes, which lead
through tunnels to the central passageway, the
nest, and the storage chambers. Usually there
is a little pile of loose dirt thrown out on one
side of a hole, or a group of holes may be in a
little mound of earth. The entrances are usu-
ally stopped from within by loose earth, and if
a person quietly thrusts in a short stick so as
to remove the earthy plug and let in the light
he may see the dirt suddenly returned to its
place in little jets, as the occupant promptly
kicks the door closed again.

The young, varying from two to six in a
litter, are born in these little dens in warm
nests of dried grasses. They have been found
at all times between April and September, thus
making it apparent that several litters are pro-
duced each season.

The silky, as well as the other kinds of des-
ert pocket mice, do not drink water, and, as
has been shown by experiments, they may be
kept for months in thoroughly dry sand and
fed on dried seeds without any resulting dis-
comfort. Through the long pressure of desert
environment they have developed the power to
produce sufficient water for their physiological
processes by chemical changes in the starch in
their food, which are effected in the digestive
tract.

Representatives of this group of mice are al-
most everywhere in the arid parts of their
range, and in many sandy localities are ex-
tremely numerous and active at night, as shown
by the multitude of little tracks in the dust at
sunrise each morning. Their presence in the
desert is indicated also by the many little coni-
cal pits half an inch or an inch deep, where
they have located small seeds and dug them up.

They lie close in their burrows during cold
or stormy weather, depending on their stores
for food, but are not known to hibernate, al-
though in the northern part of their range they
are confined to their burrows for long periods.

At one of my camps in the desert of Lower
California I found the silky and other pocket
mice excessively numerous and so short of
food that they swarmed about us at night with
amazing lack of fear. My experiences with
them are given in the accompanying account of
the spiny pocket mice.

The silky and other pocket mice have many
enemies, among the worst of which are the
handsome little desert fox and the coyote.
Others which continually prey upon them are

the badger, skunk, and bobcat, as well as many
owls.

THE SPINY POCKET MICE (Perog-
nathus hispidus and its relatives)

(For illustration, see page 575)

Pocket mice are divided into several natural
groups of species, all having certain characters
in common, as a pointed head, lengthened hind
feet and legs, and external cheek pouches for
carrying food. The spiny group contains nu-
merous species, the smallest of which is about
the size of a house mouse and the largest
nearly twice that size.

They are more slenderly built than the silky
species and have longer tails, with the hairs
lengthened along the terminal half, thus giving
a slightly brushy or tufted appearance. Their
most striking character is the distinctly coarser
hair with long scattered guard hairs, like small
bristles, which conspicuously overlie the fur on
the hinder parts of the body and from which
the common name is derived.

The distribution of the spiny forms, although
nearly the same as that of the silky ones, is a
little more restricted. All belong to the arid
or desert parts of the West and Southwest,
from South Dakota and middle California
southward to Michoacan, near the southern
end of the Mexican tableland, and throughout
Lower California.

Some species inhabit the scattered growth of
plants in sandy areas, but they are more gener-
ally characteristic of harder and more rock-
strewn soil, rocky mesas, and foothill slopes.
There a few species make burrows in open
ground, sometimes with a single hole, but most
of them make their nests under rocks, in crev-
ices, or in burrows sheltered by such desert
bushes as Covillea, Bursera, Olneya, Cercidium,
, and mesquites.

In these shelters pocket mice make little
mounds a few inches high and ten or fifteen
inches across. The mounds have several en-
trances on different sides, one of which gen-
erally shows signs of recent use, although by
day it is kept closed from within by loose earth.
Each of the many-entranced dens is occupied
by a single animal. Early in the morning, be-
fore the wind fills them with dust, tiny trails
are to be seen leading from these doorways
toward the nearest feeding grounds and all
about their haunts.

The spiny and the silky pocket mice, sharing
much the same arid region, have the same food
plants and are preyed upon by the same ene-
mies. Tlie food of these mice consists mainly
of small seeds, including the wild morning
glory, wild sunflowers, wild parsnips, and a
multitude of otiiers characteristic of the vari-
ous areas tliey occupy.

Pocket mice are strictly nocturnal or crepus-
cular in habits and appear by day only when
disturbed. If the plugged entrance to a bur-
row is opened, however, it will probably be
quickly stopped up again from within by the
annoved householder.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

499

The young, in litters of from two to eight,
are born at irregular times according to the
latitude and general weather conditions. In
the south at least several litters appear to be
born each year, the young being noted almost
every month.

When camping alone for a few days in the
desert near San Ignacio, in the middle of the
peninsula of Lower California, I had a unique
opportunity to learn something of the peculiari-
ties of the various pocket mice. Three species
were abundantly represented, including both
the silky and the spiny kinds. They quickly
learned that good hunting could be found in
and about the tents for the rice grains and
other scattered food and promptly took advan-
tage of it.

As soon as approaching darkness began to
render objects indistinct, from their burrows
among the surrounding bushes they swarmed
into camp and were busy throughout the night
minutely searching the ground under the shel-
ter tent for every particle of food. In order
to see these interesting visitors to better advan-
tage I placed a candle on a small box in the
middle of the tent.

Five or six individuals, representing three
species, often came within the circle of light at
the same time. At first all were shy and when
I made any sudden movement would leap in
every direction, like grasshoppers, and quickly
vanish. The smallest of the species, a member
of the silky group, was the shyest of all and
remained timid and reserved.

The two larger species, representing both the
spiny and the silky groups, were much more
bold and quickly became confiding and delight-
fully friendly. Their attention was promptly
attracted to rolled oats which I scattered on
the ground in a spot well lighted by the candle.

Sitting quietly close by the bait where the
visitors congregated I soon had evidence that
among themselves these little beasts are ex-
tremely pugnacious. The first to reach the
food would fiercely charge the next comer and
always try to leap upon its back, at the same
time delivering a vicious downward kick with
its strong hind feet. Occasionally the new-
comer would charge the one already at the
food.

When five or six were trying to secure sole
possession of the small food pile there was
lively skirmishing about the premises, as they
alternately attacked and pursued one another
over the sand and among the boxes and other
camp gear scattered about. Amazingly quick
in movements, they would leap now forward,
now sidewise, now straight up a foot or more
in the air, with almost equal celerity; and the
direction of their movements when attacked
was often imexpected. When running about
on the level sand they had a steady, swiftly
gliding motion, which their tracks showed was
the result of a series of little jumps.

Both the spiny and the silky pocket mice be-
came so confiding the first night that when I
put my hand on the ground palm up with a
little rolled oats in it the nearest pocket mouse
would run to it, stop for an instant to smell

the finger-tips, and then mount and sit quietly
on the palm and fill its cheek pouches.

At such times the mice showed no uneasi-
ness, even when raised in my hand to within
a few inches of my eyes in order that I might
observe their movements more closely. The
motions of their front feet when putting food
into the pouches were so rapid that it was im-
possible to follow them. The nose was held
just over the food pile, and the cheek pouches
would slowly but visibly swell as they were
filled until they stood out like little bladders
on each sile of the head.

As soon as they were full the mice became
uneasy to get away and would run from one
side of my hand to the other peering down
the abysmal depth of three feet to the ground
without daring to leap. As soon as my hand
was lowered to the ground the mouse darted
away to carry the food to its store in the
bushes twenty to thirty yards away, quickly to
return with empty pouches.

The mice soon became so tame that while
they were on my hand or on the ground I
could with one finger of the other hand stroke
gently the tops of their heads and backs and
even pick them up by their tails and suspend
them head down. When thus held they re-
mained motionless, their tiny front feet like
little closed hands held against their breasts.
When lowered and released they would imme-
diately resume the filling of their pouches as
though nothing had happened. Several indi-
viduals of the dozen or more which made free
of the tent had lost part of their tails, so that
they could be readily distinguished.

One of these little bobtails was so gentle and
confiding that I became much attached to it.
It would permit all manner of familiar treat-
ment, such as being picked up by one foot or
by the tail, or being turned on its back. With
this confidence came a sense of proprietorship
in the good things here so suddenly and myste-
riously plentiful, as was shown by his attitude
toward his fellows.

Again and again when he was filling his
pouches from a pile of rolled oats in my hand
I lowered it in a gently sloping position within
ten or fifteen inches of another mouse gather-
ing food on the ground. Thereupon the little
bobtail in my hand would invariably leave the
task of filling his pouches and without hesita-
tion leap down on the back of the one on the
ground. The surprised animal thus assailed
from an unexpected quarter always fled in
terror.

After a short pursuit the bobtailed one would
come running back and instead of going to the
equally inviting pile of food on the ground
would come straight to my hand and complete
his task. The industry of the little animals
appeared to be tireless, as working swiftly they
made trip after trip with pouchloads of food
to their stores and quickly returned. One night
I watched this strenuous work for two hours
until I retired.

The abundance and boldness of pocket mice
and kangaroo rats at this place led me to be-
lieve that there had been a former abundance

500

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

Photograph by Howard Taylor JMiddlcton

YOUNG RED SQUIRRELS AND TIIEIR NEST

These cute little chaps were found cozily at rest in their nest in
a pine. They were routed out, however, long enough to have their
portraits taken. An effort was made to include the mother, but
without success (see page SS6).

of their food here, resulting in a large increase
in the rodent population, but that it was then
becoming scarce through a failure of rain to
renew the seed harvest. The invariable out-
come in such cases is for the small rodents de-
pendent on seeds and fruits to be reduced by
famine until they become rare, where previ-
ously they existed in great numl)crs. This is
one of Nature's processes whereby the danger
of the overwhelming increase of any species is
automatically prevented.

THE POCKET GOPHERS (Geomys bur-
sarius and its relatives)

{Por illustration, see page 515)

With the exception of the moles no other ex-
tensive group of .\merican land mammals is so

highly specialized for a
peculiarly restricted mode
of life as the pocket go-
phers. They form a
strongly marked family,
the Geomyidse, which in-
cludes various genera and
many species, all very
similar in external form,
but varying from the
size of a large mouse to
a massively formed ani-
mal equalling a large
house rat in weight.

Without exception they
are powerfully built for
their size, the head and
front half of the body
being extraordinarily
muscled to meet the de-
mands of their mode of
life. The broad blunt
head is joined almost di-
rectly on the body. The
eyes are small and have
the restricted vision to
be expected from animals
living underground. The
ears are reduced to little
fleshy rims about the
openings, and the short
naked tail is provided
with nerves, which ren-
der it useful as an organ
(if touch.

The front teeth are
broad, cutting chisels,
and on each side of the
mouth is a large pocket
in the skin used for gath-
ering and carrying food.
On the front feet are
long claws, which, when
not lieing used to dig or
handle earth, are doubled
under, against the soles
of the feet, so that the
gopher walks on the back
of them much as the ant-
eater walks on its folded
claws.
Peculiar to North America, pocket gophers
occupy a great area extending from Illinois,
Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific
coast, and from the plains of the Saskatchewan,
in Canada, southward to Panama. Their ver-
tical range within these limits extends from sea
level to timber-line, at above 13,000 feet on
some of tiie higli volcanoes of Mexico. The
family attains its greatest development in that
wonderful region of plains and volcanoes lying
about the southern end of the Mexican table-
land.

In the United States these animals are best
known as "gophers," but in the range they
occupy in the Southeastern States they_ are
called "salamanders" and in Mexico are widely
known as "tuzas." As a rule they frequent
treeless areas, but are found also in many

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

501

types of forests from among the palms and
other trees of the tropical lowlands to the
oaks, pines, and firs on the mountain sides.

All members of the family live wholly un-
derground, in many-branched horizontal tun-
nels, which they are continually extending in
winding and erratic courses about their haunts.
The tunnels are from two to about five
inches in diameter, according to the size of the
animal, and while usually less than six inches
below the surface, the approaches to the nest
and storage chambers sometinies drop abruptly
two or three feet below the regular working
tunnels to the level of the living quarters. At
intervals along the tunnels short side branches
are used as sanitary conveniences, thus ena-
bling the occupant to keep the main passage-
ways in a habitable condition.

The courses of the underground workings
are roughly indicated on the surface by series
of piles of loose earth brought up through
short side passages as the tunnels are ex-
tended. These little miners' dumps of earth
vary with the size of the animal, sometimes
containing more than two bushels. The out-
lets of the passages leading to the surface are
kept plugged with loose earth. When these
animals are numerous the ground is thickly
dotted in all directions with earth piles, and
the caving caused by the network of timnels
just below the surface renders walking difii-
cult. The perpetual industry of these rodent
miners outclasses that of the proverbial beaver.

Gophers are both diurnal and nocturnal, the
gloom of their tunnels scarcely varying except
when one of the outlets is temporarily opened.
They are averse to light, and if the plug to a
freshly made opening is removed the observer
may soon catch a glimpse of the owner as he
suddenly thrusts his head into view for a mo-
ment before again plugging the door with earth.

Gophers dig their tunnels by using their teeth
and the strong claws on the front feet. The
loose earth is pushed along the tunnel by the
head, the palms of the front feet, and the
breast in little jerky movements until it is
ejected on the surface dump.

Owing to their poor sight, heavy bodies, and
short legs, gophers are clumsy and deliberate
in their movements and peculiarly helpless in
the open. Apparently appreciating this, they
rarely venture from their underground shelter
by day except when in grain fields or similar
sheltering vegetation. Here they sometimes
run out two or three feet to cut down a succu-
lent stalk and drag it hastily within the entrance
of the tunnel, wlierc it is cut into short sections
and placed in the cheek pouches if to be used
as food or left on the dump if the object of
the cutting is finally to secure the seeds or
head of ripening grain.

During the mating season in spring pocket
gophers run about clumsily from one burrow
to another and may often be seen on the sur-
face by the light of the rising sun. Most of
their short trips above ground are made at
night, when they sometimes swarm out and
wander over a limited territory. Their night
wanderings are proved in California by the
many bodies which the morning light often re-

veals in the sticky crude oil on newly oiled
roads which the gophers have tried to cross.

From one to seven young are born in a litter,
but whether there is more than one litter in a
season or not is unknown. The young when
about half grown migrate to unoccupied ground
sometimes one or two hundred yards from the
home location and make tunnels of their own.

The food of pocket gophers consists mainly
of tubers, bulbs, and other roots, including
many of a more woody fiber. Whole rows of
potatoes or other root crops are cleaned up by
the extension of tunnels along them. Some-
times the animals follow a row of fruit trees,
cutting the roots and killing tree after tree. In
graip and alfalfa fields they are great pests, and
in irrigated country their burrows in ditch
banks often cause disastrous breaks.

The big tropical species sometimes exist in
such numbers as to render successful agricul-
ture very difficult. Sugar-cane planters in
many parts of Mexico and Central America are
compelled to wage unremitting war on them to
avoid ruin. I know of an instance on a plan-
tation in Vera Cruz in which thousands were
killed during a single season without stopping
the damage from these pests, which swarmed in
from the adjacent area.

The large external cheek pouches of pocket
gophers are used solely for gathering such food
supplies as seeds, small bulbs, and sections of
edible roots or plant stems and transporting
them to storage chambers located along the
sides of the tunnels. Food is placed in the
pouches by deft sidewise movements of the
front feet used like hands, and so quick are
they that the motions of the feet can scarcely
be detected. The pockets are emptied by plac-
ing the front feet on the back ends of the
pouches and pushing forward, thus forcing out
the contents. In their tunnels gophers run
backward and forward with almost equal facil-
ity, the sensitive naked tail serving to guide
their backward movements.

Pocket gophers are stupid solitary little
beasts, with surly dispositions, and figlit vi-
ciously when captured or brought to bay. This
attitude toward the world is justified by the
host of enemies ever ready to destroy them.
Among their more active foes are snakes and
weasels, which pursue them into their tunnels;
and badgers, which dig them out of their run-
ways.

They are also persistently hunted day and
night by foxes and coyotes. Moreover, by day
va^-ious kinds of hawks w^atch for them to ap-
pear at the entrances of their dens, and by
night the owls, ever alert, capture many.

When one gopher intrudes into the tunnel of
another the owner at once fiercely attacks it.
In some places I have seen Mexicans take ad-
vantage of this characteristic pugnacity by fast-
ening the end of a long string about the body
of a captured goplier and then turning it into
an occupied tunnel, through a recently made
opening. Tlie owner, scenting the intruder,
would immediately attack him, the combatants
locking their great incisors in a bulldog grip.

The movements of the string would give no-
tice of the encounter, and by pulling it out

502

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

steadily both animals could be drawn forth and
the enraged owner of the burrow dispatched.
In this manner I have known an Indian to
catch more than a dozen gophers in a few
hours.

Pocket gophers are active throughout the
winter even in the coldest parts of their range,
but in many places must rely largely on food
accumulated in their storage chambers.

Alelting snow in the mountains and in the
North reveals the remains of many tunnels
made through it along the surface of^ the
ground. These snow tunnels are often filled
for long distances with loose earth brought up
from underground, and after tlie snow disap-
pears in spring the curious branching earth
forms left, winding snakelike through the
meadows, are a great puzzle to those who do
not know their origin.

In a state of nature pocket gophers are con-
stantly bringing the subsoil to the surface and
burying humus. Over an enormous area they
exist in such countless thousands that their
work, like that of angleworms, is often of the
most beneficial character. On bare slopes,
however, their work is highly injurious, as it
greatly increases erosion of the fertile surface
soil and thus has its direct influence in chang-
ing world contours

When civilized man arrives in their haunts
and upsets natural conditions with cultivated
crops the new food supply stimulates an in-
crease in the gopher population and their ac-
tivities immediately become excessively de-
structive and necessitate unremitting warfare
against them.

THE KANGAROO RATS (Dipodomys
spectabilis and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 518)

The desert regions of western North Amer-
ica have developed several peculiar types of
mammals, and among them are none hand-
somer or more interesting than the kangaroo
rats. These rodents, despite their name, are
neither kangaroos nor rats, but are near rela-
tives of the pocket mice, which share their
desert haunts.

All are characterized by a kangaroo - like
form, including small fore legs and feet, long
hind legs and feet for jumping, and a tail
longer than the body to serve as a balance.
In addition, they have large, prominent eyes and
are provided with skin pouches on each side
of the mouth for use in holding food to be
carried to their store chambers.

The color pattern, like the form, of the kan-
garoo rats is practically uniform throughout
the group. Both are well shown in the accom-
panying plate of Dipodomys spectabilis, the
largest and most strongly marked species. Its
total length is from 12 to 14 inches; most of
the other species are much smaller.

Kangaroo rats of many species are distrib-
uted over most of the arid and semiarid re-
gions of the United States and Mexico, from
Nebraska, Oklahoma, and the Gulf Coast of

Texas west to the Pacific coast, and from Mon-
tana and Washington southward to the Valley
of Mexico and throughout Lower California.
They are especially numerous in the southwest-
ern deserts, where they are the oddest and most
picturesque of animals.

Although they have no near relatives in the
Old World, some of the African and Asiatic
jerboas are externally almost perfect replicas
of the kangaroo rats in every detail of form,
color, and color pattern, even to the tail mark-
ings. This extraordinary likeness in appear-
ance of two widely separated and unrelated
animals is made doubly significant by the fact
that both live in deserts and have similar
habits.

Peculiarly desert animals, kangaroo rats live
like the pocket mice, without drinking, but ob-
tain the necessary water through their digestive
processes. They are most numerous in sandy
areas, and there the earth is sometimes so rid-
dled by their burrows as to render horseback
riding difficult.

Kangaroo rats are nocturnal and always live
in burrows dug by themselves. As a rule they
prefer soft or sandy ground, but some species
occupy areas where the earth is hard and rocky.
The burrows of some species have only one or
two entrances with a small amount of earth
thrown out, but others make little mounds with
several openings, entering usually nearly on a
level or at a slight incline. These openings
are nearly always conspicuous, and while fre-
quently near bushes, no effort appears ever to
be made to conceal them, and a little trail often
leads away through the soft earth.

The large Dipodomys spectabilis, which lives
mainly in New Mexico and Arizona, constructs
the most notable of all the dwelling places of
these animals. From its underground workings
it throws up large mounds of earth, which
gradually increase in size with the length of
time they are occupied until they are some-
times more than 3 feet high and 15 feet or
more in diameter. From three to a dozen bur-
ows enter these mounds, usually at the surface
level of the ground, but some are on the slopes
of the mound. The mounds, usually located in
open ground, with their round entrance holes
from four to five inches in diameter, are ex-
tremely conspicuous.

Although generally scattered at varying dis-
ances from one another, the mounds are some-
times grouped in colonies. Well-worn trails
three or four inches broad lead awa}' from the
entrances, some to other mounds showing
neighborly intercourse and others far away to
the feeding grounds, sometimes 200 or 300
yards distant. One of the openings at the side
of the mound is usually the main entrance, and
by, day this is ordinarily kept stopped with
fresh earth. Within the mound and farther
under ground are dug a series of ramifying
passages, among which are located roomy nest
chambers and store-rooms for food.

Kangaroo rats are not known to hibernate
in any part of their range. They lay up food
for temporary purposes at least and do not go
abroad in stormv or cold weather. The u'lrth-

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

503

ern species and those on the colder mountain
slopes must make large store against the win-
ter needs. Their food consists mainly of seeds,
leaves of several plants, and of little plants just
appearing above ground. Tiny cactus plants
and the saline fleshy leaves of Sarcobatiis are
often among the kinds gathered for food.

The big Dipodomys spectabUis appears to be
more social than most of its kind, as several
may be caught in a single mound, and, as al-
ready said, well-worn trails lead from mound
to mound. A little noise made just outside one
of these mounds usually brings a reply or chal-
lenge in the form of a low drumming or thud-
ding noise, no doubt made by the animal rap-
idly striking the ground with its hind feet like
a rabbit or wood rat.

When caught they at first struggle to escape,
but, like a rabbit, do not offer to bite, and soon
become quiet. They have from two to six
young, which may be born at any season.
Nothing appears to be known concerning the
number of litters in a year.

When in camp at San Ignacio, in the middle
of the desert peninsula of Lower California, I
had an unusual opportunity to learn something
of the habits of one of the smaller species of
kangaroo rat abundant there. The moon was
at its full, and in the clear desert air its radi-
ance rendered objects near at hand almost as
distinct as by day. Scattered grains of rice
and fragments of food on the ground about
the cook tent attracted many kangaroo rats and
pocket mice.

During several nights I passed hours watch-
ing at close range the habits of these curious
animals. As I sat quietly on a mess box in
their midst both the kangaroo rats and the
mice would forage all about with swift gliding
movements, repeatedly running across my bare
feet. Any sudden movement startled them and
all would dart away for a moment, but quickly
return.

Although the kangaroo rats did not become
so fearless and friendly as the pocket mice,
they were so intent on the food that at times
I had no difficulty in reaching slowly down and
closing my hand over their backs. I did this
dozens of times, and after a slight struggle
they always became quiet until again placed on
the ground, when they at once renewed their
search for food as though no interruption had
occurred.

One night, to observe them better, I spilled
a small heap of rice on the sand between my
feet. Within two or three minutes half a dozen
kangaroo rats had discovered it and were bus-
ily at work filling their cheek pouches with the
grains and carrying them away to their store
chambers.

While occupied in this rivalry for food they
became surprisingly pugnacious. If one was
working at the rice pile and another rat or a
pocket mouse approached, it immediately dart-
ed at the intruder and drove it away. The
mode of attack was to rush at an intruder and,
leaping upon its back, give a vigorous down-
ward kick with its strong hind feet. Once I
saw a pocket mouse kicked in this way. It
was knocked over and for a minute or more

afterwards ran about in an erratic course.
squeaking loudly as though in much pain.

Sometimes the pursuit of one kangaroo rat
by another continued for twenty yards or more.
By the time the pursuer returned another
would be at the rice pile and it would imme-
diately dash at the victor of the former fray
and drive him away. In this way there was a
constant succession of amusing skirmishes.

Sometimes an intruder, bolder than the oth-
ers, would run only two or three yards and
then suddenly turn and face the pursuer, sit-
ting up on its hind feet like a little kangaroo.
The pursuer at once assumed the same nearly
upright position, with its fore feet close to its
breast. Both would then begin to hop about
watching for an opening. Suddenly one would
leap at the other, striking with its hind feet
exactly like a game cock. When the kick
landed fairly on the opponent there was a dis-
tinct little thump and the victim rolled over on
the ground. After receiving two or three
kicks the weaker of the combatants would run
away.

The thump made by the kick when they were
fighting solved the mystery which had covered
this sound heard repeatedly during my nights
at this camp. _ The morning light revealed a
multitude of little paired tracks made by the
combatants in these battles. Such tracks in
the sand have been referred to as the "fairy
dances" of these beautiful little animals, but
the truth revealed proves them to be really
"war dances."

THE BANDED LEMMING (Dicrostonyx

nelsoni and its relatives)

{For illusf ration, see page 579)

Banded lemmings are unique among the
mouse tribe in their change from the rufous
brown, or gray summer coat to pure white in
winter. With the assumption of the white
winter fur a thick, horny, padlike growth de-
velops on the underside of the two middle
claws of the front feet, which is molted in
spring when the winter coat is lost. For an
animal living in the far North the usefulness
of a white coat in winter is evident, but no good
reason is apparent for these curious claw-pads.

The summer coat varies remarkably in color
and color pattern, and many of the lemmings
in their beautiful shades of chestnut, browns,
or grays are very handsome. They are more
heavily proportioned than field mice and the
very long fluffy fur, which completely conceals
the rudimentary ears and tail, tends to exag-
gerate their size.

The banded lemmings form a strongly
marked group, containing a number of species
inhabiting circumpolar regions. In North
America they occur nearly everywhere in the
arctic and subarctic parts, including Greenland,
most of northern Canada, including the Arctic
islands, and a large part of Alaska, including
some of the Aleutian Islands.

They range as far northward as vegetation
affords them a proper food supply and have
been well known to many of the explorers of

504

THE NATIONAI. GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

those stern northern wilds. To the southward
they extend into the subarctic northern for-
ests, where they usually keep to the open bar-
ren areas.

Not much is known of their life histories on
this continent. They are mainly nocturnal and
live in burrows from two to three feet long,
ending with a nest chamber four or five inches
in diameter, warmly lined with grass and moss.
Near the nest there is usually a branch burrow
a foot or more long which is used for sanitary
purposes and as a place of refuge when the
main burrow is invaded.

In the nests during early summer litters gen-
erally containing about three young are brought
forth. Ordinarily the burrows open in unshel-
tered places, but in wooded regions may be
under a log or beneath a bush or the roots of
a tree. No runways lead out from the bur-
rows as is customary with many of their rela-
tives. They are active throughout the winter,
making many tunnels along the surface of the
ground under the snow, which are revealed
when it melts in spring.

These surface tunnels are their foraging
roads, safe from most of the fierce storms
which rage overhead. At times, however, the
snowy shelter is blown away or some other
cause brings the lemmings to the surface, where
they blunder aimlessly about, soon to be cap-
tured by some enemy or to perish from the
cold. As their infrequent appearance on top
of the snow is usually during storms, the
Alaskan Eskimos have a legend that these
white lemmings live in the land above the stars
and descend in a spiral course to the earth
during snowstorms.

Although banded lemmings never become so
extraordinarily numerous over great areas as
the brown species, they become very abundant
at times in the barren grounds of Canada and
the Arctic islands and migrate from one part
of their range to another. The best observa-
tion in regard to this was made by Rae in June
at the mouth of the Coppermine River. On
the west bank of the river north of the Arctic
Circle he encountered thousands of them speed-
ing northward.

The ice on some of the smaller streams had
broken up and he was amused to see the little
animals running back and forth along the banks
looking for a smooth place in the stream, indi-
cating a slow current, where they could swim
across. Having found such a place, tlicy at
once jumped in and swam quickly to the oppo-
site side, where they climbed out and, after
shaking themselves like dogs, continued their
journey as though nothing had happened.

During the years I lived in northern Alaska
the advent of winter was marked by invasion
of the storehouses by many brown lemmings
and other mice, but banded lemmings rarely
appeared. When occasionally captured alive,
the old ones fought viciously, but the young
were gentle and quickly became tame and in-
teresting pets. Their skins were highly prized
by the little Eskimo girls to make garments
and robes for ihcir walrus ivorv dolls.

THE BROWN LEMMING (Lemmus
alascensis and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page ^ig)

Eew small mammals are so well known in
far northern lands as the brown lemmings.
They form a small group of species having a
close general resemblance to some of the field
mice, from which, however, they may at once
be distinguished by their much heavier propor-
tions, extremely short tails, and the remarkable
length of the hair on their backs and rumps.

They inhabit most of the arctic and subarctic
lands of both Old and New Worlds. In North
America they are known from the northern-
most lands, beyond 83° north latitude, to the
southern end of Hudson Bay, and throughout
most of northern Canada and all of Alaska,
including the islands of Bering Sea.

The extraordinary migrations of these lem-
mings have attracted attention far back in the
early history of northern Europe. At inter-
vals, through favorable conditions, they become
superabundant over a large area, and then a
sudden resistless desire to migrate in a certain
direction appears to seize the entire lemming
population. The little beasts start in a swarm-
ing horde, sometimes containing millions, and
traverse the country.

In their travels they appear indifferent to all
obstacles and with dogged and unwavering per-
sistence swim the streams and lakes encoun-
tered on their way. Similar migrations have
been observed at various points in Arctic
America, several of them in Alaska, where the
lemmings abound on the open tundras.

These migrations sometimes continue for
more than one season, the animals meanwhile
being killed in countless numbers by disease,
by accident in field and flood, and, in addition,
through the heavy toll taken from their num-
bers by their winged and four-footed foes,
which always gather in numbers to accompany
them.

The migrations sometimes wear out through
the diminution in numbers, and sometimes
when they reach the sea, as in Norway, they
are said to enter the water and swim offshore
until they perish. When one of these swarms
of rodents passes through a farming district it
cleans up the crops and other surface vegeta-
tion like a visitation of locusts.

These lemmings do not hibernate, but, active
throughout the severest winters, are abroad
almost equally by day and by night. Their
burrows consist of winding tunnels, often
many-branched and with more than one open-
ing. A dry bed of peat or a dense growtli of
moss is often pierced by a network of them.
Well-defined runways often lead away from
the burrows or from the entrance of one bur-
row to that of another.

Their tunnels run everywhere under the
snow, with occasional passages leading to the
surface. When fierce gales blow away the
snow or a winter rain melts it, many lemmings
lose touch with their burrows and wander
about until they perish from cold or are caught

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

505

by some enemy. They are sometimes found
several miles from shore, where they have
strayed out on the sea ice.

In winter in the fur countries, in company
with held mice, they invade storehouses and
habitations in search of food. Among their
enemies are ravens and all northern hawks and
owls, as well as foxes, weasels, lynxes, bears,
and other beasts of prey of all degree.

Within their underground tunnels and often
in dense vegetation on the surface lemmings
make warmly lined nests of grass and moss in
which their young, from two to eight in num-
ber, are born. The young appear at varying
times, thus indicating several litters each year.

When taken alive, the old ones are fierce and
courageous, growling and fighting savagely ; but
several half-grown young brought me during
my residence in Alaska proved to be most
amusing and inoffensive little creatures. From
the first they permitted me to handle them
without offering to bite and showed no signs
of fear.

They were kept in a deep tin box, from
which they made continual efforts to escape.
When I extended one finger near the bottom
of the box they would stand erect on their
hind feet and reach up toward it, using their
forepaws like little hands. If my finger was
lowered sufficiently they would climb up into
my hand and thence to my shoulder, showing
no sign of haste, but much curiosity, continu-
ally sniffing with their noses and peering at
everything with their bright beadlike eyes.

They were curiously expert in walking on
their hind feet, holding the body in an upright
position and taking short steps. If anything
was held just out of reach above their heads,
as the point of my finger, they would continue
in an erect position for a considerable time.
At such times they would reach up with their
front paws and often spring up on their hind
feet for half an inch above the floor trying to
touch it. When eating they sat upright on
their haunches, like little marmots, and held
the food in their front paws.

THE COMMON FIELD MOUSE, OR

MEADOW MOUSE (Microtus penn-

sylvanicus and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 522)

The Pennsylvania meadow mouse is a small
species about as long in body as the house
mouse, but much more heavily proportioned.
Its head is rounded, the eyes small and bead-
like, the legs and tail are short, and the com-
paratively coarse fur is so long that it almost
conceals the short, rounded ears.

It is a typical representative of a group of
smajl mammals commonly known as field mice,
or "bear mice," which includes a great num-
ber of species closely similar in general appear-
ance, but varying much in size. In England
they are termed voles, and large species living
about the water in England and northern
Europe are known as "water rats."

Field mice are circumpolar in distribution

and abound from the Arctic barrens, beyond
the limit of trees, to southern Europe and the
Himalayas, in the Old World, and to the south-
ern United States and along high mountains
through Mexico and Guatemala, in Central
America. They occur in most parts of the
United States except in some of the hotter and
more arid sections.

As a rule field mice prefer low-lying fertile
land, as grassy meadows, but the banks of
streams, the rank growths of swamps and
marshes, the borders of damp woodlands, the
grassy places on Arctic tundras, or the dwarfed
vegetation of glacial slopes and valleys above
timber-line on high mountains furnish homes
for one species or another.

Two, and even three, species of field mice are
sometimes found in the same locality, but each
kind usually occupies a situation differing in
some way from that chosen by the others.
Some occupy comparatively dry ground and
others, like the European water rat, live in
marshes and are almost as aquatic as the musk-
rat. Most species living about the water are
expert in diving and in swimming, even under
water. In streams inhabited by large trout
they are often caught and eaten by the fish.

The presence of field mice is nearly always
indicated by smoothly worn little roads or run-
ways about an inch, in width, which form a
network among the vegetation in their haunts.
These runways lead away from the entrances
of their burrows and wind through the vegeta-
tion to their feeding grounds. They are kept
clean and free from straws and other small
obstructions, so that the owners when alarmed
may run swiftly to tlie shelter of their burrows.
Fully conscious of their helplessness, meadow
mice are as cautious as the necessities of exist-
ence will permit.

Their burrows are often in the midst of
grassy meadows, as well as under the shelter
of logs, rocks, tussocks of grass, or roots of
trees, and lead to underground chambers filled
with large nests of dry grass, which shelter the
owner in winter and often in summer. The
summer nests in many places, especially in
damp meadows or marshes, are made in little
hollows in the surface or in tussocks of grass.
In these nests several litters containing from
four to eleven young are born each year.

It is rarely that an observer is located where
he can study the every-day lives of little ani-
mals like the meadow mice and at the same
time go on with his regular occupation. At
one of my mountain camps in Mexico I for-
tunately pitched my tent on a patch of lawn-
like grass in front of the ruins of an abandoned
hut. Runways of field mice formed a network
everywhere in the surrounding growth of grass
and weeds.

For hours at a time as I worked quietly in
the tent the many mice, unconscious of my
presence, came silently along their little roads
through the tall vegetation to the border of the
short grass. Just within the shelter of the tall
growth they would each time stop and remain
watchfully immovable for a half minute, and
then, if everything was quiet, make a swift run

''^i^i^^'f^^^::::.

'if ?

s f

'**«J3

A^*-**-

^SS^'^'S^,

ANTELOPE JACK RABBIT

LepHS alleni

306

CALIFORNIA JACK RABBIT

Lepus californicus

VARYING HARE, or SNOWSHOE RABBIT
Lepus amer'icanus

507

508

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

two or three feet into the open, hite off a tender
httle grass blade and dash back to the sheltered
road. There they would sit up squirrel-Hke,
holding the grass blades in their forepaws and
eating them rapidly, or would sometimes carry
the food back to the burrows.

Occasionally as the mice darted into the open
I made a slight squeaking noise and perhaps
two or three in sight at the time would in-
stantly turn and dash back into the sheltered
road, sometimes not reappearing for a long
time. «\gain and again I saw them come into
the open for food, and before securing it sud-
denly scamper back in a panic without apparent
cause for alarm

Eternal vigilance is the only defense such
animals have, and despite their watchfulness
myriads of them are devoured daily by a large
number of rapacious birds and mammals, in-
cluding even such huge beasts as the great
Alaskan brown and grizzly bears, which dig
them from their burrows on grassy northern
mountain sides.

Despite their numerous natural enemies field
mice are so prolific they continue among the
most destructive of agricultural pests. They
are so obscure and the damage by a single
mouse appears so insignificant, that it requires
a knowledge of their habits, their wide distri-
bution, and their enormous numbers to appre-
ciate what a serious drain they are on the
farmer's income, even when in their normal
numbers.

In summer they feed on growing grass,
clover, alfalfa, and grain, seeds, bulbs, root
crops, and garden vegetables. In fall they con-
gregate under shocks to feed on the grain, and
in winter often do enormous injury to young
or even well-grown fruit and other trees by
gnawing off the bark on the base of the trunk
and roots, sometimes in this way destroying
entire orchards and nurseries.

One species in California destroys large
quantities of raisins drying in the field by car-
rying them off to some shelter, where they cut
out the seeds and leave the rest of the fruit. I
have seen half a pound of raisins under a piece
of board, the result of the night's work of a
single mouse.

Wliile field mice are always destructive, at
intervals they have sudde.i and mysterious ac-
celerations of increase and become so exces-
sively abundant that they are a veritable plague.
Many instances of tliis are on record in the Old
World, where they have become so numerous
as to call forth governmental intervention.

The most notable recent outbreak of this
kind in the United States took place in the
Huml)()ldt Valley, Nevada, where, during the
winters from 1906 to 1908, they swarmed over
the cultivated parts of the valley and completely
destroyed 18,000 acres of alfalfa, even devour-
ing the roots of tlie plants. During thjs out-
break the mice in the alfalfa fields were esti-
mated to number as high as 12,000 to the acre.

Whenever field mice become over-abundant
notice appears to go out among their natural
enemies, and in extraordinary numbers hawks,
owls, crows, ravens, sea gulls, coyotes, foxes,

bobcats, weasels, and other animals appear to
■prey upon them.

At no season of the year are they free from
their foes, for they remain active throughout
the winter, and most species apparently lay up
no winter store of food. They travel to winter
feeding places through series of tunnels under
the snow, and it is mainly at this season Uiat
they do the most serious damage to orchards
and shrubbery.

In the far North at the beginning of winter
they gather in large numbers about the fur-
trading stations and other habitations, where
they persistently invade the food supplies.

Some of the northern mice, however, gather
stores of food for winter. A species living
along the coast of the Bering Sea and else-
where on the Arctic tundra of Alaska accumu-
lates a quart or more of little bulbous grass
roots, which are delicious when boiled. They
are hidden in nests of grass and moss among
the surface vegetation, and before the first
snowfall I have seen the Eskimo women
searching for them by prodding likely places
with a long stick. The roots thus taken from
the mice are kept to be served as a delicacy
to guests during winter festivals.

THE PINE MOUSE (Pitymys pinetorum

and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 522)

The pine mice form a small group of species
peculiar to North America and closely related
to the field mice. They are similar in forna to
the common field mice of the Eastern States,
but are usually smaller, with much shorter tails
and shorter, finer, and more glossy fur.

Most of the pine mice are limited to the
wooded region of the States between the At-
lantic coast and the eastern border of the Great
Plains, and from the Hudson River valley and
the border of the Great Lakes south to the
Gulf coast. Strangely cnou^i', one species lives
in a restricted belt covered w^ith tropical forest
along the middle eastern slope of the Cordil-
lera, which forms the eastern wall of the Mex-
ican tableland, on the border between the
States of Vera Cruz and Puebla.

Pine mice occupy the borders of thin forests
and brushy areas, from which they work out
into the open l)orderlands, especially in or-
cliards or other places wlicre there are scat-
tered trees amid a rank growth of weeds. In-
stead of making their runways among growing
vegetation on the surface of the ground like
field mice, they live in little underground tiih-
ncls or burrows which extend in all direc-
tions through their haunts. These tunnels are
closely like those of the common mole except
that they are smaller and have frequent open-
ings to the surface, through which the owners
make short excursions for food. They often
utilize the tunnels of moles when conveniently
located for their purposes.

The tunnels are often so near the surface
that the ground is slightly uplifted or broken
as by a mole, or they are made under the fallen

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

509

leaves and other small decaying vegetable mat-
ter covering tlie ground under the trees. Occa-
sionally, when the surface soil becomes dry
and hard, the burrows are deeper, so that no
surface indications can be discovered. On ac-
count of the similarity of their burrows the
depredations of pine mice are commonly attrib-
uted to moles.

Several inches below the surface pine mice
excavate oval chambers to be used for nests or
for storage purposes. The nest chambers have
several entrances from ramifying tunnels and
are tilled with short fme pieces of grass, mak-
ing a warm nest-ball. Here the several litters
of young are born each year. Pine mice are
less prolific than field mice, however, and the
litters contain only from one to four young.

The food chambers are larger than the nest
chambers, and when full of stores are kept
closed with earth. In these are stored short
sections of green or dry grasses, bulbous grass
roots, and short sections of other edible roots.
One such store contained about three quarts of
the fleshy roots of a morning glory cut into
short sections.

Pine mice obtain much of their food from
the bark about the bases and roots of trees, in-
cluding both coniferous and deciduous species.
They kill many small trees and shrubs by gird-
ling, or by cutting the roots below the surface,
and in this way frequently inflict severe dam-
age in orchards and nurseries. Owing to their
underground habits they are much more dan-
gerous to orchards than field mice. They also
do much damage by burrowing along rows of
potatoes and other root crops, upon which they
feed.

Both pine mice and field mice are serious
pests to agriculture and only by vigilant care
can they be prevented from steadily reducing
the returns from farm and orchard. A mouse
appears so insignificant an enemy that the gen-
eral inclination among farmers is to ignore it,
but both field and pine mice exist in such enor-
mous numbers and are so generally distributed
that the aggregate annual losses from them are
great.

Clean cultivation in orchards, especially for
some distance immediately about the trees, is
an excellent protective measure against both of
these mice. The shrubbery and fruit trees of
orchards, lawns, and gardens may be protected
by the use of poisoned baits and traps as soon
as signs of pine mice or field mice are observed.

THE RED-BACKED MOUSE (Evotomys
gapperi aiul its relatives)

{For illustration, see page ji'j)

With the exception of the banded lemmings
the red-backed mice are the most brightly col-
ored of the smaller northern rodents. They
are close relatives of the common field mice,
which they about equal in size, but from whicli
they are distinguished externally by rufous col-
oration, finer and more glossy pelage, larger
ears, and proportionately longer tails.

The red-backed mice form a group contain-

ing a considerable number of species distrib-
uted throughout the northern circumpolar
lands, except on the barren islands of the Arctic
Sea. In North America tliey occur from the
Arctic tundras north of the limit of trees
southward throughout Alaska and Canada to
the northern United States. With other north-
ern species of mammals, birds, and plants they
follow the high mountain ranges still farther
southward to North Carolina, New Mexico,
and middle California.

It is true that in the far North they are nu-
merous on the moss-grown tundras, and in the
South range above timber-line on high moun-
tains. As a general rule, however, they are
woodland animals, whether among the spruces,
birches, and aspens of the North or farther
south in ihe United States in the cool fir and
aspen-clad slopes of mountains. They also fre-
quent old, half-cleared fields, brush-grown or
rocky areas, and similar places where cover is
abundant.

Although so closely related to the field mice,
the red-backed species are not known to be-
come excessively abundant nor seriously to in-
jure crops. One reason for their harmlessness
in this respect may be their strong preference
for forest haunts.

I once found them numerous in the grass-
grown streets and yards of an abandoned min-
ing camp in the forest at the head of Owens
River, in the Sierra Nevada, of California. The
mice were making free use of the congenial
shelter afforded by the old log cabins, and their
runways and entrances to burrows were all
about under scattered boards and similar cover.

Tliey are abroad equally by day and by night,
and for this reason are better known to woods-
men than most of the small woodland animals.
When foraging by day among the fallen leaves
and deep green vegetation they present a most
graceful and attractive sight, now moving about
with quick and pretty ways, now pausing to sit
up squirrel-like to eat some tid-bit held in the
front paws and then on the alert to detect a
suspected danger and poised in quivering readi-
ness for instant flight.

Red-backed mice usually live in underground
burrows similar to those of field mice, but gen-
erally located with more care in dry situations,
the entrances sheltered by a stump, old log,
root of a tree, rock, or other object. Ordina-
rily they do not make such well-defined run-
ways as do many field mice, and sometimes no
trace of a trail can be found leading away from
their burrows. But where they travel about
through small dense vegetation, under logs and
about stumps and rocks they often make well-
marked trails.

Their nests are bulky and formed of a mass
of fine dry grass, moss, and otlicr soft mate-
rial, which is sometimes located in an under-
ground chamber opening off the burrow and
sometimesjn hollow stumps and logs or under
otiier surface shelters. But little is known
about the home life of these mice except that
they are prolific, and between April and Octo-
ber have several litters containing from three
to eight young" in eacli.

-i<i^

I .''■■

.- 'Hv

ARCTIC HARE

Leptis arcticus

COTTONTAIL RABBIT
Sylvilagus floridanus

510

MARSH RABBIT

Syl'vilagus pa/ustris

PIKA, LITTLE CHIEF HARE, or CONY

Ochotona princips

511

512

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

They feed upon a great variety of seeds,
fruits, roots, and succulent vegetable matter
and lay up stores for winter in underground
chambers or in hollow logs and similar places
above ground.

With the coming of winter they gather about
cabins and other habitations in their territory
and become as persistent as house mice in
searching out and raiding food supplies of all
kinds. When the more appreciated kinds of
food fail they resort to gnawing the bark from
roots and bases of trunks of small deciduous
trees of various kinds.

During my sledge journeys in the region
about Bering Strait I found the skins of many
red-backed mice among the Eskimo children.
The small boys kept them with lemming skins
as evidences of their prowess with miniature
dead-fall traps and blunt-pointed arrows, and
the little girls kept them as prized robes for the
dolls carved by their fathers from wood or wal-
rus ivory.

THE RUFOUS TREE MOUSE (Phena-
comys longicaudus and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 523)

The genus Phenacomys, to which the rufous
tree mouse belongs, includes a number of spe-
cies closely similar in size and external appear-
ance to some of the well-known field mice.
The structure of their teeth, however, shows
that they form a distinct group of animals.

So far as known, the living members of the
genus are confined to the Boreal parts of North
America, where they range from the Atlantic
to the Pacific in Canada, and southward along
the mountains to New Hampshire, New Mex-
ico, and northern California. The discovery
of fossil representatives of the genus in Hun-
gary and England indicates that it was for-
merly circumpolar in distribution.

All but one species of the genus live on the
ground, inhabit burrows, make runways through
the small vegetation, and feed on grasses and
other herbage— all in close conformity with the
habits of the meadow mice.

The tree mouse, however, is a strongly aber-
rant member of the group. It differs from all
the others, and from all field mice, not only in
its rufous color and longer tail, but in its re-
markable mode of life. It is restricted to the
humid region of magnificent forests in western
Oregon and northwestern California, where it
often spends its life in the tops of such noble
trees as the Sitka spruce, the Douglas fir, and
the coast redwood. Such an amazing depar-
ture from the habits of its kind lends unusual
interest to this little animal.

Its nests are generally located high up in the
trees, sometimes 100 feet from the ground,_ in
forests where the branches of neighboring
trees interlace so that it can pass from one to
another and inhabit a world of its own, free
from the ordinary four-footed enemies which
prowl below.

The nests vary in size, structure, and loca-
tion. In Oregon they have been found only in

large trees at elevations varying from 30 to 100
feet. On the seashore near Eureka, California,
they are placed on the branches of small sec-
ond-growth myrtle and redwood trees Far-
ther inland in the same region many are in
small trees, within a few yards of the ground,
on the border of heavy redwood forests.

The higher nests of the tree mice are often
the deserted and remodeled homes of the big
gray tree squirrel of that region {Sciurus
griseus) and contain a foundation of coarser
sticks than in the nests wholly built by the
mice. The larger proportion of the nests are
built by the mice and are usually composed of
small twigs, fragments of a netlike lichen, skel-
etons of fir, spruce, or other coniferous leaves,
and the droppings of the mice themselves.
They vary from small oval structures a few
inches in diameter, located well out on the
branches, to great masses close against and
sometimes entirely surrounding the tree trunks,
supported on several branches, and measuring
three feet long and two or three feet high.

The interior of these large structures is
pierced with numerous passageways and some-
times as many as five separate nest chambers
are scattered through one. Tunnels run out
along each of the limbs on which the mass
rests, and if it extends all the way round one
main tunnel encircles the trunk from which
these hallways branch.

Such great nests have evidently been used
for a long period and have grown with the
steady accumulation of material. This has
gradually decayed and become a solid mass of
earthy humus. The large nests are usually the
abodes of a single female, the homes of the
males having been found to be small and more
often located away from the trunk of the tree.
The food of the red tree mouse, so far as
known, consists entirely of the fleshy parts of
fir and spruce needles and the bark from conif-
erous twigs.

Tree mice appear to breed throughout most
of the year and have from one to four young
in a litter. They are mainly nocturnal, and
when driven from their nests by day appear
rather slow and uncertain in their movements.
Those living in highly placed nests usually es-
cape by running out on the limbs, and pass
from one tree to another if necessary. Those
in small trees usually drop quickly from limb
to limb until they reach the ground, when they
run to the nearest shelter.

That these mice sometimes descend to the
ground of their own volition is prol^able. but
the fact that the stomach of every individual
so far examined has contained only the fleshy
parts of coniferous leaves indicate that their
food habits have become so fixed as to make
arboreal life a necessity.

The modification of the habits of a member
of a group of ground - frequenting animals,
with a structure adapted to such an existence,
to those of a strictly arboreal animal is so
strange as to make the question of cause a
puzzling one.

In the Hawaiian Islands the introduction of
the mongoose has made the common house rat

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

513

arboreal in habits, and possibly in the remote
past the pressure of some ground-frequenting
enemy thus affected the hves of the red tree
mouse. An animal rarely makes an abrupt
change in its habits without direct pressure
from some source, and then only as a matter
of self-preservation.

THE MUSKRAT (Fiber zibethicus and its

relatives)

{For illustration, see page 326)

The muskrat, or "musquash," as it is widely
known in the northern fur country, is three or
four times the size of the common house rat,
to which it bears a superhcial resemblance. It
has a compactly formed body, short legs, and
strong hind feet partly webbed and otherwise
modified for swimming. The long, nearly
naked, and scaly tail is strongly flattened ver-
tically and in the water serves well as a rudder.
The fur is nearly as tine and dense as that of
the beaver and, as in that .animal, protects its
owner from the cold water in which so much
of its life is spent.

Muskrats are peculiar to North America,
where they exist in great numbers. Aquatic in
habits, they have a wide distribution along
streams of all sizes and among marshes, ponds,
and lakes from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and
from a little beyond the limit of trees on the
Arctic barrens south throughout most of the
United States. They reach our southern bor-
der at the delta of the Mississippi and the delta
of the Colorado, at the head of the Gulf of
California.

Within this vast area they have been modi-
fied by their environment into several species
and geographic races, none of which difi^er
much in appearance from the well-known ani-
mal of the Eastern States.

The nearest kin of the muskrats are the
short-tailed field mice, so numerous in our
damp meadows. Like the latter, the muskrat
has several litters of young each season. The
young are born blind, naked, and helpless, and
number from three to thirteen to a litter. This
great fecundity has enabled the muskrats to
hold their own through years of persistent
trapping.

They still occupy practically all their original
range and yield a steady toll of valuable fur
each season. In 1914 more than 10,000,000 of
their skins were sold in London, and other
millions were handled in America. The aggre-
gate returns on muskrat skins are so great as
to constitute it our most valuable fur-bearer.
The furriers make its skins up in its natural
color or dress and dye it and give it the trade
names of "Hudson seal," "river mink," or
"ondatra mink."

In suitable marshes, as on the eastern shore
of Maryland, muskrats become extremely abun-
dant and render such areas valuable as natural
"fur farms." One Maryland marsh containing
1,300 acres has yielded from $2,000 to $7,000
worth of skins a year. Not only are the skins
of value, but the flesh is palatable, and is sold

readily under the trade name of "marsh rabl^it"
in the markets of Baltimore, Philadelphia, and
elsewhere.

There is little doubt that owners of favor-
ably situated marshes could derive from them
a steady revenue by keeping them stocked with
proper food plants and protecting the muskrats
from their enemies. The value of these fur-
bearers is becoming more and more appreci-
ated and many States have laws restricting the
trapping season to a period in fall and winter
when the fur is prime.

In marshes about shallow lakes or bordering
sluggish rivers muskrats build roughly conical
lodges or "houses," three to four feet high,
with bases, usually in shallow water, several
feet broader. These houses are made of roots
and stems of plants with a mixture of mud.
An oval chamber is left in the interior, well
above the water level, to which entrance is
gained by one or more passageways opening
under water. These shelters are mainly for
winter use, but the young are sometimes born
in them as well as in large grass nests among
dense marsh vegetation.

The curious conical lodges are familiar ob-
jects about marshes in the Eastern and Norlh-
ern States, and I remember seeing, a few years
ago, a specially well - formed muskrat house
close to the historic bridge at Concord, and
others along the Concord River. Within ten
years muskrat houses were common in marshy
ponds in Potomac Park, Washington, where
the Lincoln Memorial Building now stands.

Where the banks of streams or lakes rise
abruptly, the muskrats make their home in dry
chambers in the banks above water level at the
end of a tunnel opening either under water or
close to the water level. Worn trails lead up
the banks about such places and well-marked
runways are made through the heavy rerds
and marsh grasses in their haunts.

Muskrats are mainly nocturnal animals, but
often move about during the day. I have seen
them repeatedly swimming close to the bank of
the Potomac a short distance above Washing-
ton. They like to carry their food to slightly
elevated points where they can overlook the
water along shore, such as the top of a project-
ing log, large stone, or earthen bank, from
which they plunge headlong at the first alarm.
Many a solitary canoeman gliding silently along
the shore of stream or pond at night has been
startled by the disproportionately loud splash
made by a muskrat diving from its resting
place.

Their food consists mainly of the roots and
stems of succulent plants varied with fresh-
water clams, an occasional fish, and even by
cultivated vegetables grown in places readily
accessible from their haunts. They store up
roots and other vegetable matter for w'nter
use and remain active throughout that season.
The roots of which their "houses" are built are
frequently those used for food and sometimes
serve as winter supplies.

As a rule, muskrats keep near their homes in
winter, making excursions here and there be-
neath the ice. Sometimes the water rises and

PORCUPINE

Erethizon dorsatuin

JUMPING MOUSE

Zapus hiidsonius

514

SILKY POCKET MOUSE
Perognathus fta--vus

SPINY POCKET MOUSE

Perognathus h'lsplJiis

• il^fm^ K. ,?.

POCKET. GOPHER

Geomvs bur sarins

515

516

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

forces them out and they wander widely in
search of new locations. When encountered at
such times they show extraordinary cour..ge
and fiercely attack man or beast. The lirst
muskrat I ever saw was one which a farmer
met in midwinter in a snowy road in northern
New York. As soon as the man drew near,
the animal rushed at him with bared teeth and
fought savagely until killed.

Muskrats are usually harmless animals and
their presence in marshes and along water-
courses lends a pleasant touch of primitive
wildness to the most commonplace situations.
They appear to have so adapted their habits to
the presence of men that they go on with their
affairs with curious indifference to their human
neighbors. In irrigated country or elsewhere
where banked ditches are built their habits ren-
der them serious pests, as their burrows and
tunnels drain ponds or cause destructive wash-
outs.

An interesting chapter in the history of these
animals began in 1905, when four Canadian
muskrats were introduced on a nobleman's es-
tate in Bohemia. Since then they have in-
creased rapidly and spread over a large area
in Bohemia and beyond its borders. The
streams in the region they occupy are con-
trolled by grassy banks, and dams are built to
form ponds for tish culture, which is a large
industry there. The muskrats persistently tun-
nel into the banks and dams, causing them to
give way, thus causing heavy losses to the
owners.

They also work havoc among river crabs and
mussels, which have great economic value, and
interfere with the tish and their spawning beds.
To cap the climax of their misdeeds, they are
reported to feed on grain and vegetables and
to destroy the eggs of domestic poultry and of
wild-fowl. It is reported also that these ex-
patriates in their foreign environment have be-
come larger animals than their ancestors, and
that their fur has greatly deteriorated in qual-
ity. The measures prescribed by the Agricul-
iural Council of the Kingdom of Bohemia for
their control are apparently without much suc-
cess. This instance is a good illustration of
the danger attending the introduction of an
animal from its native habitat into a new
region.

THE WOODRAT (Neotoma albigula and

its relatives)

(For illustration, see page 526)

In the East known as woodrats, in the West,
where much more numerous and better known,
these animals are called "mountain rats" or
''trade rats." Despite a certain superficial re-
semblance in size and appearance, woodrats are
not related to those exotic parasites, the house
rats, with coarse hair and bare tails, but are
far more attractive and handsome animals,
clothed in fine soft fur, delicately colored above
in soft shades of gray, buffy, or ferruginous,
while below they are usually snowy white or
buffy. The tail is fully haired and in some

species almost as broad and bushy as that of a
squirrel. Their prominent black eyes and large
ears give them an air of vivacious intelligence
which their habits appear to confirm.

Woodrats are peculiar to North America,
where they occur from Pennsylvania and Illi-
nois to the Gulf coast, spreading thence to the
Pacific and as far north as the headwaters of
the Yukon, and south through Mexico and
Central America to Nicaragua. They are not
plentiful in the southern M'lssissippi Valley and
eastward, where they live aUiong cliffs and
broken ledges of rock in the deciduous forests,
and well deserve their common name. In this
region their presence is rarely suspected except
b\' hunters or others familiar with woodland
li'fe.

Far more numerous and widely known in
the Western States and throughout most of
Mexico, they have adapted themselves to life
under every climatic condition, from the most
sun-scorched deserts of the southwest and the
splendid redwood forests of the humid coastal
region in northern California to the tropical
lowlands farther south.

They live nearly everywhere on the moun-
tain slopes, even to timber-line at 13.800 feet
on Mount Orizaba. They thrive in an extraor-
dinary variety of situations, not only where
they may find shelter among rocks, but also
where they must seek safety in nests made on
tlie surface of the ground or in burrows dug
by themselves. They are prolific animals and
each year have several litters containing from
two to five young.

The presence of woodrats is generally indi-
cated by accumulations of odds and ends filling
the crevices of the rocks about their retreats
or piled about the entrances of their burrows,
such accumulations including small sticks,
pieces of bark, leaves, cactus burrs, bones,
stones, and any other small objects which may
be found in the vicinity.

Sometimes these piles of. fragments seem to
be made merely for amusement or to work off
surplus energy, as they form useless gatherings,
sucii as heaps of small stones, frequently con-
taining a bushel or more, piled on the rounded
tops of small protruding boulders in open des-
ert areas, or small heaps of sticks and other
material scattered aimlessly about their haunts.
In the desert where cactuses of many kinds
aliMund woodrats' nests are often made at the
b:ises of these or other thorny plants and are
covered with such a protective coating of cac-
tus burrs as to deter the most insistent enemy.
In the heavy forests of northern California
woodrats build huge conical nests of sticks
several feet in diameter on the ground, rising
to a height of five feet or more.

In southern California and elsewhere some
species make great nests of sticks eight to
twenty feet from the ground in live oaks and
other trees. The stick-pile nests on the ground
usually have several entrances, with trails lead-
ing from them, and the underground burrows
usually have two or more openings.

As may lie surmised from their habits, wood-
rats are skillful climbers, both in trees and on

SMALLER ALVMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

517

the rough rock walls of the cliffs they inhabit.
Their only notes appear to be shrill squeaks
and squeals when quarreling among themselves
at night. They also express annoyance or
alarm by a rapid drumming on the ground
with their hind feet, just as is done by some
of the hares and rabbits.

On Santa Margarita Island, in Lower Cali-
fornia, I found the most curiously located
habitations of these animals I have seen, the
bulky stick nests being placed well back in the
midst of a mangrove thicket growing in a tidal
lagoon. At high tide the mangroves were iso-
lated from shore by several rods of water, so
that only at low tide were the rats able to go
ashore. In going back and forth they followed
certain lines of nearly horizontal mangrove
stems, the discoloration on the bark plainly in-
dicating the routes which finally led to dry
land by little trampled roads across the muddy
ground bordering the shore.

Back a little way from shore others of the
same species were living in burrows guarded
by orthodox stick and trash-pile nests among
the cactuses.

Woodrats, especially in northern localities,
gather stores of pinyon or other nuts, potatoes,
corn, and any other non-perishable food avail-
able to meet the season of storms and scarcity,
concealing these supplies in cavities in the nests
either above or below the ground. They eat
many kinds of fruits, seeds, leaves, and other
parts of plants, sometimes including bark of
shrubs or small trees and even cactus pads.

As a rule each nest is occupied by a single
rat, but sometimes several may be found in
one, and the well-worn trails that so often con-
nect the entrances of neighboring nests bear,
evidence that woodrats have a social disposi-
tion. In most localities woodrats are distrib-
uted sparingly, but occasionally become so
abundant in favorable places on brushy plains
that colonies containing hundreds of nests may
be found in limited areas. They sometimes be-
come so plentiful about ranches as to make
serious inroads on grain and other crops. They
also give the Forest Service much trouble by
digging up the pine seeds planted in their great
reforesting nurseries.

Woodrats are mainly nocturnal in habits and
appear to be extremely active throughout the
night. Each morning in the vicinity of their
nests the light soil shows a multitude of tracks,
and in places 1 have seen little roads in the
sand several hundred yards long which they had
made by repeated trips to a feeding ground.

No sooner is a cabin built in the mountains
than they move in and establish themselves
under the floor, or locate a nest near by and
use the house as their nocturnal resort.
Throughout the night the patter of their busy
feet may be heard as they race about on the
floor or rustle» about the roof, and often over
tjie sleeping forms of their unwilling hosts.

Their activities are sources of mingled amuse-
ment and vexation. Small, loose articles, in-
cluding table knives, forks, and spoons, vanish
and all manner of trash, including horse drop-
pings, are brought in, thus establishing their

title to the cognomen of "trade rats." If the
owner of a cabin leaves it for a few days, he
may find on his return that the rats have taken
possession and during his absence have tried
to fill it with trash of all kinds, in order to
make a comfortable home for themselves.

At one cabin in the mountains of New Mex-
ico where I lived one summer several moun-
tain rats made free of the place and at night
persistently tried to add our shoes to their nest
under the floor. An hour or so after retiring
we would hear our shoes scrape slowly across
the floor, and in the morning they would be
found stuck toe down in the broad crack where
the floor ended near the wall. In the woodrat
country when small articles are missed from
camp it is always worth the trouble to investi-
gate the nearest rats' nests.

Woodrats are plentiful on the Mexican table-
land, making their nests under cactuses or
thorny agaves, where they are persistently
hunted as game by the natives, who prize them
as a special delicacy. I saw them regularly
sold in the markets of the cities of San Luis
Potosi and Aguas Calientes, where the method
of marketing them was tinique. As soon as
they were dug from their nests, their lower
incisors were broken off close to the jaw to
render them powerless to bite, and then the
rats were placed alive in a strong sack and
carried to town.

The vendor would sit on a curb at the mar-
ket and either kill and dress them there or
shout his wares by telling every one who passed
that he had "country rats; very delicious; live
ones; fat ones; very delicious; very cheap."
The natives all praised their delicate flavor and
one I had served me as a special courtesy was
really good, tasting like young rabbit.

THE HARVEST MOUSE (Reithrodonto-

mys megalotis and its relatives)

{Por illustration, see page ^27)

In size, proportions, and color the harvest
mice, of all our American species, most closely
resembles the common house mouse. Many
of them are decidedly smaller than that animal
and they rarely, if ever, exceed it in size. They
may be distinguished from the house mouse by
their browner colors, more hairy tail and espe-
cially by a little groove which extends down
the front of each upper incisor.

The mice of this group include many species
and have a wide distribution ranging from Vir-
ginia, in the eastern United States, to the Pa-
cific, and from North Dakota, Montana, and
Washington southward through Mexico and
Central America to northern South America.

They reach their greatest development in
number and diversity of species in the region
about the southern end of the Mexican table-
land, where I have caught them from the trop-
ical lowlands, near sea level, up to an altitude
of 13,500 feet, at timber-line, on Mount Iztac-
cihuatl.

These delicately proportioned and graceful
little beasts are habitants of grassy, weed-

KANGAROO RAT

Dipodomys spectabilis

518

BANDED LEMMING (Dicrostnuyx nelsoni)
Summer

Winter

BROWN LEMMING

Lemmus alascensis

519

520

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

grown, and brushy locations, mainly in the open
country. They are equally at home, however,
in the beautiful grassy open forests of oak,
pine, and firs which clothe the slopes of the
great continental mountain system of Mexico
and Central America.

In general they prefer comparatively dry sit-
uations, if there is sufficient moisture to pro-
duce the needed vegetation, but some species in-
habit swamps and even salt and fresh water
marshes. Although as a rule not very numer-
ous, at times they are very abundant and make
well-worn trails through the small vegetation in
their haunts. They are active throughout the
year, and in the North, like some other mice,
burrow through the winter snows along the
surface of the ground in search of food.

So far as man is concerned, most of the
harvest mice are among the least offensive of
mammals. There are exceptions, however,
and, although they rarely approach habitations
and as a rule take but slight toll from grain
fields and meadows, yet in some areas they be-
come so numerous as to do considerable dam-

Their fnnd includes a great variety of seeds,
small fruits and succulent matter mainly from
wild plants of no economic value. They lay
up' stores of seeds in their nests and in little
special storage places for severe or inclement
weather.

Some of the species dig burrows in the
ground where their nests are hidden. Most
of them, however, build globular nests of grass
and other vegetable matter several inches in
diameter in dense grass close to the ground,
or up in the midst of rank growths of weeds,
or even as high as eight or ten feet from the
ground in bushes and low trees.

Sometimes they take possession of conve-
nient sites already provided, such as old wood-
pecker holes, cavities in fence posts, knot
holes, and deserted birds' nests, including the
nests of the cactus wren and orchard oriole,
which they remodel to suit themselves. Their
nests are lined with fine downy material such
as the pappus of the milkweed or the cattail
flag, and have from one to three small open-
ings usually located on the underside. In
these neat homes they have several litters of
from one to seven young each year.

Some of their bush nests three or four feet
from the gronnd were found when I was hunt-
ing on El Mirador coffee plantation in Vera
Cruz. Often on approaching them, the single
occupant would dive headlong into the grassy
cover below and disappear. But sometimes
when disturbed they would come out and run
about through the tops of the bushes, leaping
from branch to branch with all the agility ancl
graceful abandon of pigmy squirrels. Several
times they were seen to stop and sit crosswise
on the branches with their tails hanging
straight down. When they move about among
the branches they sometimes coil the tail
around the twig as an opossum might, to give
them a more certain hold.

While harvest mice may be seen at their
nests by day, they are mainly crepuscular and

nocturnal, and so retiring in habits that their
presence may be entirely overlooked unless
special search is made to locate them. Where
found their pretty ways well repay the observer
who has the patience to spend a little time with
them.

THE GRASSHOPPER MOUSE (Ony-
chomys leucogaster and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page ^2y)

The grasshopper mice are notable for the
delicate coloring and velvety quality of their
fur. While closely resembling some of the
white-footed mice, they may readily be distin-
guished from them by more robust form,
short, thick tail, and the character of the fur.

Only two species, each with numerous geo-
graphic races, are known and both are peculiar
to North America. Characteristic animals of
the arid and semi-arid treeless plains, plateaus,
and foothills of the West, their known range
extends from Minnesota and Kansas west to
the Cascades and to the Pacific coast of south-
ern California, and in the North, from the
plains of the vSaskatchewan southward to San
Luis Potosi, on the tableland of Mexico.

Some races live on the grassy plains west
of the Mississippi, but the majority prefer the
looser soil and sandy areas of the more arid
Great Basin and the even more desert South-
west, where the vegetation is characterized by
a scattered growth of woody plants, including
many species of cactuses, yuccas, agaves, sage-
brush, grcasewood, mesquites, acacias, and
other picturesque types.

Like other small mammals of the open
plains, the grasshopper mice live in burrows.
When opportunity offers they evade the labor
of digging these for themselves by occupying
the deserted holes of mice, kangaroo rats,
ground squirrels, prairie clogs, badgers, and
other animals. In these retreats they have
nests of soft vegetable matter and each season
bring forth several litters containing from two
to six young.

They are active throughout the year, but
nothing appears to be known as to the kind
and amount of stores they lay up for winter
use. As many live far enough north to expe-
rience a long period of cold, witli snow cover-
ing the earth, there is little doubt that they
exercise the same provision in ])roviding stores
to meet the need as do many other small mam-
mals.

Many, species of mice eat insects or meat
and even on occasion devour one of their own
kind. The grasshopper mice go far beyond
this and are often not only as fierce flesh eat-
ers as real carnivores, but make their diet, at
least during the summer season, mainly of in-
sects and other small invertebrates. Their bill
of fare includes a miscellaneous assortment of
several species of mice, including their own
kind caught in traps, small dead birds, lizards,
frogs, cutworms, scorpions, mole crickets, ordi-
nary crickets, grasslioppers, moths, flies, and
beetles, including tlic "potato bug."

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

521

In addition they eat many kinds of seeds,
fruit, and otlier vegetable matter. Where ob-
tainable, grasshoppers are one of their favorite
foods, and from this they receive their com-
mon name. In Colorado, from their fondness
for scorpions, they are sometimes called "scor-
pion mice."

Vernon Bailey's observations of a grasshop-
per mcuse he had in captivity are illuminating
as to their habits, and indicate that their pres-
ence in numbers about cultivated land must be
of distinct economic value. When undisturbed
and well fed the captive was entirely nocturnal,
sleeping all day and becoming very active at
night. While usually quiet, sometimes jumping
with all his force he tried furiously to escape
from his small prison box. His favorite food
consisted of crickets, grasshoppers ranking
next. Among other things he ate were a black
beetle, ladybirds, a potato beetle, spiders, bugs,
and dragon flies.

In feeding he sat upright on his haunches
and^ held the insects in his front paws, eating
them head fi'-st. Large grasshoppers, their tails
resting on the ground, were held head up by a
paw on each shoulder. A grasshopper would
sometimes kick so vigorously as to tip the
mouse off its balance, but was never relin-
quished until decapitated.

The mouse promptly killed and ate a small
frog placed in his box and was expert at catch-
ing flies. He ate many kinds of insects, in-
cluding a live wasp, but appeared terror-
stricken if a few ants were put in with him.
When a dozen or more crickets and grasshop-
pers were put into his box at the same time he
at once proceeded to bite off all their heads
before beginning to feast upon them.

A dead white- footed mouse was dropped in
and "he pounced upon it like a cat, caught it
by the side of the head near the ear, and be-
gan ^biting it with all the ferocity of a coon
dog." The bones could be heard cracking and
after the little beast appeared satisfied that his
prey was really dead he ceased worrying it and
an examination showed that he had bitten
through its skull deep into the brain. After-
ward he tore off and ate fragments of flesh
from its head, neck, and shoulders. The fero-
cious certainty with which he seized the white-
footed mouse by the head and bit through its
skull indicated "that in relation to small mam-
mals he, probably like all his kind, had the
predatory instincts and habits of the carnivores.

One morning he ate 12 crickets and a spider
in seven minutes and during a single day de-
voured 53 insects — 2 beetles, 8 grasshoppers, 28
crickets, and 15 flies— and appeared ready to
take more.

Oddly enough, this grasshopper mouse, so
fierce toward small game, never offered to bite
when captured or when handled freely, but con-
tinued throughout his captivity to have the
same friendly confidence in his captor. Others
caught in various parts of their range 'have
shown the same characteristics.

At night, especially early in the evening,
grasshopper mice utter a fine shrill whistling
call note. This habit appears peculiar to them

among all the mice and may be likened to that
of many of the large beasts of prey in utter-
ing their hunting call as they sally' forth for
tlie night's foray.

THE WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE (Pero-
myscus leucopus and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 330)

Few of our smaller wild mammals are so
generally known as the white-footed mice.
Usually a little larger and proportionately
shorter bodied than the house mice, they may
at once be distinguished from them by the con-
trast between the delicate shades of fawn color,
brown, or gray of the upper parts of the body,
and the snowy white feet and under parts.
Like other members of the genus, they have
cheek pouches inside the mouth for gathering
and carrying food to their stores.

Their exceedingly quick and graceful move-
ments and their beauty of form and color
would make them generally attractive were it
not for the prejudice against all their kind re-
sulting from the oft'ensive ways of the house
mouse.

Mice of the genus Peromyscus, to which the
v.hite- footed mice belong, are peculiar to North
and South America and include more species
and geographic races than any other American
genus of mammals. The white-footed mice are
limited to North America. Readily respon-
sive to the influences of environment, they have
developed numerous species and a large num-
ber of geographic races.

These are spread over most of the continent
from the northern limit of trees tp the tropi-
cal shores of Yucatan. One form has the
distinction of living up to an altitude of from
15,000 to 16,000 feet on Mount Orizaba, ]\Iex-
ico, where I found its tracks in the volcanic
ashes at the extreme limit of vegetation. This
is the highest record for any North American
mammal.

White-footed mice are active throughout the
year and thrive in every variety of situation.
In winter from the Northern States to the
Arctic circle the snowshoer traversing the for-
est will note their lace-work patterns of tiny
tracks leading across the snow from log to log
or tree to tree. At sunrise on the southwest-
ern deserts their tracks made during the night
rften form _ a fine network in the dust, but
disappear with the first breath of the morning
breeze.

They not only live everywhere in tlie wilder-
ness, but are prompt to swarm about camps
and other habitations, where they make free
with the food supplies. Few frequenters of
forest camps in the Northern States and Can-
ada have failed to see the bright eyes of these
pretty little animals peering at them from
some crevice, or the mice scurrying along the
log wall like little squirrels.

They are industrious workers and once in a
cabin quickly locate some cozy nook in a box
or other secluded place to construct a warm
nest of any soft fibrous vegetable material

FIELD, or MEADOW, MOUSE

Mtcrotus pennsyl'uanicus

PINK M<n;M,

Pity/iiys pinetorum

522

RED-BACKED MOUSE

E--oototnys gapperi

RUFOUS TREE MOUSE
Phenacomys longicaudus

523

524

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

available. This completed, they set busily at
work nights to raid the food supply of the
owner and hide it in suitable storage places,
such as a crevice among boxes, an old shoe or
a pocket in a garment hung on the wall. Their
depredations usually cause so much exaspera-
tion that the camper overlooks the grace and
beauty of his visitors and makes every effort
to destroy them. If the occupants of such
camps would keep their supplies in mouse-proof
containers and would then feed their wood-
land friends, they would find them quickly re-
sponsive and most attractive guests.

In their native haunts these mice have habits
varying with varying conditions. On brushy
plains they burrow in the ground, while in the
woods they sometimes burrow under rocks,
stumps, and logs, or live in hollows in stumps
and trees. As nimble in climbing as squirrels,
many live in hollow trees sometimes more than
fifty feet above the ground.

That our inability to see at night prevents
more than an occasional glimpse at the doings
of the small animals which often swarm all
about us was impressed on me at one of my
camps in the desert of Lower California. My
blankets were spread under a small leafless tree
growing near the base of a rocky ledge, in the
crevices of which many relatives of the white-
footed mice were living. The first morning in
camp I awoke as the sky began to pale and
color with the approach of day. The dry
branches of the tree a few feet overhead be-
came sharply silhouetted against the sky, reveal-
ing several of the mice running up and down
them and leaping from twig to twig with all
the active grace of tiny squirrels.

The mice appeared to be racing about in pure
playful enjoyment of the exercise, and when
the light had increased sufficiently to render
objects on the ground distinct they suddenly
ran down the tree trunk and vanished in a
crevice in the rocks. This game was repeated
on several succeeding mornings and is no doubt
commonly indulged in where conditions are
favorable.

White-footed mice feed mainly on many
kinds of seeds and nuts and vary this diet with
snails, insects, and sometimes with the flesh of
dead birds or other mice. As they do not hi-
bernate they lay up al)undant stores of grain
and seeds of many kinds in addition to a vari
ety of nuts, as acorns, beech nuts, pine nuts,
maple seeds, and others, according to the local-
ity. The stores are hidden in hollows in logs,
stumps, trees, or in the ground. When in cap-
tivity they have shown themselves expert in
catching flies, sometimes capturing them with
their teeth and again with their front paws used
with all the dexterity of little hands.

Several litters of young containing from
three to seven each are born, the first usually
appearing in spring and the last in fall. The
young are blind and helpless at birth, and in
tliis condition cling so tenaciously to the moth-
er's teats that' when she is frightened from the
nest they are often carried off attached to her.

Some individuals at least of the white-footed
mice, like others of the genus Peromyscus, are

known to have a prolonged and musical song.
It is a fine warbling ditty, a little like the song
of a canary. A number of good observers
have recorded these performances, but they
appear to be so infrequent that most people
with woodland experience have never heard
them.

The lives of these mice are passed in con-
stant fear of a host of enemies. Hawks and
owls, bluejays, and shrikes in the bird world
are ever on the alert to capture them, while
skunks, weasels, minks, foxes, and snakes per-
sistently seek them in their retreats.

THE BEACH MOUSE (Peromyscus polio-
notus niveiventris and its relatives)

{Por illustration, see page 330)

The beach mouse is a beautiful, velvety-
furred little creature about the size of a house
mouse and one of the smallest species of the
genus Peromyscus. Its back is colored with
delicate shades of pale vinaceous-buffy and its
underparts, including the feet, are snowy white.

The species Peromyscus polionotiis, of which
the beach mouse is one of several geographic
races, or subspecies, occupies a comparatively
restricted range in the lowland region of Ala-
bama and Georgia and thence through a large
part of Florida.

It presents an unusually convincing illustra-
tion of the influence of changing environment
upon the physical characters of animals.
Among the cotton fields of Alabama and
Georgia Peromyscus polionotiis is rather dark
grayish brown, but on the lighter-colored soil
of Florida the color responds and becomes
paler in perfect correspondence with the change
in soil until the white sand-dunes and beaches
of the coast are reached. There, in strong con-
trast with the color of the northern members
of the species, it is so modified that the pale
representatives of this area are recognized
under the name niveiventris, as a geographic
race, or subspecies.

Changes in environment affect both great and
small mammals in a variety of ways, sometimes
in shades of color, sometimes in relative size,
and sometimes in proportions. Exceptions to
the rule are to be found, however, and some
species of mammals have a wide range under
a great variety of conditions, with scarcely an
appreciable sign of variation.

The beach mouse is abundant on the sand-
dunes and beaches of peninsular Florida, espe-
cially from Palm Beach to Mosquito Inlet,
wherever there is a growth of sea oats ( Uniola),
which appears to be its principal food plant.
It is a nocturnal animal and its nightly activi-
ties may be read, early in the morning, from
the multitude of tiny tracks which lead in all
directions and often form a network on the
sand. A single track sometimes extends for a
hundred yards or more from a burrow, and
with all its windings may aggregate several
hundred yards of travel, showing the activity
of this small worker during many hours.

Tra'M<s are most plentiful immediately about

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

525

growths of sea oats, patches of saw palmetto,
or scrubby bushes. The homes of these mice
are usually in short burrows sheltered by
growing vegetation or under fallen palm
fronds.

As in the case of many of our mammals, we
have scanty information concerning the life of
these attractive little animals, and it is sug-
gested that here lies a pleasant subject for in-
vestigation by some nature lover wintering in
Florida.

THE BIG-EARED ROCK MOUSE (Pero-
myscus truei and its relatixes)

{For illustration, see page ^31)

The numerous species of mice of the genus
Peromyscus in North America include a great
variet}' of little beasts, many of which are dis-
tinguished by beauty of form and color. One
of the most striking and picturesque individ-
ualities among these is found in the big-eared
rock mouse, which is characterized by its great
ears, a thick, soft coat of huffy brown fur, and
a long, well-haired tail. In size it exceeds the
common house mouse and even the white-
footed mice which share its haunts.

This rock mouse is indigenous to the moun-
tainous regions of the West, from Colorado
and New Mexico to the Pacific and south to
the Cape Region of Lower California, and
down the Sierra Madre of Mexico to Oaxaca.
Within this area it divides into several not very
strongly marked geographic races.

As implied by its common name, it is a char-
acteristic dweller among cliffs and ledges along
the mountain slopes or rocky canyon walls,
where it occupies the many crevices and little
caves. In California it ranges from near sea-
level up on the mountains to above 10,000 feet
altitude. Although showing a distinct prefer-
ence for rocky places, when available, some
races of this mouse adapt themselves to other
conditions and may be found on brush-grown
flats, where they live in brush heaps, old wood-
rat nests, and similar shelter.

That they make their homes in places other
than cliffs in New Mexico was evidenced by a
thick, soft nest made almost entirely of wool,
found in a hollow juniper. They have several
litters of from two to six young each year, the
breeding period extending from spring to fall.

In Arizona and New Mexico I found the
rock mouse most numerous in the belt of
junipers and pinyons and in the adjacent yel-
low-pine forest. The crevices of cliffs about
the Moki and Zuni Indian pueblos and in all
the rocky wilderness of that region, including
the Grand Canyon, are abundantly populated
with them.

They search every nook about their haunts
and often visit cabins or temporary camps for
food, but do not usually take up their abode
in them as do the white-footed mice. When
foraging their movements are quick, and when
startled they make surprisingly long leaps.
Like others of their kind, they eat a great va-
riety of seeds and small nuts, quantities of

which they lay up m winter stores. Pinyon
nuts, and especially juniper seeds, are their
favorite food.

While of nocturnal habits, rock mice at times
wander forth in sheltered spots by day, and on
the few occasions I have seen them I have
been delighted with their grace and beauty,
their great ears and prominent shming black
eyes lending them an attractive air of alert in-
telligence.

Throughout their lives they are in deadly
peril from predatory foes. Hawks and owls
glide shadowlike along the faces of their rocky
homes ready to pick them up whenever they
venture into open view, while bobcats, skunks,
and weasels prowl about by night hunting their
furry victims.

THE BROWN RAT (Rattus norvegicus

and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 531)

It is safe to assume that few readers need
an introduction to that world-wide pest vari-
ously known as the brown rat, house rat, wharf
rat, or Norway rat. Two European relatives,
the black rat and the roof rat, preceded the
brown rat to the New World and became
widely distributed. They resemble the brown
rat, but are much smaller and are soon killed,
driven away, or reduced to a secondary status
by their larger and fiercer cousin, which aver-
ages about sixteen inches in length, although
large individuals attain a length of more than
twenty inches and a weight of jnore than two
pounds. The black rat has nearly disappeared
from most of its former haunts in the United
States and the roof rat is mainly restricted to
southern localities with a mild climate.

Neither the brown, black, nor roof rat has
any near relatives among native rats of Amer-
ica, and all may be distinguished from our
native animals by their coarser hair and long,
naked tails.

The brown rat is believed to have first in-
vaded Europe from Asia in 1727, when hordes
of them swam the Volga River, and about the
same year it arrived in England on ships from
the Orient. Since then, traveling by ships and
by inland commercial routes, it has spread to
nearly all parts of the globe. In America it
is now established in human abodes through-
out the length and breadth of the continents
from Greenland to Patagonia.

Wherever it goes the fierce and aggressive
spirit with which it is endowed qualifies the
lirown rat more than to hold its own against
all rivals, while its mental adroitness and its
fecundity have largely nullified the constant
warfare being waged against it by all mankind.
Not content with infesting ships, dwellings,
stores, warehouses, and even the refrigerating
rooms of cold-storage plants in many areas, it
has established itself as an extremely destruc-
tive pest in the open fields.

In towns it hides among stored merchandise,
in the hollow walls of buildings, in sewers and
other underground passages, or, as in the fields,

MUSKRAT
Fiber zibethiciis

WOOD RAT

Neototna albigula

526

HARVEST MOUSE
Reithrodontomys megalotis

^IW

rc"

/fi^'ur^ i^f.-arfc /n^ftt.

GRASSHOPPER MOUSE
Onychomys leucogastcr

527

>28

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

in burrows which it digs iil the ground. Its
nests are soft, warm masses of fibrous mate-
rial which is secured by raids on any available
supply of cotton, wool, or fabrics, which they
cut into shreds for the purpose.

In these retreats it has several litters a year,
averaging about ten young, but exceptional
cases of more than twenty young have been
recorded. The young begin to breed when less
than six months old. The size and number of
litters increase with the food supply, and under
favorable conditions rats soon become intoler-
able pests.

In Jamaica and the Hawaiian Islands rats
became so numerous that sugar-cane and other
plantations were at one time threatened with
complete destruction. To save the crops tlje
mongoose was introduced, but after checking
the rats in Jamaica these curious little mam-
mals in turn became a pest which it appears
hopeless to control.

In the Hawaiian Islands the mongoose re-
duced the number of rats, but the survivors
promptly took up their abodes in the tree tops,
where they now live as completely arboreal
lives as squirrels, safe from their ground-in-
habiting enemy.

During a two weeks' campaign against rats
in the sewers of Paris 600,000 were killed, and
on a rice plantation of about 1,200 acres in
Georgia 30,000 were destroyed in one season.
In Illinois 3,435 were killed on a farm in one
month.

One of the most curious chapters in the life
of this hardy beast is now developing in the
far island of South Georgia, on the border of
the Antarctic, east of Cape Horn. On this
island, which has a cold and stormy summer
and nine months of rigorous winter, several
whaling stations have been established. For
years great numbers of whale carcasses have
drifted ashore each season and, half rotting,
half refrigerated, have furnished a never-fail-
ing food supply for brown rats that have land-
ed from the ships. With such abimdant food
they are reported to have increased until they
now exist there literally in millions. They
make their nesls in the tussocks of grass and
peat and swarm along well-marked trails they
liave made on the mountain sides.

In the trenches along the battle front in
France they have become extremely abundant
and troublesome, and in England have multi-
plied until the Board of Agriculture is recom-
mending efforts to destroy them as a menace
to the public welfare through their waste of
food supi)lies.

On farms, in addition to destroying growing
and stored crops, they kill great numbers of
young chickens, turkeys, and other poultry, and
create havoc with such ground - frequenting
game as pheasants. At all times brown rats
are more or less carnivorous, and when sev-
eral are confined in a cage the stronger will
soon kill and devour the weaker.

In city department stores and large hotels
they often cause thousands of dollars damage
3'early in single establishments. An Knglish
organization for their destruction estimated in

igo8 that, outside the towns and shipping, in
Great Britain and Ireland they caused annual
losses of about $73,000,000.

When there is a sudden diminution in the
food supply, an abundance of which has caused
a great increase in the rat population, the rats
migrate into other districts, sometimes in enor-
mous numbers. These migrations usually oc-
cur at night, and many are matters of history
in Europe and in the United States.
.. A witness of one of these .migrations in Illi-
nois in 1903 reported that one moonlight night
as he was passing along the roads he heard a
rustling in a field near by and soon saw cross-
ing the road in front of him a multitude of
rats extending as far as he could see. The
following year the invaders became a plague
in that district. At times of food scarcity rats
become extremely bold and aggressive. With-
out hesitation they swim streams encountered
in their wanderings and at times will even at-
tack man.

Owing to their great numbers, universal dis-
tribution, and destructiveness, brown rats are
the worst mammal pest known to mankind.
Through their habit of living in sewers, among
the offal of slaughter-houses, and -in garbage,
heaps, from which they invade dwellings and
storehouses, they pollute and spoil even more
foodstuffs than they eat.

In addition, they are known carriers of some
of the worst and most dreaded diseases, as
bubonic plague, trichinosis, and septic pneu-
monia ; while there is little doubt that they
spread scarlet fever, typhoid, diphtheria, and
other contagious maladies. Bubonic plague is
mainly dependent upon rats for its dissemina-
tion and lias been carried by them to more than
fifty countries, including the United States. In
India more than two million people have died
in one year from this rat-conveyed disease.

Although rats are abhorred by man, yet they
have been for ages so closely associated with
most of his activities that they have long had
their place in Old World literature. Among
other instances, many readers will recall Victor
Hugo's gruesome account of Jean Val jean's
fight with the rats in the sewers of Paris. In
England and on the continent rat catching has
been a regular trade and dogs have been spe-
cially bred for use in their pursuit.

Kats are loathsome vermin which civilized
man should eliminate with the other evils of
his semi-barbaric days which he is leaving be-
hind. One might still wish that in many places
a modern "Pied Piper of Hamelin" would ap-
pear and rid the people of these pests. This
is not necessary, however, if the public will
cease to take their presence as a matter of
course. Their exclusion from buildings and
destruction are merely matters of good house-
keeping, both personal and communal.

Rats can be banished by removing or de-
stroying trash heaps and similar harboring
places and by the simi)le expedient of rat-
proofing buildings, especially dwellings, gran-
aries, warehouses, and other places where food
sutmlies are stored.

These precautionary measures should be sup-

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

529

plemented by trapping !ie:^!!5j)oisoning in open
places. Campaigns of tlaisl Idnd can be fully
successful only when engaged'^'in by the com-
munity at large. The rettir.ns from the invest-
ment for such a purpose will be large, not
only in the vast money values of property
saved, but in the reduction of the death rate and
in the great improvement of the public health.

THE HOUSE MOUSE (Mus musculus)

{For illustration, see page 531)

The familiar house mouse is of Old World
origin and may: be distinguished from most of
our native mice by its proportionately slen-
derer body, long hairless tail, and the nearly
uniform color on the upper and under parts
of the body. Like the house rat, wandering
an alien from its original home in Asia, and
transported by ship and by inland commerce,
it has gained permanent foothold and thrives
in lands of the most diverse climatic condi-
tions, except those of the frigid polar regions.

For centuries the house mouse has been par-
asitic about the habitations of man, and in
many places in America has spread into the
surrounding country, where it holds its own in
the struggle for existence with many of our
' native species. It is probable that its ability
to live in houses also infested by the fierce
brown rat is due wholly to its agility, and to
the small size, which enables it to retreat
through crevices too small for the rat.

In buildings it hides its warm nests in ob-
scure nooks and crannies, making them of
scraps of wool, cotton, or other soft fibrous
material, often cut from fabrics. Out in the
fields, like any other hardy vagabond, it adapts
itself to whatever cover may be available on
the -surface or in crevices and the deserted
burrows of other mammals.

It has several litters of from four to nine
young each year. The young are born blind,
naked, and helpless, but are soon able to run
about, often following the mother on her for-
aging expeditions. When a little more than
half grown they usually scatter from the home
nest and seek locations of their own.

Throughout most of its world-wide range
the house mouse has the same general appear-
ance, but in some localities the efTect of
changed environment is developing appreciable
difTerences, which appear destined to result in
marked geographic races. The representatives
of these mice I caught in weedy fields on the
coast of Chiapas, near the border of Guate-
mala, have an appreciable rusty shade on the
back in place of the ordinary dull gray.

The success of both the house mouse and
the house rat in establishing themselves so suc-
cessfully in all parts of the world, in the face
of the antagonism of mankind, afifords marvel-
ous examples of physical and mental adapta-
bility not equaled elsewhere among mammals.

From early days the domestic mouse has
been a familiar member of the household with
people of all degree, and the housewife has had
to match her wits against the cunning persist-

ence of this small marauder in order to. Sjaie-
guard the family supplies of food and clothing.

Despite the antagonism excited by its de-
structive habits the mouse is so small and often
so amusing in its ways that it has commonly
been regarded with a half hostile, half friendly,
interest. This is apparent by frequent refer-
ences to it in proverbs, nursery rhymes, fables,
and folklore, as well as in more serious litera-
ture.

Many cases of singing house mice have been
recorded, their notes being a series of continu-
ous musical chirps, trills, and warblings, rising
and falling about an octave and slightly resem-
bhng the song of a canary. It has been claimed
that this singing is due to an affection of the
songster's breathing organs, but this can
scarcely account for its being uttered at definite
times and places and ceasing at the voHtion of
the performer.

In one instance th song had been heard in a
china closet and an observer sat by the open
door to locate the singer. After patient wait-
ing "a mouse peered out from behind the
plates, climbed up a little way on the brackets,
and after looking around several times, began
to sing." This mouse continued to sing in the
same place at intervals for several weeks and
became accustomed to the presence of people
during its performances ; then it suddenly dis-
appeared, probably a victim to one of the dan-
gers which constantly beset its kind.

THE MOUNTAIN-BEAVER (Aplodontia
rufa phaea and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 534)

The first adventurous fur traders who pene-
trated the Oregon wilds found the Chinook
Indians provided with robes made of skins of
the mountain-beaver. From that time until re-
cently but little accurate information has been
available concerning the habits of this curi-
ous animal. Locally it is known by several
other names, including "Sewellel," "mountain
boomer," "boomer," and, in the Olympic moun-
tains, "chehalis."

The genus of mountain-beavers contains only
a single species with several subspecies, all hav-
ing a close superficial likeness in size and fortn
to a tailless muskrat, except for their coarse,
harsh fur. It is an exclusively North Amer-
ican type and, aside from a remote relationship
to the squirrel family, has no kin among liv-
ing mammals. It appears to be a sole survivor
from some former age. As with the pocket
gophers, its mode of life has developed power-
ful muscles about the head, front legs, and
forepart of the body.

The distribution of the mountain-beaver in
Tertiary times extended through the Great
Basin to North Dakota, but at present is
closely restricted to the humid region between
the crests of the Cascades and the Sierra
Nevada and the Pacific coast, and from the
lower Fraser River, British Columbia, south to
the latitude of San Francisco Bay, California.

Within this superbly forested region tliis ani-

WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE (Adult and Young)
Peromyscus leucopus

^i"^

-^0' .^^

" tiliiilh-iijiiL

4^e.,>ri<^>"""''"-'^''-'.

BEACH MOUSE
Peromyscus polionotus niojei'uentris

530

BIG-EARED ROCK MOUSE

Peromyscus true!

BROWN RAT
Raitus nor<vegicus

HOUSE MOUSE
Mus musculus

531

532

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

mal delights in locations that are cool and
oozing with water, where, under the dense
shade of an almost tropical undergrowth of
shrubs, ferns, and other herbage, it constructs
numberless tunnels and trails. These are some-
times in flats, but much more often along can-
yons and mountain slopes, among willow, alder,
aspen, or other thickets, or even in the heavy
coniferous forest.

Veritable colonies inhabit certain areas and
the ground is honeycombed with burrows six
to eight inches in diameter and covered with
a network of surface trails. The irregular
branching tunnels are sometimes two or three
hundred feet in length and have at frequent in-
tervals side passages through which the earth
mined in extending the burrow may be ejected
in small dumps. The tunnels appear in a large
measure built for the safety of the owner in
traveling, since they repeatedly come to the
surface at the end of a log, where an open,
neatly kept trail extends under its shelter the
entire length, the tunnel being resumed at the
far end of the log.

All surface runways connecting tvmnel en-
trances or leading through the thick surface
vegetation are well kept and free of all ob-
structions. The ground in these haunts is
commonly sO' saturated with water that the
lunnels form drainage channels down which
run little streams.

Nest chambers discovered by T. H. Schef-
fer in the Olympic Mountains were located in
tunnels two feet underground. They were oval
in form and one measured eighteen inches in
horizontal diameter and seventeen in height.
Here three storage chambers opened directly
from the nest chamber, one of which con-
tained two quarts or more of sections of fern
roots, which had been kept so long they were
spoiled, and another was partly filled with
freshly cut leaves of nettles and twigs of cedar
and fir. At the far end an opening dropped
six inches into a small drainage basin partly
filled with water, out of which led two pas-
sages. The roofs of the chambers were lined
with a thin layer of clay, which appeared to
have been packed in place by the owner.

In the upper and drier part of the nest,
which was made of dried fronds of ferns,
grasses, and small twigs, were found three
young less than a week old, with coats of fine
fur, but with eyes still closed. Like burrow-
ing animals generally, the mountain-beaver is
cleanly in its housekeeping, and offal, loose dirt,
and debris of all kinds are pushed out by the
forefeet and head to the dumps at the less-used
openings.

In winter much of the mountain-beaver
country is buried under several feet of snow,
but this does not stop the activities of this
hardy animal. Between the entrances to its
burrows and out along the surface of the
ground it tunnels through tlie snow in various
directions in search of forage.

At this time it cuts twigs from bushes and
gnaws the bark from the trunks and roots of
the smaller trees, sometimes completely gird-
ling and killing trees more than two feet in

diameter. Its underground tunnels are also
extended at this season, the soils being pushed
up in dumps under the snow and parts of the
snow tunnels are packed full of it for some
distance, so that when the snow disappears the
curious earth-forms remain like those of the
pocket gopher.

The mountain-beaver lives a monotonous ex-
istence and correspondingly lacks the mental
vivacity of many other species which have a
greater freedom of movement. When one is
caught it shows little fear, but struggles to
escape, growling, clattering its teeth, and biting
viciously at anything within reach. Its desire
for food, however, appears to control its emo-
tions, and very soon after being captured it
will eat any green vegetation offered, as uncon-
cernedly as though free.

That the mountain-beaver possesses social in-
stincts is evident, as a pair is often found
occupying one set of tunnels, and in many fa-
vorable places a number will have their bur-
rows closely grouped and connected with a
network of communicating surface trails.

Although mainly nocturnal, the animals are
active early in the morning and late in the
afternoon, as well as throughout dark days.
Those kept in captivity would show periods of
restless activity at night and have alternating
periods of sleep and wakefulness during the
day. Sometimes they would sleep coiled with
the head turned under the body and again flat
on their backs. During these periods their
sleep is often so profound that they may be
handled without being awakened.

One captive animal is reported to have ut-
tered a curious quavering note resembling that
of a screech-owl. They have a strong musky
odor, which is very evident when they are first
caught, and which is frequently apparent about
the burrows.

Careful and repeated efforts to keep these
animals in captivity under as near normal con-
ditions as possible in regard to food and sur-
roundings in the vicinity of where they were
captured have, up to the present time, resulted
in failure. In every case the animals failed to
thrive and soon died.

The mating occurs about the middle of
March, and a month later litters of two or three
young are born. The young grow slowly, not
attaining full size for a year or more, and do
not breed until the second year, but they leave
the shelter of the home nest and scatter to
occupy burrows of their own at the end of
the first two or three months.

The mountain-beaver feeds upon nearly all
small vegetation growing in its haunts, includ-
ing, in addition to small herbage, shrubs, the
bark of trees and bushes, ferns, and fern roots.
More than thirty species of native plants have
been found among its "hay" piles at the mouths
of burrows. Since its country has become in-
creasingly occupied by farmers, it has de-
veloped a fondness for cultivated crops that,
in many places, is rendering it a pest. It ap-
pears to have a special taste for cabbage, po-
tato, and onion tops, and other garden produce.

When gatiiering its food it sits up squirrel-

SMALLER AL\MMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

like and grasps the plant stem with ane hand,
a long projeeting tubercle on the "heel" of the
hand opposing the hngers like a , thumb and
guing a good grasp, so that it can pull plants
down to be bitten off with the sharp front
teeth. Sometimes it climbs up a few feet into
a bush or small branching tree after succulent
shoots.

The mountain-beaver has the interesting
habit of gathering stores of green plant food
much like that of the cony on the mountain
tops, but appears to be more methodical in its
ways, gathering the stems of such plants as
grasses, ferns, and lupins, as well as twigs of
various bushes and carrying them in bundles
as large as can be held in the mouth, the butts
of the stems neatly laid together. These little
bundles of "hay" are placed side by side about
the entrances of the burrows, with the butts
all parallel on sticks or other support to keep
them as clear as possible from the ground.
They are left thus for a day or more to cure
before being carried into the subterranean
store-rooms.

Chief among the four-footed enemies of the
mountain-beaver are the fisher and bobcat, and
an eagle has been seen keeping close watch at
the entrance of their burrows.

THE COMMON WOODCHUCK, OR

AMERICAN MARMOT (Marmota

monax and its relatives)

(Por illustration, see page 534)

The woodchuck or "groundhog" is a typical
marmot, with coarse hair, heavy body, short
neck, short, bushy tail, powerful legs, and feet
armed with strong claws for digging. When
fully grown it averages about ten pounds in
weight. Its usual color is a grizzled brown,
but in some districts black, or melanistic, indi-
viduals are not uncommon.

Marmots are common to Europe, Asia, and
North America. The group contains many
species and geographic races varying in size
and color. The Alpine marmot of Europe is
probably the most familiar of the Old World
species and the woodchuck the best known in
America.

North America contains several species of
marmots, their joint territory extending from
. coast to coast over the northern parts of the
continent and from southern Labrador, the
southern shores of Hudson Bay and Great
Slave Lake, and central Alaska southward to
northern Alabama, and along the high moun-
tains to New Mexico and the southern Sierra
Nevada of California. The common wood-
chuck is well known to every dweller in the
countryside of the Eastern States and Canada,
where it occurs from sea-level to near the tops
of the highest rnountains, at altitudes of over
4,000 feet.

It is a familiar habitant of fields and grassy
hillsides, especially where bordering woodland
offers safe retreat. In such places it digs bur-
rows under stone walls, rocks, ledges, old
stumps, or even out in the open grass-grown

fields. It commonly lives in the midst of the
forest, where its dens are located in a variety
of situations. The burrows are marked by lit-
tle mounds of earth at the entrances and or-
dinarily contain from twenty to forty feet of
branching galleries, one or more of which end
in a rounded chamber about a foot in diam-
eter, well lined with dry grass and leaves.

Within these warm nests the females bring
. forth from three to nine bhnd and helpless
young about the last of April or early in May.
A few weeks later the young appear about the
entrance of the burrows sunning themselves
and playing with one another, but usually
ready to disappear at the first alarm. At times,
however, they are surprisingly stupid and may
be captured with ease. Woodchucks have prac-
tically'-no fl^Hbmic value. Their flesh, while
occasionally eaten, is little esteemed, and their
coarsely haired pelts are worthless as fur.

The woodchuck is a sluggish and stupid ani-
mal, which does not ordinarily go far from its
burrow, but at certain seasons, especially in
spring, wanders widely, as though looking over
its territory before locating for the summer.
It has much curiosity and often sits upright
on its hind feet to look about, remaining for
a long time as motionless as a statue. When
one is driven into its burrow, if a person ap-
proaches quietly and whistles, it will often
raise its head in the entrance and look about
to satisfy its curiosity.

Its only note is a short shrill whistle, which
it utters explosively at frequent intervals when
much alarmed. At such times it also chatters
its teeth with a rattling sound as owls some-
limes clatter their beaks.

Owing to their mainly diurnal habits and
persistence in living in and about the borders
of fields, woodchucks are among the most
widely known of our smaller mammals, and
have long been the favorite game of the coun-
try boy and his dog. When cornered" tliey will
fight savagely and with their strong incisors
inflict severe wounds.

They feed on grasses, clover, and other suc-
culent plants, including various cultivated crops,
especially vegetables in field and garden, where
they sometimes do much damage. The holes
and earth mounds they make in fields, in addi-
tion to feeding on and trampling down grasses
or grain, excite a strong feeling against them,
and farmers everywhere look upon them as a
nuisance. In New Hampshire so great was the
prejudice against thern that in 1883 a law was
passed placing a bounty of ten cents each on
them : "Provided, That no bounty shall be paid
for any woodchuck killed on Sunday."

Unlike many rodents, the woodchucks do not
lay up stores of food for winter. As summer
draws to an end they feed heavily and become
excessively fat. On the approach of cold
weather they become more and more sluggish,
appearing above ground with decreasing fre-
quency imtil from the end of September to the
first of November, according to locality, they
retire to their burrows and begin the long
hibernating sleep which continues until the ap-
proach of spring.

MOUNTAIN-BEAVER

Aplodontia rufa fhaea

7lou4fc!ffon'*'^ti^i

COMMON WOODCUUCK, .,r AMERICAN MAKMux
Martnota monax

534

HOARY MARMOT, or WHISTLER

Marmota caligata

535

)36

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

Some time between February and April, ac-
cording to latitude, they come forth to resume
their seasonal activities. In the northern parts
of their range they usually come out several
weeks before the snow disappears and may be
tracked in it as they wander about searching
for food or a new location.

The prominence of the groundhog as a pop-
ular figure in the country lore of the Eastern
States is shown by his having been given a
place with the Saints on the calendar, February
2 being widely known as "Groundhog Day."
It is claimed that on this date the groundhog
wakes from his long winter sleep and appears
at the mouth of his burrow to look about and
survey the weather. If the sun shines so that
he can see his shadow, bad weather is indicated
and he retires to resume his sleep for another
six weeks. Otherwise, the winter is broken
and mild weather is predicted. Even on the
outskirts of Washington some of the country-
men still appraise the character of the coming
spring by the weather on "Groundhog Day."

THE HOARY MARMOT, OR WHIS-
TLER (Marmota caligata and its

relatives )

(For illustratiuii. see page S35)

The whistler is the largest and handsomest
of the American marmots. It is similar in
proportions to the common woodchuck, but
averages nearly twice its weight. Its fur, far
thicker and of a better quality, might have a
value in the fur trade if enough of the skins
were available. As it is. the skins are used
only for robes and sometimes for clothing by
the Indians.

The distribution of this characteristic animal
of the northern Rocky Mountains and outlying
ranges 'extends from the Endicott Mountains.
fronting the Arctic coast of Alaska, and the
peninsula of Alaska, southeasterly to the Bit-
terroot Mountains of Idaho, Mount Rainier,
the Olympics of Washington, and Vancouver
Island. In the North its range extends from
above timber-line down over bare slopes and
through glacial valleys to the sea-level along
the southern coast of Alaska. To the south-
ward it. is limited wholly to the higher eleva-
tions, usually above timber-line.

• Owing to variations in climatic conditinns
and to isolation in different parts of its range,
several geographic races of the whistler have
been developed. In the mountains to the south-
ward of its range other marmots occur as far
as 'New Mexico and California.

When the French-Canadian voyageurs on
their fur-trading expeditions first visited the
Rocky Mountains they encountered the hoary
marmots and applied to them the name "sif-
fleur," or whistler, which they had already
given the common woodchuck of eastern Can-
ada. The shrill note of the hoary marmot, un-
der favorable circumstances, may be heard
more than a mile and justifies the restriction
of the name whistler to it.

The whistler lives in such remote and unfre-

quented districts that little is known of its life
history. It is diurnal in habits and loves the
free open spaces of the high mountain ridges.
There its loud, oft-repeated call note, striking
colors, together with its habit of running about
on the snowbanks, render it unusually con-
spicuous.

High in the mountains it usually inhabits
rock slides, the tumbled rock masses of glacial
moraines, or rocky points, but sometimes takes
up its abode on open earth slopes or in the bot-
toms of little glacial valleys. Ordinarily the
dens are hidden in the rock slides and broken-
down ledges, or burrows are dug under the
shelter of large boulders and even in open
ground away from any rocky shelter.

During the sunny days of summer the whis-
tler regularly frequents the top of some con-
spicuous boulder or projecting rocky point,
from which it commands a sweeping view of
all its surroundings. Its sight and hearing are
extraordinarily keen, and when perched on its
lookout it is difficult to stalk. When one has
its burrow located in an open place it often sits
upright on its haunches to look watchfully
about, and at the first alarm disappears into its
den. This watchfulness is necessary, for even
in the remote alpine highlands it occupies, the
whistler is beset by enemies. The most for-
midable of these are the great brown and
grizzly bears of the North, which dig it from
its burrow. In addition prowling wolves, Can-
ada lynxes, wolverines, and eagles take occa-
sional toll from its numbers.

Toward the end of summer, when the high
alpine slopes are thickly grown with small
flowering herbage, the whistler feeds heavily
oil many of the plants and, like the woodchuck
at this season, becomes excessively fat. Before
the arrival of winter it retires to the shelter of
its den and begins the long hibernating sleep
which may last six months or more. In spring,
before the snowy mantle is gone from the
mountains, it is out, ready to welcome the ap-
proaching summer. A few weeks later the
three or four young are born. They remain
with the mother throughout the season and
during their first winter may hibernate in the
home den.

The unspoiled wilderness of remote north-
ern mountain slopes and ridges where the whis-
tler lives is also the home of the mountain
sheep, caribou, and huge northern bears. As
the hardy sportsmen roam these inspiring
heights in search of game their attention is
constantly attracted to the marmots, whose
presence and shrill call notes lend a pleasing
touch of life to many an otherwise harsh and
forbidding scene.

THE PRAIRIE-DOG (Cynomys
ludovicianus and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page ssS)

Prairie-dogs are not "dogs," but typical ro-
dents, first cousins to the ground squirrels, or
spermophiles. As a rule, they_ may be dis-
tinguished from the ground squirrels by their

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

537

larger size, proportionately shorter and heavier
bodies, and shorter tails. In length they vary
from fourteen to over seventeen inches, and in
weight from one and one-half to more than
three pounds.

These rodents are limited to the interior of
North America and form a small group of five
species and several geographic races. Although
closely alike in general form and habits, the
species are divided into two sets : one, the
most widely distributed and best known, hav-
ing the tails tipped with black, and the other
having the tails tipped with white.

On the treeless western plains and valleys
from North Dakota and Montana to Texas
and thence west across the Rocky Mountains
to Utah and Arizona, they are one of the most
numerous and characteristic animals. South-
ward they range into northwestern Chihuahua
and one species occupies an isolated area on
the Mexican table-land in southern Coahuila
and northern San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Their
vertical range varies from about 2,000 feet on
the plains to above 10,000 feet in the moun-
tainous parts of Colorado and Arizona.

Owing to their diurnal habits, their exceed-
ing abundance over vast areas, and their in-
teresting mode of living in colonies, prairie-dogs
have always attracted the attention of travelers
and have become one of the most widely known
of our smaller mammals. All who have lived
in the West, or who have merely traversed the
Great Plains on the transcontinental railroads,
have had their interest excited by these plump
little animals sitting bolt upright by the mounds
which mark the entrances to their burrows, or
scampering panicstricken for shelter as the
train roars through their "towns."

So strong is the gregarious instinct in prairie-
dogs that they customarily make their burrows
within short distances of each other, varying
from a few yards to a few rods apart. The
inhabitants of these communities, or "towns,"
as they have often been termed, vary in num-
ber from a few individuals to millions. In
western Texas one continuous colony is about
250 miles long and 100 miles wide. In the
entire State of Texas 90,000 square miles are
•occupied by prairie-dogs, and the number of
these animals within this area runs into the
hundreds of millions. The extent to which
they occupy parts of their territory is well il-
lustrated by one situation in a mountain valley,
containing about a square mile, in eastern
Arizona, which by actual count contained 7,200
•of their burrows.

The burrows, from four to five inches in
■diameter, are usually located on flat or gently
sloping ground. They descend abruptly from
eight to sixteen feet, then turn at a sharp
angle and extend ten to twenty-five feet in a
horizontal or slightly upward course. The
tunnel at the end of the steep descending
shaft is always more or less irregular in
•course, and branches in various directions, the
branches often ending in a rounded nest or
storage chamber, but sometimes forming a loop
back to the main passageway. Not infre-

quently two entrances some distance apart lead
to these deep workings. A little niche is in-
geniously dug on one side of the steep entrance
shaft, four to six feet below the surface, to
which on the approach of danger the owner
retires to listen and determine whether it may
or may not be necessary to seek safety in the
depth of the den. It is from these vantage
points that the resentful voices of the habitants
come to an intruder in a prairie-dog "town"
as he passes.

The black-tailed prairie-dog, which is so
numerous on the Great Plains, surrounds the
entrance to its burrow with a crater-shaped
pyramid of soil varying from a few inches to
nearly two feet in height and serving perfectly
as a dike to keep out the water. The owners
keep the funnel-shaped inner slopes of the
rims about the entrances in good condition by
setting briskly to work to reshape them at the
end of a rain-storm, digging and pushing the
earth in place with their feet and molding it
into a more compact mass by pressing it in with
their blunt noses.

The white-tailed prairie-dogs pile the dirt
from their excavations out on one side of the
entrance, as in the case of most other burrow-
ing animals. Sometimes the dirt in these piles
amounts to from ten to twenty bushels, thus
indicating extended underground workings.

The vivacity and hearty enjoyment of life by
the occupants of a prairie-dog "town" is most
entertaining to an observer. With the first
peep of the sun above the horizon they are
out on the mounds at the entrances of their
burrows, first sitting erect on their hind feet
and looking sharply about for any prowling
enemy. If all is well they begin to run about
from one hole to another, as though to pass the
compliments of the day, and scatter through
the adjacent grassy feeding ground.

The favorite food of prairie-dogs consists of
the stems and roots of gramma grass and
other richly nutritious forage plants. In addi-
tion they eat any native fruits, such as that
of the pear-leaved cactus (Opttntia) and are
extremely destructive to grain, alfalfa, and
other cultivated crops. In addition to ordinary
vegetation, they eat grasshoppers and are fond
of flesh, sometimes being caught far from their
homes in traps set for carnivores. They keep
the grass and other vegetation cut down or
entirely dug out over much of the "town" and
especially in a circle about each entrance
mound, apparently for the purpose of obtain-
ing a clear view as a safeguard against the ap-
proach of any of their many four-footed ene-
mies. This habit is exceedingly injurious to
the cattle ranges and often results in much
erosion of the fertile surface soil.

The vast numbers of prairie-dogs over so
large a part of the grazing areas of the West
take a heavy toll from the forage and other
crops. As a consequence a campaign of de-
struction is being waged against them as the
country becomes more and more settled, and
they will eventually disappear from much of
their present range. However detrimental they

PRAIRIE-DOG

Cynomys ludo'vicianus

STRIPED GROUND SQUIRREL
Citellus tridecemlineatui

538

CALIFORNIA GROUND SQUIRREL

C it el his beech eyi

ml^

ANTELOPE CHIPMUNK

Ammospermophilus leucurus

539

540

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

may be from an economic point of view, they are
among our most interesting species, and when
taken young their playful disposition and intel-
ligence render them most entertaining captives.

Owing to the constant danger to which they
are subject from coyotes, foxes, bobcats, bad-
gers, and black- footed ferrets, in addition to
eagles and other birds of prey, prairie-dogs
are constantly on the alert. At any suspicious
occurrence the first to observe it runs to his
entrance mound, if the danger is not pressing,
but otherwise to the nearest mound, where he
sits up at his full height, "barking" and vibrat-
ing his tail, ready, if necessary, to disappear
instantly. At the same time the "town" is alive
with scurrying figures of the habitants rushing
panic-stricken for their homes, and the air is
filled with a chorus of their little barking cries.
When all have been frightened to cover bark-
ing continues in the burrows, but an hour or
more may pass before a "dog" will reappear.

I once stalked a solitary antelope by creep-
ing flat on the ground through a prairie-dog
"town." As I drew near the first burrows,
the "dogs" all rushed to their mounds, sitting
there and barking at the queer and unknown
animal thus invading their precincts. The
strange sight excited as much curiosity among
them as alarm. As I approached one mound
after another the owners would become almost
hysterical in their excitement and would sit
first on all fours and then stand up at full
height on their hind feet, the tail all the time
vibrating as though worked by some mechan-
ism, while the barking continued at the intruder
as rapidly and explosively as possible. When
I came within six or ei"-ht feet the "dog" would
dive down his hole, sputtering barks from the
depths as he went, but often would pop up
again to take another look before finally dis-
appearing. In this way I passed ten or a dozen
mounds while the dozens of "dogs" off my
line of progress worked themselves into a
frenzy of curiosity and protest. When the
stalk was finished I passed back through the
"town" and my upright figure was promptly
recognized by the habitants as that of an enemy
and every one disappeared before I was within
fifty yards of the first mound.

The common note of the black-tailed prairie-
dogs is a squeaking "bark," much like that
produced by squeezing a toy dog; in addition,
there is a rapid chattering note, often given
as the "dogs" vanish down the hole. The
white-tailed species have a shriller, more chirp-
ing note. In both species the odd vibrating
motion of the tail, held stiffly close to the back,
is characteristic.

Prairie-dogs hibernate in severe weather,
those living in high, snow-covered mountains
or in the far north sometimes sleeping through
five or six months. In many places their hiber-
nation is irregular, and near the southern
border of their range is limited to a few in-
clement days now and then. In Wyoming they
come out the last of March or early in April,
sometimes when there is a foot or two of snow
on the ground and the temperature ranges far
below zero. Under such conditions they run

about over the snow during the middle of the
day, feeding on projecting tips of vegetation
or digging to the ground.

Beginning near the southern border of their
range and proceeding north, the single litter of
the season, containing from four to six young,
are born in March, April, or May, and a
month later, when scarcely larger than chip-
munks, may be seen playing about the entrance
mound. When danger appears the mother
sends the young helter-skelter for the refuge
of the burrow, and should any be slow about
going in she rushes at them, driving them to
cover with shrill barks of alarm. When about
half-grown the young scatter and prepare bur-
rows of their own. Sometimes aS many as six
to nine of these animals may be found in a
single burrow, in which, no doubt, they have
taken refuge, or it may be a reunion of the
season's family.

On warm sunny days, especially at a time
when nights are frosty, these fat little animals
will often lie flat on the bare ground about
their mounds, with legs outstretched, basking in
the grateful rays. As their colonies expand by
the rapid increase of their numbers, many in-
dividuals wander far in search of new loca-
tions. On the mountain plateaus of northern
Arizona I know of instances where they have
traversed several miles of pine and fir forest
to locate in an isolated mountain park, and new
colonies were established as far as six miles
from their nearest neighbors.

The flesh of prairie-dogs is not unpalatable,
and Navajo and Pueblo Indians are extremely
fond of it. The Indians take advantage of
heavy rains and turn the temporary rush of
water down the holes to drown out the "dogs,"
and thus capture many of them.

It is inevitable that many popular miscon-
ceptions should grow up about such numerous
and interesting animals as the prairie-dogs. In
the West many people believe that the burrows
go down to water. In reality, like many other
rodents, these animals have acquired the ability
by chemical action in the stomach to trans-
form the starchy food into water. I have seen
dog towns located on a few feet of soil resting
on a waterless lava bed miles in extent and
more than too feet thick, as shown by canyons
cut through it, thus proving the impossibility
of the prairie-dog-well legend.

Another popular belief is that the rattle-
snakes and burrowing owls living in prairie-
dog towns unite as a kind of happy family in
the burrows of the dogs. The truth is that the
owls live and breed in deserted dog holes, while
the rattlesnakes visit the occupied liolcs to feed
on the unfortunate occupants.

THE STRIPED GROUND SQUIRREL
(Citellus tridecemlineatus and its

subspecies)

{Por illustralioii, see page 5j5)

Small size and a series of thirteen narrow,
well-defined stripes, or lines, marking the up-
perparts of the striped ground squirrel serve

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

541

to distinguish it from all its relatives. Its total
length is about eleven inches and its form is
nearly as slender as that of the weasel. Its
brightly colored markings blend so well with
the brown earth and plant stems in its haunts
that when quiet it is difficult to distinguish.
This protective coloration is of vital service to
a small animal sought by all the diurnal birds
of prey, as well as by coyotes, foxes, bobcats,
badgers, skunks, weasels, and snakes.

The striped ground squirrel, also known as
the "gopher" or "striped gopher," is restricted
to middle North America, where it is dis-
tributed from southern ]\Iichigan and northern
Indiana west to Utah, and from about latitude
55 degrees in northern Alberta south nearly to
the Gulf coast of Texas. It ranges from near
sea level in Texas up nearly to 10,000 feet in
Colorado. Within these limits the varying
climatic conditions have modified it into several
geographic races, all having a close general
resemblance.

Like most members of the squirrel family,
the striped ground squirrels are diurnal in
habits and well known wherever they occur. I
"first learned the ways of these odd little mam-
mals as a boy on the prairies outside the city
of Chicago, and later observed them in a high
mountain valley in Arizona. In both regions
they had the same habits. By preference they
occupy grassy prairies, old fields, and similar
situations. In many areas they are serious
pests, owing to their abundance and their de-
structiveness to grain crops, but where the
land is generally cultivated, the sheltering vege-
tation and their shallow burrows are destroyed
by the plow, thus causing a decrease in their
numbers.

The lives of the striped ground squirrels are
so beset with peril that they always move
abroad with watchful hesitation, pausing to
listen, retreating toward their burrows at the
slightest suspicious sound or movement, or ris-
ing bolt upright on their hind feet and remain-
ing motionless as a small statue until satisfied
that there is nothing to fear. They call to one
another with a chirping note as well as with a
shrill trilling whistle, and when alarmed by the
presence of some enemy their warning call
notes are heard on all sides as the alarm is
passed, and all are on the alert to disappear
down their burrows at the slightest suspicious
movement.

When they have vanished their trilling notes
are often heard from the depths of their bur-
rows; but curiosity is one of their strongest
traits, and if no disturbance follows one will
almost immediately pop up its head to see the
cause of the alarm. Boys, taking advantage of
this habit, place an open slipping noose at the
end of a long string around the entrance of the
burrow, and, waiting developments, lie quietly
a few yards to one side. The ensuing silence
is too much for the ground squirrel to endure
and soon its head appears above ground, the
boy pulls the string, and the victim is dragged
forth with the noose about its neck.
The entrance to the burrow of these ground

squirrels is about two inches in diameter. It
is usually located in the midst of grass or
weedy growths, and has little or no fresh earth
about it. The burrow descends for several
inches almost vertically and then turns almost
horizontally in a sinuous and erratic course,
with numerous branches and side passages lead-
ing up to the surface. Most of these side
entrances are kept plugged with soft earth.
Opening off the main tunnel is a large nest
chamber filled with fine dry grasses and other
soft vegetable matter, and also one or more
large storage chambers in which the owner lays
up his garnered supplies of grain or other seeds
for use during inclement weather.

These squirrels hibernate throughout their
range, entering their long sleep in an exces-
sively fat condition the last of September or
in October. In the North they remain in a
torpid state for six months or more.

Soon after they appear in spring they mate
and the single litter of the year, containing
from five to thirteen young, is born the last of
May or early in June. The young are in an
extremely undeveloped state at birth, being
blind, hairless, and with the ears scarcely show-
ing. They develop slowly and remain with the
mother until toward fall, when, nearly grown,
they scatter to care for themselves.

The striped ground squirrels are among the
most carnivorous of rodents. Although they
devote much time to gathering grain, seeds of
various kinds, and even acorns and other nuts,
which may be eaten on the spot or carried in
their cheek pouches to their underground stor-
age rooms, in addition they are known to eat
insects and flesh whenever occasion offers. In
fact, during seasons when such insect food as
grasshoppers, caterpillars, and grubs is plenti-
ful, these ground squirrels frequently feed
mainly upon it. They are known to kill and
devour mice and young birds, and when con-
fined in a cage will sometimes kill and partly
devour their own kind. When caught they
fight fiercely, biting and struggling to escape.
In captivity they show little of the gentleness
and intelligence which are such pleasing char-
acteristics of chipmunks and true squirrels.

THE CALIFORNIA GROUND SQUIR-
REL (Citellus beecheyi and its relatives)

{For iUnstrat'wii, sec page 5^9)

Owing to its habits, the California ground
squirrel is known locally as the digger-, rock-,
or ground-squirrel. Its prominent ears, bushy
tail, color, and form give it the general appear-
ance of a heavy-bodied gray tree squirrel, but
in reality it is a true spermophile and close
kin to the marmots.

Spermophiles are nearly circumpolar in dis-
tribution, ranging through northern lands from
central Europe across Bering Strait to the
Great Lakes in North America. Many species
exist in Nortii America, varying greatly in
form, size, and color. They occur mainlv in

GOLDEN CHIPMUNK
Callospermophllus lateralis chrysodeirus

EASTERN CHIPMUNK

Tamias striatus

542

OREGON CHIPMUNK

Eutamias tonvnsendi

PAINTED CHIPMUNK

Eutamias minimus pictus

543

544

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

tlie western part of the continent from the
Arctic coast of Alaska to the southern end of
the Mexican table-land. Some species are rep-
resented by enormous numbers and do great
injury to cultivated crops. Among the larger
and best known of the injurious species, the
California ground squirrel, with its several geo-
graphic races, occupies most of the Pacific
coast region from Oregon to Lower California.
It has a broad vertical distribution, extending
from the seashore to about ro.ooo feet altitude
on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in
California, and thrives under contrasting cli-
matic conditions, as the humid northwest coast
region and the most arid deserts of Lower
California.

In California, where they are generally dis-
tributed and extremely numerous over great
areas, these ground squirrels are most at home
among the wild oats and scattered live oaks on
the open slopes of the rocky foothills and
thence up through the dense chaparral, scrub
oaks, pinon pines, and junipers. Above this
they populate many beautiful little valleys in
colonies, as well as parts of the splendid open
forests of pine and fir. Below they spread out
from the foothills among the ranches in the
great valleys. Wherever they occur they take
heavy toll from the native forage plants, and
in cultivated areas their devastations of crops
place these spermophiles among the most seri-
ous of mammal pests.

They are omnivorous, eating insects and flesh
on occasion, but feeding mainly on seeds, fruits,
and many kinds of plants. The native vegeta-
tion in their haunts contains a wonderful
variety of food plants, from humble weeds in
the valleys to the lordly pines of the Sierra,
but most attractive to these rodents are the
rich food-bearers brought by the cultivators of
the soil. The squirrels gather in great num-
bers about farms, and in feeding upon alfalfa,
wheat, and other grains, grapes, peaches, apri-
cots, almonds, prunes, pomegranates, and a
variety of other crops, cause an annual loss to
the farmers of California probably exceeding
$20,000,000. So serious are their depredations
that great sums have been spent in attempts
to destroy them with poison. The Kern County
Land Company, with vast holdings in the
southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, in
igil spent more than $40,000 for this purpose.
This company estimated that the ground squir-
rels destroyed 20 per cent of the grain crop in
great areas, and that twenty of them would
destroy enough forage to support a cow
through the year.

Ground squirrels by choice locate their bur-
rows among slide rock, in crevices among
cliffs, under boulders and roots of trees, in
ditch or dry creek banks, or under stone walls,
fences, or building, but in the parks of the
high Sierra, as in the foothills and lowland
valleys, they dig holes out in the open with
conspicuous mounds at the entrances much like
those of prairie-dogs.

Well-worn trails lead from one of their
burrows to another and away to a distance

through the wild oats in the foothills, or in
the grain and forage crops of the valleys, and
along these the animals travel when foraging
or paying social visits. Whenever a large rock,
stump, or other prominent object is convenient,
they spend hours on the top sunning themselves-
and keeping a sharp lookout over their sur-
roundings. From these lookout points when
they suspect danger they utter a short, shrill,
whistling note which may be heard at a long
distance and which sends all their neighbors
scurrying for shelter. They also have a lower
chattering note, uttered about the burrow when
resenting an intrusion or when otherwise dis-
pleased.

Ground squirrels are agile climbers on cliffs
and among rocks as well as in fruit trees, live
oaks, and other low trees, but I have never
seen them far from the ground in large trees.
When on the ground they run in a series of
bounds like tree squirrels. The long, bushy tail
is carried almost straight out behind when they
scamper off in alarm, but at other times is
curved and undulating, much as in the tree
squirrels. They gather and manipulate food
with their front paws, sitting upright on their
haunches to eat or look about. On one occa-
sion wdien I came to a foot-bridge over a
broad irrigating ditch across which a number
of ground squirrels were raiding an orchard,
they did not hesitate to dash at full speed into
the swiftly running water and swam quickly
across to seek refuge in their holes on the far
side.

Like other spermophiles, the California
ground squirrels hibernate for months in the
cold, snow-covered parts of their winter range,
but remain active throughout the year in the
warmer areas, where no snow falls. Through-
out their range they gather stores of seeds,
grain, and acorns and other nuts, carrying them
in their cheek pouches to underground store-
rooms for use in bad weather. In the valleys
of California they lie hidden in their burrows
for days at a time during cold winter rains, but
are out as soon as the sun reappears. One or
more litters, each containing from six to twelve
young, are born from March to late in summer,
according to the locality. The young leave
the nest and care for themselves when about
half grown.

The swarming abundance of the California
ground squirrel on foothill slopes and in fertile
valley bottoms equals the congregations of
prairie-dogs in their most populous districts.
This abundance of small animal life supports
a great variety of predatory species, as coyotes,
foxes, bobcats, several kinds of hawks, and the
golden eagle. Owing to its predilection for
ground squirrels, the golden eagle is protected
by law in California, where many of them build
their nests in low live oaks only a few yards
from the ground.

When house rats brought the bubonic plague
to San Francisco a few years ago they also
carried it across the bay and passed it on to
the ground squirrels living in the foothills back
of Oakland. Thence the disease spread among

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

545

these animals through parts of several sur-
rounding counties. The United States Public
Health Service and the local authorities in a
vigorous campaign stopped the spread of this
malady, but not until the potential ability of
these rodents as plague-carriers had been well
established. This fact and the wide distribu-
tion of the California and other ground squir-
rels over a large part of the continent should
not be overlooked in connection with possible
future outbreaks of the plague. Fortunately,
investigation and field experiments on a large
scale have shown that these spermophiles may
be destroyed by poison over great areas at a
relatively small cost.

THE ANTELOPE CHIPMUNK (Ammo-
spermophilus leucurus and its relatives)

{for illustration, see page S39)

Commonly known as the antelope, or white-
tailed, chipmunk, this handsome little mammal
is in reality a species of spermophile, or ground
squirrel. The misnomer is due, no doubt, to
its small size, striped back, and sprightly ways.
From the true chipmunks it may be distin-
guished by its heavier proportions, and from
both chipmunks and all other spermophiles by
its odd, upturned tail, carried closely recurved
along the top of the rump. This character
renders the species unmistakable at a glance
and gives it an amusing air of jaunty self-con-
fidence.

The antelope chipmunk is characteristic of
the arid plains and lower mountain slopes of
the Southwest from western Colorado through
Utah, northern Arizona, Nevada, the southern
half of California, and all of Lower California,
and down the Rio Grande Valley through New
Mexico to western Texas.

Within this area it occupies a wide variety
of situations. It inhabits the intensely hot
desert plains near sea level in Lower Cali-
fornia, where the temperature rises to more
than 125 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade and
the vegetation is characterized by such pic-
turesque forms of plant life as cactuses of
many species, yuccas, fouquerias, palo verdes,
ironwood, and creosote bushes ; it is found also
above 7,000 feet altitude on the cool plateaus
and mountain slopes of Arizona and Colorado,
among sage brush, greasewood, junipers, and
pihon pines. It appears equally at home skip-
ping nimbly over rocky slopes or among slide
rock in arid canyons and scurrying through the
brushy growth on broad sandy plains devoid
of rocks.

The antelope chipmunk has the most vivacious
and pleasing personality of all the numerous
ground sejuirrels within our borders. During
the many months I have camped and traveled
on horseback in their haunts I have never lost
interest in them. They were forever skirmish-
ing among the bushes or dashing away down
trails or over the rocks of canyon slopes, their
white tails curled impudently over their backs
like flags of derision at my cumbersome ad-
vance.

Their burrows are dug in a variety of places.
In the open flats they enter the ground almost
vertically, and often several entrances are
grouped within a few yards. In some places a
little mound of loose dirt is heaped up at one
side of the entrance and at others there is no
trace of it. Frequently, when the ground is
soft, little trails lead in different directions
from the entrances, and often between holes
100 yards or more apart, as though they made
many social visits. The deserted burrows of
other mammals are sometimes utilized to save
the trouble of digging. The burrows are often
under the shelter of cactuses, bushes, and great
boulders or may be among crevices in the rocks.
_ Antelope chipmunks are extraordinarily ac-
tive and continually wander far from home in
search of food or in a spirit of restless in-
quiry. As the traveler on horseback rides
slowly along he will see them racing away in
front of him, sometimes climbing to the top of
a bush 100 or 200 yards in advance for a better
look at the wayfarer and then scuttling down
and racing on again. In this way I have seen
them keep ahead of me sometimes for several
hundred yards instead of hiding in some hole
or shelter, as they might easily do. At other
times they were so unsuspicious they would
permit me to pass within a few yards with
slight signs of alarm. They have a chirping
call, often uttered when watching from the
top of a bush, and also a prolonged twittering
or trilling note, diminishing toward the end.

In the higher and colder parts of their range,
where snow lies long on the ground, these
spermophiles hibernate for several months, but
in the warmer areas they are active throughout
the year. Wherever they occur they gather
food and carry it to their underground store-
rooms in their cheek pouches. Like most
ground squirrels, they eat many kinds of seeds
and fruits as well as flesh and insects when
occasion offers. About cultivated lands they
are sometimes abundant and destructive, dig-
ging up corn or other grain as soon as it is
planted and also taking toll of the ripening
grain until they become a pest. In the desert
they often gather about camps to pick up the
grain scattered about when the horses are fed.

It is well for them that they are prolific,
having one or more litters during spring and
summer, with from four to twelve in each, as
they have many enemies. Snakes and weasels
pursue them into their burrows, while foxes,
coyotes, l)adgers, bobcats, and many kinds of
hawks, constantly reduce their numbers. |

THE GOLDEN CHIPMUNK (Callosper-
mophilus lateralis chrysodeirus and its

* relatives)

(For illustration, see page 542)

The golden chipmunk, or calico squirrel, as it
is named in Oregon, is the most richly colored
of the several geographic races of a widely
known species, C alios perm ophiliis lateralis,
abundant among the open forests of yellow
pines and firs of the western ranges, including

RED SQUIRREL

Sciurus hudsonicus

DOUGLAS SQUIRREL
Sciurus douf^laii

546

GRAY SQUIRREL (and black phase)
Sciurus carolinensis

RUSTY FOX SQUIRREL
Sciurus niger rufi-uenter

FOX SQUIRREL

Sciurus niger

547

548

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

the Rocky Mountains, Cascades, and Sierra
Nevada. Although commonly known as a chip-
munk, this handsome animal is a ground squir-
rel, or spermophile, distinguished from all its
kind by heavy stripes, resembling those of a
chipmunk, along the sides of its back. From
the chipmunks it may be distinguished at a
glance by its thick-set and often almost obese
proportions, which render its movements much
slower and less graceful than they are with
those nimble sprites. It occurs from north-
eastern British Columbia to New Mexico,
southern California, and even in an area in the
high Sierra Madre of southern Chihuahua,
where an isolated representative occupies a
limited range.

Their vertical distribution extends from a
moderate elevation above the sea in Oregon to
above 11,000 feet in southern California. They
are common in the Yellowstone and other
national parks, where their size, bright mark-
ings, and activities render them conspicuous.

Everywhere their habits resemble those oi
the' various species of true chipmunks with
which they associate. They live in burrows,
which they dig under the shelter of logs, rocks,
stumps, roots of trees, or even in open ground,
as well as m the ready-made shelter of rock
slides, with conies, at timberline. Their burrows
at times have several entrances within a small
area. Often they occupy the burrows of other
animals, including pocket gophers. They ex-
cavate burrows under cabins or barns in clear-
ings, and abandoned mining camps or old saw-
mill sites frequently abound with them. Nests
and storage chambers are excavated off the
passageways. The nests are usually made of
leaves and other soft vegetable material, but
in the sheep country wool, which they find in
scattered tufts, is often used.

A camping party in their haunts is certain
to attract them, and, as about barns, it is neces-
sary to keep a watchful eye on them to prevent
their robbing grain sacks or other supplies.
When they once locate an accessible supply of
grain their industry is remarkable. I have
seen a dozen or more working throughout the
day, making continuous hurried trips, with
loaded cheek pouches, to their dens, sometimes
two hundred yards away. On approach of
autumn they become continually active, gather-
ing their winter supplies.

The length of their hibernation varies with
the severity of the climate, but is rarely under
five months. It is said to run through seven
months on the higher mountains of southern
California. They usually go into winter
quarters in September or early in October, but
occasionally one may be seen out as late as
December. At this time they have become so
fat that their movements are very sluggish.
One kept as a pet for eleven years at Klamath
Falls, Oregon, is reported to have hibernated
regularly each winter. In Montana they retire
to their dens in September and come out in
IMarch. They mate soon after they appear in
spring and the young, four to seven in number,
are half grown the last of May.

Like true chipmunks, these spermophiles are
fond of weedy clearings or other openings in
the forest, where stumps, logs, rocks, and old
fences offer plentiful shelter and many elevated
vantage points where they may sit by the hour
watching the doings of their small world.
They have a sharp whistling or chirping call
note, usually uttered as a warning cry, but
sometimes as a social call. They do not like
gloomy or stormy weather and generally lie
hidden at such times, but on sunny days are
so actively engaged in foraging, running along
the tops of logs, or perching on the tops of
stumps and large rocks that they add greatly
to the pleasant animation of the forests where
they live. When running they usually carry
the tail elevated like a chipmunk.

They sun themselves for hours on elevated
points, sometimes lying quiescent and again
sitting bolt upright, but always watchful and
ready to disappear at the slightest alarm. This
watchfulness is necessary, for their enemies are
abroad at all hours. They are the prey of
bobcats, foxes, coyotes, weasels, snakes, and
hawks.

The golden chipmunk and its related sub-
species are omnivorous feeders. They show a
strong predilection for bacon when looting
camp stores and eat any kind of meat with
avidity. Young birds and birds' eggs are de-
voured whenever found, as are also grasshop-
pers, beetles, flies, larvse, and many other in-
sects. The number of kinds of seeds eaten is
almost endless and includes chinquapin and pine
nuts, rhus, alfileria, violet, lupine, ceanothus,
and others. They also eat roses and other
flowers, green leaves, wild currants, goose-
berries and other fruit, and small tuberous
roots. They often climb bushes and low trees,
at least 30 feet from the ground, after nuts
and berries. The capacity of their cheek
pouches is shown by one instance, when one
animal was loaded with 750 serviceberry seeds.
The pouches of another contained 360 grains
of barley, another 357 of oats. Bold and per-
sistent camp robbers, their depredations cover
all articles of food, including bread and cake,
and they sometimes do considerable injury to
small mountain grain fields.

I had the pleasure of living in the mountains
of New Mexico and Arizona for several years
where these attractive ground squirrels were
numerous, and vividly remember them as
among the most interesting of the woodland
folk. Their friendliness about forest cabins is
notable and with a little encouragement they
become extremely confiding and amusing vis-
itors.

The young are playful, pursuing one another
in apparent games of "tag" over rocks, stumps,
and logs. When partly grown they have all
the heedlessness of youth and on one occasion
an observer saw the mother repeatedly push
the young back into crevices in a rock slide
with' her front feet, as they persisted in trying
to come out to look at the strange intruder
in their haunts.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

549

THE EASTERN CHIPMUNK (Tamias
striatus and its relatives)

{Por illustration, see page 542)

The chipmunks are close relatives of the tree
squirrels, but live mainly on the ground, are
provided with cheek pouches for carrying food
to their hidden stores, and have many ways
similar to those of the spermophiles, or ground
squirrels. They are nearly circumpolar in dis-
tribution, ranging through eastern Europe and
northern Asia as well as from the Atlantic to
the Pacific in North America. On this con-
tinent they are far more numerous in species
and individuals than in the Old World, and
their center of abundance appears to lie in the
mountainous western half of the United States.
Their extreme range extends from near the
Arctic Circle in Canada to Durango and Middle
Lower California, Mexico.

As a group the chipmunks are widely known
for their grace, beauty of coloration, and
sprightly waj^s. Among the handsomest and
most familiar is the common chipmunk of
Canada and the United States east of the Great
Plains. Within this area it is divided into '
several geographic races, of which the best
known is the brightly colored animal occupy-
ing all the wooded region from the Great
Lakes to Nova Scotia and New England, which
is the subject of the accompanying illustration.
Its vertical distribution extends from sea level
to the summit of Mount Washington, where
it may be seen on pleasant summer days.

The eastern chipmunks, like most of their
kind, belong to the forest and its immediate
environment. Favorite haunts are rocky ledges
covered with vines and brush, half-cleared land,
the brushy borders of old pasture fences, stone
walls, and similar situations. In early days
they were so plentiful in places that they made
serious inroads on the scanty crops of the
settlers, and bounties were offered for their
destruction.

No one who visits the woods of the eastern
States or Canada can fail to observe with
pleasure the alert, attractive ways of these little
squirrel-like animals. They are everywhere,
including the vicinity of summer camps in the
forest, and, if encouraged, prove most attractive
and friendly neighbors. To such small beasts
the world is peopled with enemies against which
the only safeguard is eternal watchfulness.
This accoimts for the hesitating advances and
retreats so characteristic of these chipmunks,
which at the first sudden movement of any
suspicious object, or loud noise, disappear like
a flash. They soon learn to recognize a friend
and in many places come regularly into camp
buildings to receive food. I doubt, however, if
they ever become quite so friendly as some
squirrels under similar conditions.

Like most of the squirrel tribe, they are en-
dowed with much curiosity, and at the appear-
ance of anything unusual, but not too alarming,
they seek some safe vantage point from which
to peer at it with every sign of interest. They

are extremely timid and wary, however, and
if doubtful move by Httle cautious runs, stop-
ping to sit up and look about, often mounting
a stump, log, or a side of a tree trunk for the
purpose, the tail all the time moving with slow
undulations. If alarmed they dash away to
the nearest shelter, the tail held nearly or
quite erect and sometimes quivering excitedly.
When running to shelter they often utter chat-
tering cries of alarm. Their principal enemies
are cats, weasels, martens, foxes, snakes, birds
of prey, and the untamed small boy with his
dog. Weasels, the supreme terror of their ex-
istence, follow them to the depths of their
burrows and kill them ruthlessly.

These chipmunks are sociable and playful,
often pursuing one another, first one and then
the other being the pursuer, as though in a
game. They race along fence tops and old
logs and up stumps and even the lower parts
of tree trunks. Lovers of bright, sunny weather,
they usually remain hidden in their burrows
during stormy days. If they venture out at
such times they are quiet and show none of
the mercurial liveliness which characterizes
them when the weather is pleasant.

Their food includes a great variety of culti-
vated and wild plants, as wheat, buckwheat,
corn, grass seed, ragweed seed, hazelnuts,
acorns, beechnuts, strawberries, blueberries,
wintergreen berries, mushrooms, and many
others. In addition they eat May beetles and
other insects and insect larvae, snails, occa-
sional frogs, salamanders, small snakes, and
many young birds and eggs.

At all seasons they fill their cheek pouches
with food to be carried away to their dens, but
toward the end of summer or early fall they
work industriously laying up stores of seeds
and nuts. Sometimes these stores, hidden in
chambers excavated for the purpose or in
hollow logs and similar places, contain several
quarts of beechnuts or other nuts or seeds.
Small quantites of such food are hidden here
and there under the leaves or in shallow pits
in the ground. Stpre-rooms in one burrow con-
tained a peck of chestnuts, cherry pits, and dog-
wood berries, and another had a half bushel
of hickory nuts.

While at a summer camp I once saw one of
these chipmunks give an exhibition of the ex-
quisitely keen power of scent which must be
necessary to recover scattered stores. The
chipmunk had been coming repeatedly down a
wooded slope in full view for twenty-five yards
or more to the floor of the porch for food
supplied by the campers. While it was absent
carrying food to its burrow I placed a few nut
meats on the flat top of a stump about fifteen
feet to one side of the porch and farther away
than the point where the chipmunk was being
fed bread crumbs. On its return several
minutes later, instead of going as usual to the
porch, it ran directly to the stump, climbed
up it, and promptly made off with the nuts,
which it had evidently located from afar. They
sometimes climb beeches and other trees to
gather nuts even to a height of fifty or sixty

ABERT SQUIRREL

Sciurus aberti

KAIBAB SQUIRREL

Sciurus kaihabettsis

550

FLYING SQUIRREL

Glaucomys <volani

BLACK-FOOTED FERRET

Mustela nigripes

551

552

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

feet, and are commonly seen on low limbs and
in bushes.

The entrances to the burrows are usually
under logs, roots, or rocks, or the den may be
in a hollow log, stump or base of a tree, or
even under a cabin in the woods. The burrows
in the ground are commonly a series of tunnels
some yards in length, with an oval nest and
storage chamber two or three feet under-
ground, and with branches from the main
passageway. The nest chamber, a foot or
more in diameter, is filled with fragments of
dry leaves and other soft vegetable material.
One chamber is usually used for sanitary pur-
poses. The used entrance hole is commonly
without a sign of dug earth about it, the loose
soil from the burrow and its chambers ap-
parently having been thrown out at another
opening, which appears to be used for this
purpose only and is kept plugged with earth.

Throughout most of the northern half of its
range these chipmunks usually hibernate from
some time in October until March. Their
hibernation is far less profound than that of
the woodchuck and they not infrequently ap-
pear above ground during periods of mild
weather, even in midwinter. The hibernating
period is shorter in the southern part of the
range.

They vary much in numbers from year to
year and at times appear to increase suddenly
in localities where food is plentiful, indicating
a probable food migration. The young, num-
bering from four to six in a litter, are born at
varying times between the last of April and
late summer, indicating the possibility of more
than one litter a season.

The most characteristic note of this chip-
munk is a throaty chuck, chuck, which is or-
dinarily used as a call note, but which in spring
is uttered many times in rapid succession to
express the seasonal feeling of joy and well
l)eing, thus taking on the character of a song.
vSuch joyful notes may be heard on every
hand in places where the little songsters are
numerous. In addition, they have a high-pitched,
chirping note and a small churring whistle
when much alarmed.

THE OREGON CHIPMUNK (Eutamias
townsendi and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 543)

The resident species of birds and mammals
in the humid coastal region of Oregon, Wash-
ington, and southern British Columbia are
strikingly characterized by their darker and
browner cpjors in comparison with closely re-
lated species in more arid districts.

The Oregon chipmunk is one of the common
species showing marked response to these local
climatic conditions and is the darkest of all
the many species of chipmunks in the Western
States.' This chipnuuik is one of several geo-
graphic races into which the species is divided
by changing environment. The species, as a
whole, ranges along the west coast from British

Columbia to Lower California, and the races at
the extremes of the line differ much in color.

As befits a habitant of the humid forested
region, the Oregon chipmunk is robustly built
and distinctly larger than the other chipmunks
of the Western States. It is common and gen-
erally distributed throughout this region, occur-
ring from among the drift logs along the ocean
beach to above timberline on the Cascade
Mountains. Within these limits it frequents
almost every variety of situation. It occurs in
the midst of gloomy forests of giant spruces,
cedars, and firs, but is particularly fond of old
fences and brush patches on the borders of
farm clearings in the valleys as well as the
vicinity of rocky ledges, brush piles, and fallen
timber, where the low thickets offer a variety
of food-bearing plants and ready shelter.

On the mountains it is most numerous about
rock slides and "burns" or other openings in the
forest. Several pairs usually haunt the vicinity
of old sawmills and of mountain cabins. Like
others of their kind, they are alert and viva-
cious, varying in mood from day to day, but
always interesting. At times they are exces-
sively shy and retiring, and a person might
spend a day in their haunts without seeing
or hearing one, although it is safe to say that
the intruder had been seen and every foot of
his progress noted by the chipmunks. On an-
other day, perhaps because the sun shines more
brightly and nature is in a happier mood, the
animals appear on all sides. Their slowly re-
peated sociable chuck, chuck, is heard from the
depths of the brushy covert as well as from the
tops of stumps, logs, rocks, or other lookout
points where they sit to view their surround-
ings. If alarmed they utter a sharp, birdlike
chirping note as they vanish in the nearest
shelter. As one moves about in their haunts
he may now and then see one appear for a
moment above the undergrowth in a tall bush,
on top of a stump, and sometimes even mount-
ing a few yards up a tree trunk to observe the
cause of the disturbance, only to vanish quickly.

They are always skirmishing for food, and
carrying it in their cheek pouches to hidden
stores. On the approach of winter this activity
becomes very marked. A surprising variety of
fruits and seeds are eaten and stored, among
them the salmonberry, red elderberry, black-
capped raspberry, thimble berry, blackberry,
blueberry, gooseberry, thistle seed, dogwood
seed, hazelnuts, acorns, and others. They have
favorite feeding places, such as the top of a
stone or stump or the shelter of a log where
they carry nuts or other seeds. These places
are always marked by little pilcs-of empty shells
or chaff from seeds. About ranches they raid
grain fields and other crops, sometimes in num-
bers sufficient to do considerable damage.

In sheltered spots they make underground
burrows with nest chamber and store-rooms ex-
cavated along the passages. They usually re-
tire to these dens to hibernate during the last
of September or first of October, and appear
again about March or April, often long before
the snow disappears. During fall and early

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

553

winter they are sometimes seen running about
over newly fallen snow. One which was dug
from its winter quarters in British Columbia
the last of November would move about slowly
and sleepily if teased, but when left undis-
turbed would curl up and go to sleep again.
This indicates the difference between the light
and often broken hibernation of chipmunks and
the deep lethargy which possesses ground
squirrels in the North at this time. Toward
the southern end of their ranges neither chip-
munk nor ground squirrel hibernates. They
mate soon after they awake from their winter
sleep, and the young, two to five or six in
number, are born from April to June. Whether
more than one litter is born during a season,
is, like many other details concerning the lives
of these attractive animals, still to be learned.

THE PAINTED CHIPMUNK (Eutamias
minimus pictus and its relatives)

{For illustration, sec page ^43)

The preceding sketch tells how the Oregon
chipmunk, living under a cool, humid climate,
in a region of great forests, has responded to
its environment by developing dark colors and
a robust physique. The painted chipmunk of
the Great Basin has given an equally perfect
response to entirely different conditions. It is
one of the geographic races of a species pecu-
liar to the sagebrush-covered plains and hills
from the Dakotas across the Rocky Mountains
and the Great Basin region to the east slope
of the Cascades and the Sierra Nevada. Its
home is on treeless plains, in a climate char-
acterized by brilliant sunshine and clear, dry
air. In this environment the painted chipmunk
has developed a smaller and slenderer body
than the Oregon species, and strikingly paler
colors.

These differences in physique are accom-
panied by equal differences in mental and
physical expression. These little animals are
exceedingly alert and agile, darting through
dense growths of bushes with all the easy grace
of weasels. When running they hold the tail
stiffly erect. When alarmed they utter a shrill
chippering cry, especially when darting into
shelter. They also have a chucking call, uttered
at intervals, which may be used merely as a
note of sociability or to put their neighbors on
the alert.

Although one of the most distinctive animals
of the sagebrush plains, this chipmunk also
ranges into the borders of open forests on the
mountain sides. It is most numerous on flats
and foothill slopes among heavy growths of
sage and rabbit brush. When its territory is
invaded by settlers it does not hesitate to gather
about the borders of fields and even to raid
barns in search of grain and other food. Its
burrows are dug under large sagebrush and
other bushes and under rocks and similar
shelter.

As with others of their kind, painted chip-
munks habitually gather seeds of many plants

and carry tliem in their cheek pouches to their
underground dens. In addition to seeds and
green vegetation, they eat any fruits growing in
their haunts, and also many insects, especially
grasshoppers and larvae. In one locality in
Nevada during June and July more than half
their food consisted of a web worm and its
chrysalids with which the sage bushes swarmed.
The chipmunks climbed into the bushes and
pulled the larvae from the webs. As half the
bushes were infested, the work of the many
chipmunks had a material effect in reducing
the numbers of this pest. The vegetable food
eaten includes the seeds of Ribes, Kuntzia,
Sarcobatus, pigweed, and many other weeds,
serviceberry, various grasses, oats, wheat, and
the seeds of small cactuses. They regularly
climb into the tops of large sage and other
Ijushes for their seeds and the ground beneath
is often covered with the small sections of
twigs cut by them. They climb readily and
often travel from bush to bush through tall
thickets like squirrels in tree-tops. On warm
mornings after frosty nights they may be seen
in the tops of the bushes basking in the sun.

Throughout most of their range they begin
hibernation in September or October, and re-
appear early in spring. The young appear a
month or more later, and litters containing
from two to six may be born throughout the
summer, indicating the possibility that several
litters may be born to the same pair in a sea-
son.

So alert and shy are they that even a person
in their haunts day after day will see but few
of them. Their hearing is extremely acute, and
even at a great distance the footsteps of an in-
truder sets them all on the alert. On every
side they run swiftly to cover before the ob-
server has opportunity to see them. In such
places a large setting of baited traps will re-
veal their presence in surprising numbers. In
one locality, during a brief visit, traps set
among the brush for other small mammals
yielded more than forty chipmunks.

On stormy and cloudy days, especially if the
weather is cool, painted chipmunks remain in
their dens, but on mild sunny days they frisk
about with amazingly quick darting movements.
A horseman riding along a road leading
through a sagebrush flat will frequently see
them racing across the road often several hun-
dred yards away, the sound of the horse's foot-
falls having alarmed the chipmunks over a
wide area. Here and there one may be seen
climbing hastily to the top of a tall bush to
take a look at the cause of alarm before finally
.=eeking concealment. When pursued among
the bushes they often run considerable distances
before taking refuge in a burrow. When hard
pressed they will enter the first opening en-
countered, but if it is not its own home the
fugitive soon comes out and scampers away,
apparently fearful of the return of the owner
or perhaps owing to his presence.

Apparently, as in the case of many other
desert mammals, the painted chipmunk, with its
related races, is able to subsist without drink-

Winter

Suiniiier

LEAST WEASEL
Muitrla rtxosa

LARGE WEASEL, or STOAT (Winter and Summer)
Muitela arcticus

554

MARTEN, or AMERICAN SABLE
Martes americana

AMERICAN MINK

Must el a 'vison

555

556

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AIAGAZINE

ing, since it is often seen far out on arid plains
many miles from the nearest water.

As with all its kind, the world of the painted
chipmunk is filled with imminent peril of sud-
den death. Overhead, gliding on silent pmions,
are hawks of several species, while on the
ground snakes, weasels, badgers, bobcats, foxes,
and coyotes are .ever searching for them as prey.

THE RED SQUIRREL (Sciurus hudsonicus

and its relatives)

{For illustration, sec page 546)

Every one who has visited the forests of
Canada and northeastern United States knows
the vivacious, rollicking, and frequently im-
pudent red squirrel. This entertaining little
beast, known also as the pine squirrel and
chickaree, has little of that woodland shyness
so characteristic of most forest animals. It
often searches out the human visitor to its
haunts and from a low branch or tree trunk
sputters, barks, and scolds the intruder, work-
ing itself into a frenzy of excitement. This
habit, combined with the rusty red color and
small size of the animal, about half that of
the gray squirrel, renders its identity unmis-
takable. It has distinct winter and summer
coats, but in both the rusty red prevails. The
winter dress is distinguished, however, by small
tufts on the ears.

The red squirrel, with its related small species,
occupying most of the wooded parts of North
America north of Mexico, forms a strongly
characterized group, with no near kin among
the squirrels of the Old World. In its geo-
graphic races it ranges through the forests of
all Alaska and Canada and south to Idaho,
Wyoming, the Dakotas, Wisconsin, northern
Indiana, all the Northeastern States to the Dis-
trict of Columbia, and along the Alleghenies
to South Carolina. Owing to its small size,
this animal, like the chipmunk, is considered
too small for game, although occasionally
hunted for sport. As a consequence its in-
crease or decrease is usually governed by the
available food supply, although man interferes
locally when it becomes too destructive.

This squirrel shows a strong preference for
coniferous forests, whether of hemlock, spruce,
fir, or pine, but may be common in woods
where conifers arc few and widely scattered.
Although usually diurnal and busily occupied
from sunrise until sunset, it sometimes con-
tinues its activities during moonlight nights,
especially when nuts are ripe and it is time to
gather winter stores. During warm, pleasant
days in spring and fall, when the nights are
cool, it often lies at full length along the tops
of large branches during the middle of the day,
basking in the grateful warmth of the sun.

The nests, which are located in a variety
of situations, are made of twigs, leaves, or
moss, and lined with fibrous bark and other
soft material. Some are in knot-holes or other
hollows in trees, others may be built outside
on limbs near the trunk, and still others are

in burrows made in the ground under roots,
stumps, logs, brush heaps, or other cover offer-
ing secure refuge. Apparently several litters,
of young, containing from four to six, are
born each season, as they have been found
from April to September.

They do not hibernate, but are active through-
out the year, except during some of the coldest
and most inclement weather. To provide
against the season of scarcity, they accumulate
at the base of a tree, under the shelter of a
log, or other cover, great stores of pine, spruce,
or other cones, sometimes in heaps containing
from six to ten bushels. They also hide scat-
tered cones here and there and place stores of
beechnuts, corn, and other seeds in hollows or
underground store-rooms. They are fond of
edible mushrooms and sometimes lay up half
a bushel of them among the branches of trees
or bushes to dry for winter use. In the west-
ern mountains their great stores of pine cones
are often robbed by seed-gatherers for forestry
nurseries. In winter they tunnel through the
snow to their hidden stores and sometimes
continue the tunnels from one store to an-
other.

Each squirrel makes its home for a long
period in or about a certain tree. There he
carries his cones to extract the seeds, and on
the ground beneath it the accumulation of
fallen scales and centers of cones sometimes
amounts to fifteen or twenty bushels. In ad-
dition to the seeds of the various conifers, red
squirrels eat many kinds of fruits and seeds ;
they also raid cornfields and orchards and even
make nests in barns and woodsheds to be near
the food supply which some farmer's industry
has collected.

Red squirrels have the interesting habit of
voluntarily swimming streams and lakes, in-
cluding such bodies of water as Lake George
and even the broadest parts of Lake Cham-
plain. When they thus cross the water and
make their migrations, there is little doubt that
they are usually in search of a better feeding
ground.

The red squirrels and related species have the
greatest variety of notes possessed by any of
the American members of the squirrel family.
In addition to the barking, scolding, chattering
notes already mentioned, they have a real song,
which is one of the most attractive of wood-
land notes. It is a long-drawn series of musical
rolling or churring notes, varied at times by
cadences and having a ventriloquial quality
rendering it difficult to locate. These notes
never fail to awaken pleasurable emotions and
to recall to me my early boyhood in the Adi-
rondacks, where the spring songs of the chick-
arees were among the first calls which awak-
ened me to the marvelous beauties of nature.

The worst trait of the red squirrel and one
which largely overbalances all his many at-
tractive qualities is his thoroughly proved habit
of eating the eggs and young of small birds.
During the breeding season he spends a large
part of his time in predatory nest hunting, and
the number of useful and beautiful birds he

SMALLER MAMA/EALS OF NORTH AMERICA

557

thus destroys must be almost incalculable. The
number of red squirrels is very great over a
continental area, and one close observer be-
lieves each squirrel destroys 200 birds a sea-
son. Practically all species of northern warb-
lers, vireos, thrushes, chickadees, nuthp.tches,
and others are numbered among their victims.
The notable scarcity of birds in northern for-
ests may be largely due to these handsome but
vicious marauders.

In the fur country these squirrels are much
disliked by the trappers for their constant in-
terference with meat-baited traps. Many fall
victims to their carnivorous desires, but their
places are soon taken by others.

The energy and unfailing variety in the per-
formances of red squirrels always keep the
attention of their human neighbors. Among
other interesting activities, their pursuit of one
another up and down and around the trunks
of trees, over the ground, along logs, back and
forth in the most reckless abandon, is most
entertaining to watch. These pursuits among
the young are playful and harmless, but among
the males in spring are of the most deadly
character. I have seen the victim go up and
down tree after tree, shrieking in fear and
agony and leaving a trail of blood on the snow
as he tried to escape his truculent pursuer.

Such scenes as this, combined with our knowl-
edge of its bird-killing habits, appear belied by
the exquisite grace and beauty of this squirrel
as it sits on a branch and sends its musical
cadences trilling through the primeval forest.
So confirmed are red squirrels in the destruc-
tion of bird life, however, they should not be
permitted to become very numerous anywhere
and it may eventually become necessary to
outlaw them wherever found.

THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus
douglasi and its relatives)

{Por illustration, see page ^46)

In all Retails of size, form, notes, and habits
the Douglas squirrel gives testimony to its de-
scent from the same ancestral stock as the com-
mon red squirrel (Sciurus hudsonicus). The
typical Douglas squirrel, represented in the ac-
companying illustration, is one of several geo-
graphic races of a species which ranges from
the Cascades and Sierra Nevada to the Pacific,
and from British Columbia south to the San
Pedro Martir Mountains of Lower California.
The home of the Douglas squirrel is amid the
wonderful coniferous forests of western Ore-
gon, Washington, and southern British Co-
lumbia. As in other mammals of this extremely
humid region, the colors of its upperparts are
dark brown, in strong contrast to the much
paler and grayer colors of the closely related
subspecies living in the clearer and more arid
climate of the Sierra Nevada in California.
These squirrels are known locally by a variety
of common names, including pine squirrel, red-
wood snuirrel, and "drummer."

Although usually not quite so noisy and self-

assertive as the irrepressible little red blusterer
of eastern forests, the Douglas squirrel is also
notable for its rollicking, chattering character
and sometimes cannot be outdone in its amus-
ing displays of aggressive impudence. When
the animals are numerous the air at times re-
sounds with their call notes or songs, one
answering the other, now near and now far,
until the somber depths of the mighty forest
seems peopled with a multitude of these joyous
furry sprites. Their song, resembling that of
the red squirrel, is a rapid trilling or bubbling
series of notes, long drawn out and some-
times varied by cadences. It is so musical that
it seems more like the song of some strange
bird than of a mammal. When these squirrels
are not common they are much less given to
song and seem subdued and shy, as though im-
pressed by the vast loneliness of their deep
forest haunts.

At mating time, early in spring, they are
especially noisy, and again in summer when the
first litter of young are out trying their youth-
ful pipes in expression of their cheerful well
being. They frequently come down on a low
branch or on the trunk of a tree and chatter,
bark, and scold at man, dog, or other intruder,
now rushing up and down, or making little
dashes around the tree trunk, their necks out-
stretched and tails flirting with a great show
of anger and contempt highly entertaining to
see. They are restlessly active at all seasons
of the year and habitually chase one another
through the forest with an appearance of rol-
licking fun which may many times be in more
deadly earnest than aopears to the casual ob-
server.

In winter their tracks in the snow lead from
tree to tree, along the tops of logs and fences,
and in all directions to hidden stores of food,
which they appear to be able to locate with
unerring certainty under the snow. An ad-
venturous spirit leads them to race away from
the forest, along fence-tops, to pay visits to
ranch buildings and even to villages and small
towns. Like their eastern relative, the Douglas
squirrels are omnivorous, feeding on the seeds
of all the conifers in their range, including
spruces, firs, pines, and redwoods, and also
upon acorns, and a great variety of other seeds,
fruits, and mushrooms, insects, birds' eggs,
young birds, and any other meat they can find.
Owing to their habit of interfering with meat-
baited traps, they are a nuisance to trappers.
They frequently visit orchards and carry off
apples and pears, from which they extract the
seeds. They have been seen also to visit the
wounds made on a willow trunk by sapsuckers
to drink the flowing sap. Their feet and the
fur about their mouths are often much gummed
with pitch from working on pine cones.

In many places the soft, moist earth in the
woods is riddled with little pits dug by these
squirrels apparently when they are after larvre
or perhaps edible roots. Throughout the sum-
mer, but especially during the last half of the
season, and in autumn Douglas squirrels work
with persistent energy to amass great stores

LITTLE SPOTTED SKUNK
Spilogale putorius

COMMON SKUNK
Mephitis mephitis

558

HOG-NOSED SKUNK

Conepatus mesoleucus

NINE-BANDED ARMADILLO
Dasypus noijemcincta

559

560

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

of seed-bearing cones, which they heap, some-
times bushels of them, about the bases of trees,
stumps, and the upturned roots of fallen trees
or under other shelter. Cones are also buried
here and there in the loose leaves and humus.
In winter many holes in the snow with piles
of cone scales at the entrances show where the
owners have dug down to their stores.

Some of their nests are constructed in hol-
low trees, many others on branches near their
junction with the trunks, and still others in
underground dens under roots, logs, or stumps.
In winter when alarmed these squirrels some-
times race down the tree trunks and take
refuge in holes leading through the snow to
their food caches and underground burrows.
The nests built in tree-tops are usually rather
bulky, measuring a foot or more in diameter,
and are made of small twigs, dry leaves, moss,
grass, and fibrous bark. They are commonly
lined with such soft material as feathers and
fur. The young, numbering three to seven at
a litter, are born at any time between April
and October.

The extraordinary intelligence and sense of
prevision possessed b}' squirrels of this group
is well illustrated by certain local food migra-
tions. These have been observed in eastern
Oregon in years when the cone crop has failed
and nothing was available to lay up for winter.
Under such conditions to remain in the moun-
tain forests would mean death by starvation
before winter had fairly begun. In 1910 and
1913 failure of the cone crop occurred in east-
ern Oregon and these squirrels promptly left
the mountain forests in September and de-
scended along creek courses to the open sage-
brush plains as much as seven or more miles
from the border of their ordinary haunts. In
this open country they wintered successfully,
raiding the farmers' grain bins, root cellars,
and other stores, and otherwise showing their
supreme fitness to survive in the struggle for
existence. With the coming again of summer
they promptly returned to their abandoned
homes in the pines. It appears to be one of
the marvels of animal intelligence that under
such circumstances as those named above the
entire body of the squirrels on the mountains
should have known what to do, especially as
a great percentage of their number could never
have had any previous experience as a guide.

THE GRAY SQUIRREL (Sciurus caro-

linensis and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 5^7)

The gray squirrel is so well known to everyone
in the Eastern States that it scarcely needs an
introduction. Many who have not seen it in its
native haunts arc familiar with it as a graceful
and charming resident of parks in many cities.
It is about twice as large as the red squirrel
and intermediate in size between that species
and the fox squirrel. Although sharing some
of the range of both the species named, the
color of the gray squirrel at once distinguishes it.

The gray squirrel is a North American
species with no near relative in the Old World;
on the Pacific coast, in the mountains of the
Southwest, and in Mexico are other squirrels
having much the same gray-colored body, but
with no close relationship to it. Its range
covers the deciduous forests of the Eastern
States and southern Canada from Nova Scotia
to Florida, and westward to the border of the
treeless Great Plains. Wherever they occur
these squirrels are an attractive element in the
woodland life, their barking and chattering,
their graceful forms, and their activity adding
greatly to the cheerful animation of the forest.
They are far less vociferous than red squirrels,
but their notes are varied and serve to express
a variet}' of meanings.

During the early settlement of the country
west of the States bordering the coast, gray
squirrels existed in great numbers and often
made ruinous inroads on the pioneer corn and
wheat fields. In 1749 they invaded Pennsyl-
vania in such hosts that a bounty of three pence
each was put on their scalps. Eight thousand
pounds sterling was paid on this account, which
involved the killing of 640,000 squirrels. In
1808 a law in force in Ohio required that each
free white male deliver 100 squirrel scalps a
year or pay $3 in cash. Records of the ravages
of these squirrels in corn fields are extant also
from Kentucky, ]\Iissouri, and other States.

Enormous migrations of gray squirrels from
one part of the country to another occurred in
those days, caused apparently by the failure of
food supplies in the deserted areas. Some im-
pulse to move in one general direction at the
same time appeared to affect the squirrels and
they swarmed across country in amazing num-
bers, carrying devastation to any farms crossed
on the way. When engaged in such move-
ments they appeared indifferent to obstacles
and without hesitation swam lakes and streams
even as large as the Hudson and the Ohio.
Amusing legends grew up concerning these
migrations, one of which avers that when the
squirrels arrived on a river bank each dragged
a large chip or piece of bark into the water
and mounting it raised its bushy tail in the
breeze and was wafted safely to the other
shore ! As a fact, many were drowned in cross-
ing large streams and others arrived exhausted
from their exertions.

The gray and fox squirrels were favorite
targets for pioneer marksmen. The early
chronicles tell of the ability of Daniel Boone
and other riflemen to "bark" a squirrel, which
meant so to cut the bark of the branch on which
the squirrel sat as to bring it to the ground
stunned without hitting the animal. With the
clearing away of the forests, the general oc-
cupation of the country, and the decrease of
larger animals, gray squirrels have been de-
prived of most of their haunts and have be-
come such desirable game that they have de-
creased to a point requiring stringent legal
protection to save them from extermination.

Gray squirrels are more thoroughly arboreal
than red squirrels and make their nests either

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

561

in hollow trunks or build them in the tops of
trees. These outside nests are common and
much like a crow's nest in appearance except
that they are generally more bulky and show
more dead leaves. They are built on a founda-
tion of small sticks with a rounded top of
leaves, and are lined with shreds of bark, moss,
and similar soft material. In the extreme
northern part of their range they live mainly
in hollow trees, but farther south many winter
in outside nests. During severe cold and in
stormy weather they remain hidden, sometimes
for days at a time.

They have two litters of four to six young
a year, the first usually being born in March
or April. The old squirrel is a devoted mother
and if the nest is disturbed she will at once
carry the young to some safer retreat.

In many parts of their range black, or melan-
istic, individuals are born in litters otherwise
of the ordinary gray color. In some districts
the number of the black squirrels equals or
exceeds the gray ones.

Gray squirrels range through such a variety
of climatic conditions that their food varies
greatly. They eat practically all available nuts,
including acorns, chestnuts, beechnuts, hickory-
nuts, and pecans, besides numberless seeds,
many small fruits, and mushrooms. They raid
fields for corn and wheat, and steal apples, pears,
and quinces from orchards to eat the seeds.
Like most other small rodents, they are fond of
larvae and insects and also destroy many birds'
eggs and young birds. They are far less seri-
ous offenders, however, in destroying birds
than the red squirrel.

On the approach of winter they lay up stores
of seeds and nuts in holes in trees and in little
hiding places on the ground. Many nuts are
hidden away singly. In the public parks of
Washington, where many gray squirrels exist,
I have repeatedly seen them dig a little pit
two or three inches deep, then push a nut well
down it cover it with earth, which they press
firmly in place with the front feet, and then
pull loose grass over the spot. One squirrel
will have many such hidden nuts, and with
nothing to mark the location it appears im-
possible that they could be recovered. That
the squirrels knew what they were doing I
have had repeated evidence in winter, even with
several inches of snow on the ground, when
they have been seen sniffing along the top of
the snow, suddenly stop, dig down and un-
earth a nut with a precision that demonstrates
the marvelous delicacy of their sense of smell.
Although mainly diurnal, they are sometimes
abroad on moonlight nights, especially when
gathering stores of food for winter.

Wherever they are, these squirrels are ex-
tremely graceful, moving along the ground by
curving bounds, the long flufify tail undulating
as they go, or running through the tree-tops,
leaping from branch to branch with an ease
and certainty beautiful to see. When pressed
they make amazing leaps from tree to tree or
even from a high tree-top to the ground with-
out injury. They are extremely cunning at

concealing themselves by lying fiat on top of
branches or by gliding around tree trunks, keep-
ing them interposed between themselves and
the pursuer.

Gray squirrels are so responsive to protec-
tion that they may continue to grace our re-
maining forests if we properly guard them. In
addition to their beauty, they are interesting
game animals which should continue to afford
a moderate amount of sport — sufficient to pre-
vent them from becoming overabundant and
destructive. Now introduced in many city
parks throughout the United States and in
parts of England, including London, their ready
acceptance of people as friends renders them
charming animals in such places ; but natural
food is so scarce under these artificial condi-
tions that care must be taken to feed them at
all seasons, especially in winter.

THE FOX SQUIRREL (Sciurus niger

and its relatives)

{Por illustration, see page ^,4/)

THE RUSTY FOX SQUIRREL (Sciurus
niger rufiventer)

(For illustration, see page 547)

Three species of tree squirrels inhabit the
varied forests of eastern North America, each
having its marked individuality expressed in
color, size, and habits. All occupy a wide terri-
tory with varying climatic conditions, to which
each species has responded by becoming modi-
fied into a series of geographic races, or sub-
species. The red and the gray squirrels have
already been described and it remains to give
an account of the largest and in some respects
the most remarkable of the three, the fox
squirrel.

No other species of North American mam-
mal can show such an extraordinary contrast
in color among its subspecies as that between
the rusty yellowish animal of the Ohio and
upper Mississippi Valleys, and the handsome
blackish one of the Southeastern States, both
of which are pictured in the accompanying
illustration.

The distribution of the fox squirrel is limited
to the forested parts of the Eastern States.
There it ranges from the Atlantic coast to the
border of the Great Plains, and from southern
New York and the upper Mississippi Valley
southward to Florida, the Gulf coast, and across
the lower Rio Grande into extreme northeast-
ern Mexico.

Variations in the character of the haunts of
the different subspecies of this squirrel almost
equal their differences in color. In the upper
Mississippi and Ohio Valleys the rusty-colored
race frequents the upland woods, where the
nut-bearing hickory trees characterize the for-
ests. In the South the dark-colored squirrels
have more varied homes, either amid the live
oaks draped in long Spanish moss, in the mys-
terious cypress forests of the swamps, or out
in the uplands among the southern pines.

RING-TAILED CAT

Bassariscus astutus

562

OREGON MOLE

Scapanus ton.vnsendi

Si AR-NOSED MOLE
Condylura cristata

563

364

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ^lAGAZINE

In early days fox squirrels were plentiful,
but never equaled the numbers of the gray
squirrel. They appear always to have been
more closely attached to their own district, for
we have no records of the great migrations so
notable in the other species.

Fox squirrels are not only distinguished from
gray squirrels by their color, but are also nearly
twice their size, commonly attaining a weight
of two and sometimes nearly three pounds.
They are the strongest and most heavily pro-
portioned of all American squirrels. A de-
liberation of movement going with heaviness
of body is in marked contrast to the graceful
agility of most other tree squirrels. On the
ground they walk with a curiously awkward,
waddling gait, and even when hard pressed
climb trees with none of the dashing quickness
-shown by other species. They often move
about on the ground by a series of bounds, and
at such times, with broad, feathery tails undulat-
ing in the air, present a most graceful and at-
tractive sight.

Fox and gray squirrels occupy the same dis-
tricts throughout most of their ranges, but
often become so segregated locally that the
gravs may be found almost exclusively along
bottom-lands and the fox squirrels on the higher
ridges, but there is no hard and fast separation
of haunts and the two forms usually share the
same woodlands.

Much time is spent by fox squirrels on the
ground searching for food. When danger ap-
proaches, in place of promptly taking refuge in
a tree, as is a common habit with most tree
squirrels, they retreat along the ground, mount-
ing a stump or log now and then, to look back
at a suspected intruder, whose footsteps they
can hear at a long distance. If the hunter is
without a dog they may run away and be lost.
A dog soon forces them up a tree and if a
knot-hole or other hollow is available they at
once take refuge in it. Otherwise they hide
skillfully in bunches of leaves high in the top
or lie flat on a limb or against the trunk, slyly
moving to keep on the opposite side as the
hunter draws near. In the Mississippi Valley
during the crisp days when the hickory nuts
are falling and the trees are decked in all the
glories of autumn foliage, few sports afield
yield more pleasurable sensations than fox-
squirrel hunting.

The fox squirrels become fatter than most of
their kind and their flesh is not so dry, al-
though all furnish appetizing meat. Owing to
their size and the (juality of their flesh, they
have been such desiral)le game animals that with
the constantly growing number of hunters and
the destruction of forests they have already
disappeared from large areas where formerly
abundant and are in real danger of extermina-
tion in the not-distant future. They are among
the most notable and attractive of the forest
animals in the Eastern States, and before it is
too late every effort should be made to protect
them from overshooting. With reasonable con-
servation they will continue to thrive and keep
some of the old-time primitive spirit in our

woods. Formerly they had the same predilec-
tion as the gray squirrel for the farmers' corn
fields and were under the ban, but their num-
bers are now so reduced that they give little
trouble in this way. In some city parks where
they have been introduced, they soon become
tame and do well, except that in losing their
fear of- man they become subject to many ac-
cidents.

Fox squirrels, like many others of their kind,
have homes both in knot-holes or other hollows
in tree trunks, and in bulky nests of sticks and
leaves high up among the branches. Both kinds
of nesting places are often located in the same
tree, the owner living in the outside nest in
warm weather and retiring to the shelter of
the hollow trunk in severe weather or to escape
an enemy. The young, two to four in number,
are usually born in March or April, and it is
not definitely known whether there is a second
litter. These squirrels have a barking call as
well as several other rather deep-toned chuck-
ing notes.

They are as omnivorous as any of their kind,
eating many kinds of nuts, seeds, fruits, mush-
rooms, insects, birds, Ijirds' eggs, and other
flesh food when available. The principal nuts
in their haunts are hickory-nuts, beechnuts,
walnuts, pecan nuts, and the seeds of pines
and cypresses. Toward the end of summer and
in fall they work busily gathering and storing
food for winter in hollow trees, in old logs,
about the roots of trees, and in any other snug
' place where it may be kept safely until needed.
Many single nuts are buried here and there in
little pits three or four inches deep dug in the
soft surface of the earth under the trees. These
scattered stores are located when needed by
the acute sense of smell which the owners
possess.

THE ABERT SQUIRREL (Sciurus aberti

and its subspecies)

{For iUiistrafinji. sec page 550)

THE KAIBAB SQUIRREL (Sciurus
kaibabensis)

{For illiistratioit. sec page ^jo)

Among the many kinds of s(|uirrels which
lend animation and charm to the forests of
North and South America, none equal in beauty
the subjects of this sketch — the Abert and the
Kaibab squirrels. These are the only American
squirrels endowed with conspicuous ear tufts,
which character they share with the squirrels
occupying the forests in the northern parts of
the Old World from F.ngland to Japan. In
weight they about equal a large gray squirrel,
but are shorter and distinctly more heavily pro-
portioned, with broader and more feathery tails.

Their range covers the pine-forested region
of the southern Rocky Mountains in the United
States and the Sierra Madre of western Mex-
ico. The Abert squirrel and its several sub-
species is the more widely distributed, being
found from northern Colorado, south through

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

565

New Mexico, Arizona, Chihuahua, and Du-
rango. The Kaibab squirrel, which is even
more beautiful than its relative, shows marked
differences in appearance and yet is evidently
derived from the same species.

The typical Abert squirrel lives in the pine
forests along the southern rim of the Grand
Canyon in northern Arizona, and the Kaibab
squirrel lives in the pines visible on the north-
ern rim of the canyon less than 15 miles away.
It is confined to an islandlike area of pine
forest above 70 miles long by 35 miles wide, on
the north side of the canyon, on the Kaibab
and Powell plateaus, directly across from the
end of the railroad at the Grand Canyon Hotel.
The two species live under practically identical
conditions as to vegetation and climate.

In these sketches of our mammal life I have
repeatedly noted the effect of changing environ-
ment in modifying the animals subject to it.
In the present case the change in the squirrels
on the north side of the Grand Canyon has
evidently been brought about by that powerful
factor in evolution known as isolation. Cut off
from their fellows by the deepening canyon of
the Colorado, Kaibab squirrels have occupied
a forest island ever since, with the resulting
change in characters we now have in evidence.

The home of both the Abert and the Kaibab
squirrels is almost entirely between 6,000 and
9,500 feet altitude, on the mountain slopes and
high plateaus overgrown with a splendid open
forest of yellow pine mixed in many places
with firs and aspens. Occasionally, as "food be-
comes scarce in their ordinary haunts, they
range up into the firs or down into the oaks
and pinon pines. In winter their haunts are
buried in snow, but in summer on every hand
present lovely vistas among the massive tree
trunks, varied here and there by gemlike parks.
Everywhere the ground is covered with grasses
and multitudes of flowering plants. In the
wilder parts of this fascinating wilderness
roam bears, mountain lions, wolves, deer, and
wild turkeys, and only a few decades ago still
wilder men, belonging to some of our most
dreaded Indian tribes.

Although these squirrels commonly make use
of large knot-holes or other hollows in trees,
they regularly build high up in the branches
bulky nests of leaves, pine needles, and twigs
and line them with soft grass and shredded
bark. Sometimes several full-grown squirrels
may be found occupying one of these outside
nests, probably members of one family. They
are active throughout the year, but remain in
their nests during storms and severe winter
weather. In northern Arizona I have known
them to stay under cover for a week or two at
a time in midwinter.

The young appear to be born at varying
times between April and September. Although
not definitely known, it seems probable that they
have two litters of from three to four young
each season.

The seeds and the tender bark from the
terminal twigs of the yellow pine ( Finns pon-
der osa ) furnish their principal food supply. Dur-

ing periods when pine seeds are not available
the squirrels cut the ends of pine twigs, letting
the terminal part bearing the leaves fall to the
ground, while the stem, several inches in length,
is stripped of bark. Often at times of food
scarcity the bark will be eaten for a consider-
able distance along the outer branches, almost
like the work of porcupines. The ground under
the pines where the squirrels are at work is
sometimes almost covered with the freshly
dropped tips of branches.

The Abert squirrels also eat the seeds of
Douglas spruce, of the pinon pine, acorns, many
seeds, roots, green vegetation, mushrooms,
birds' eggs, and young birds. Now and then
they rob cornfields planted in clearings, but
they do little damage to crops. Some years
they are extremely numerous and are in evi-
dence everywhere; again they become scarce
and so wary that it is difiicult to see one, even
where its fresh workings are in evidence.

Both these squirrels have a deep churring
or chucking call, sometimes becoming a barking
note resembling that of the fox squirrel. They
also have a variety of chattering and scolding
notes when excited or angry. At times they
become almost as aggressive as the red squirrel
and come down the tree trunk or to a lower
branch, whence they scold and berate the object
of their disapproval.

When much alarmed they are expert at hid-
ing among tufts of leaves near the ends of
branches, on tops of large limbs, or behind
trunks. They will remain hidden in this way
for an hour or more, patiently waiting for the
danger to disappear, but one is often betrayed
by the wind blowing the feathery tip of its tail
into view.

On the ground the tail is usually carried up-
raised in graceful curves. Here these squirrels
spend much time among fallen cones and in
digging for roots and other food. When they
walk they have an awkward waddling gait, but
when they are alarmed, or desire to move more
rapidly for any cause, they progress in a series
of extremely graceful bounds, which show the
plumelike tail to good advantage. When the
Kaibab squirrel is moving about on the ground
its great white tail is extraordinarily conspicu-
ous in the sunshine. This repeatedly drew my
attention to these squirrels, even at such long
distances that they would otherwise have been
overlooked.

Although so heavily built, these squirrels are
adept in leaping from branch to branch and
from tree to tree. On one occasion a branch
on which an Abert squirrel was standing near
the top of a pine tree was struck by a rifle ball ;
the squirrel promptly ran to the end of a large
branch about fifty feet from the ground, and
although no tree was anywhere near on that
side, leaped straight out into the air, with its
legs outspread just as in a flying squirrel. It
came down in a horizontal position and struck
the ground flat on its under side and the re-
bound raised it several inches. Without an in-
stant's delay it was running at full speed across
a little open park and disappeared in the forest

SHORT-TAILED SHREW
Blarina brcvicauJa

>*^

COMMON SHREW

Sorex personatus

HOARY BAT

Nycteris cinereus

RED BAT

Nycteris borealis

566

BIG-EARED DESERT BAT

Antrozouj palltdus

MEXICAN liAT
Nyctinomus mexicanus

567

568

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

on the other side. I was standing only a few
yards to one side of the falling squirrel and the
widely spread feet and legs were perfectly out-
lined against the sky. It was evident that this
squirrel and probably all of its kind appreciate
that such an attitude will help break the force
of the descent. This suggested the possibility
of a similar habit having influenced the origin
of the flying squirrel's membranes.

One summer day in the Sierra Madre of
western Durango I sat on a mountain slope
watching for game. Below me stood the hol-
low-topped stub of an oak, the top being on a
level with my eyes and about twenty yards
away. Soon after I arrived the heads of four
half-grown squirrels of the Abert family ap-
peared in a row at the upper border of the
opening, their bright eyes turning on all sides.
Suddenly a hawk glided by, one of its wing tips
almost brushing the noses of the squirrels. In-
stantly they vanished from sight and a noise of
scratching and frightened chattering continued
for several minutes, as though they were bury-
ing themselves under the nest. About twenty
minutes later the boldest of the family showed
the tip of his nose at an opening in a hollow
branch near the top of the stub, but it required
another ten minutes for him to venture forth
his head. Finally, becoming confident that no
danger threatened, he came out on the limb
and deliberately stretched himself, yawning as
widely as his little mouth would permit, after
which he flirted his tail and frisked over to the
trunk of the stub, where he began frolicking
about with all the abandon of a kitten at play.
When I departed his more timorous companions
were still peering fearfully out of the hole, an-
ticipating the return of the dreaded hawk.

THE FLYING SQUIRREL (Glaucomys

volans and its rehitives)

{For illustration, see page 557)

No one can see one of our small flying squir-
rels in Hfe without being charmed by its deli-
cate grace of form and velvety fur, nor fail to
note the large black eyes which give it a pleas-
ing air of lively intelligence. Flying squirrels
are distinguished from all other members of
the squirrel family by extensions of the skin
along the sides, which unite the front and hind
legs, so that when the animal leaps from some
elevated point with legs outspread the mem-
brane and the underside of the body present a
broad, flat surface to the air. This enables it
to glide swiftly down in a diagonal course
toward a tree trunk or other vertical surface
on which it desires to alight. It is able to con-
trol its movements and to turn with ease to one
side or the other, or upward before alighting.
When gliding down a wooded hillside or through
thick growths of timber, it is thus able to avoid
obstacles and alight on the desired place.

Flying squirrels are circumpolar in distribu-
tion. In the Old World they occupy forested
areas in eastern Europe, and nearly all of Asia.
In the New World they are peculiar to North

America, where they frequent nearly all the
wooded parts from the Arctic Circle to the
Mexican border, and in forests in Mexico along
the eastern border of the highlands as well as
through Chiapas and Guatemala. In Asia, the
center of development of these interesting ro-
dents, many extraordinary forms occur. Some
are giants of their kind, measuring nearly four
feet in total length. In America there are two
groups of species, the smaller and better known
of which, the subject of this sketch, occupies
the eastern United States and southward. The
northern and western animals are larger, some
of them more than twice the weight of the
eastern species.

In many parts of the United States flying
squirrels are common and even abundant, but
their habits are so strictly nocturnal that they
are infrequently seen. They make their homes
in woodpecker holes, knot-holes, and hollows in
limbs, and trunks of trees and stubs. In ad-
dition they take possession of many odjl places
for residence, among which may be mentioned
bird-boxes, dove-cotes, attics, cupboards, boxes,
and other nooks in occupied or unoccupied
houses that are located within or at the borders
of woods.

They also make nests of leaves, lining them
with fine fibrous bark, grass, moss, fur, or other
soft material placed securely in the branches
or in forks in trees. They often remodel old
liird or squirrel nests into snug homes for
themselves. The size and construction of these
outside nests vary according to the locality and
the material available.

As a rule, the nests are small and accommo-
date only a single pair with their young, and
sometimes hold only a single individual, but nu-
merous exceptions to this have been oliserved.
In southern Illinois fifty flying squirrels were
discovered in one nest in a tree; in Indiana
fifteen were found in a hollow stump ; and
near Pliiladelphia thirty were evicted from a
martin box they had usurped.

In the southern part of their range flying
squirrels are active throughout the year, but in
the North they become more or less sluggish
if they do not actually reach the stage of real
hibernation during the severest weather.

Their food is extremely varied and includes
wJiatever nuts grow in their haunts, as beech-
nuts, pecans, acorns, and others, with many kinds
of seeds, including corn gathered in the field,
and buds, and fruits of many kinds. They also
eat many insects, larv.-e, birds and their eggs,
and meat. Taking advantage of their known
liking for bird flesh, they may frequently be
caught by concealing a trap on top of a log in
the woods and scattering bird feathers over
and about it. Trappers for marten and other
forest fur-bearers are much annoyed in winter
by the persistence with which the flying squir-
rels search out their trai)s and become caught
in them, thus forestalling a more valued cap-
ture. Trappers in Montana who run long lines
of traps for marten through the mountain for-
ests capture hundreds of these squirrels in a
single season.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

569

Flying squirrels have
several notes, one of
which is an ordinary
chuck, chuck, much like
that of other squirrels.
They also utter sharp
squeaks and squeals when
angry or much alarmed,
and a clear musical chirp-
ing note, birdlike in char-
acter, which is frequently
repeated for several min-
utes in succession and is
undoubtedly a song.

These beautiful little
animals become the most
delightful of pets, as they
are notable for extraor-
dinary playfulness and a
readiness to accept man
as a friend. Many in-
teresting accounts have
been published concern-
ing the affectionate at-
tachment they form for
their human hosts and
the amusing and tireless
activity they show at
night. By day they re-
main sound asleep, rolled
up in a furry ball in
some dark corner.

They are known to have
a litter of from two to
six young in April, and
young are born at vari-
ous times throughout the
summer, but it is still un-
settled whether there is
more than one litter a
year. The mother is de-
voted to the young, and
if driven from them will
keep close by at the risk
of her life, showing much
anxiety and readiness to
do what she can to pro-
tect them. One instance
well illustrates this ma-
ternal care. From a nest
in a hollow stub the help-
less young were taken
and placed on the ground
at its base, while the de-
spoiler of the home stood
by to observe the result.
The mother soon re-
turned and not finding
her family in the nest
promptly located them on
the ground. Quickly de-
scending, she took one
in her mouth, carried it
to the top of the stub
and, launching into the
air, sailed to a tree thirty
feet away, up which she
carried her baby and

e.y.s.

TTir; TRAIL OP THU MUSKRAT

The usual gait of tlie muskrat on land is a slow walk. The tail
mark is always very strongly shown (see pages 513 and 526).

570

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

\.f

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;i%

THE TRACKS OF A GRASSIIOPI'KR MOUSE

The anatomy of tlie foot is fairly well shown in the track— the
insignificant thumb and the tubercles on the soles. The placin.i;- of
the fore feet, one Ijehind the other, indicates that the creature can-
not climb a tree. The tail seldom or never shows. The original of
this was in fine dust. The small tracks to the right show the style
usually seen. There are many species of grasshopper mouse, but the
tracks are not distinguishable from each other. The exact species
is determined by locality, size, etc. (see pages 520 and 527).

placed it safely in a
knot-hole. The trip was
quickly repeated until the
family was reunited in
its new location.

At night the curiosity
of flying squirrels about
strange things and their
mischievous activities are
often most entertaining,
and sometimes exasperat-
ing. Whatever is ac-
cessible within their ter-
ritory is certain to be
thoroughly explored. A
large apartment building,
seven stories high, in
Washington stands on
the border of the woods
of the Zoological Park.
During one summer night
a friend occupying an
apartment on the seventh
floor of this building,
fronting the park, ob-
served some movement
on one of his window
sills and by later obser-
vation and by inquiry
among the other resi-
dents learned that flying
squirrels were habitually
climbing all about the
high walls to the top of
this building, using it
and some of the rooms
as a nightly playground.
Several occupants of
apartments in different
parts of the building
regularly placed nuts of
various kinds on the
window ledges for them,
and now and then were
amused to find that dur-
ing the night the squir-
rels had carried away
some of their nuts, but
had replaced them with
other kinds, sometimes
brought from a window
at a considerable dis-
tance on another side of
the building. The pres-
ence of these squirrels
was warmly welcomed
and furnished much in-
terest to their hosts.

The constant activity
of these little animals at
night enables owls and
cats to capture many, but
their small size and the
shelter of their homes
by day will prevent their
serious decrease in num-
bers so long as suitable
forests remain to supply
their needs.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

571

THE BLACK-FOOTED FERRET

(Mustela nigripes and its relatives)

(For iUiistration, see page 331)

Of all the varied forms of mammalian life
in America, the black-footed ferret has always
impressed me as one of the strangest and most
like a stranded exotic. It is about the size of
a mink, but, as the illustration shows, is entirely
different in appearance and has the general
form of a giant weasel. It has no close rela-
tive in America, but bears an extraordinarily
close resemblance in size, form, and color to
the Siberian ferret (Mustela eversinanni).

The black-footed ferret occurs only in the
interior of the United States, closely restricted
to the area inhabited by prairie-dogs, from the
Rocky Mountains eastward and from Montana
and the Dakotas to western Texas. It is
known also west of the mountains in Colorado.
Like others of the weasel tribe, it must have
a wandering disposition, since one was captured
at 9,800 feet altitude, and another was found
drowned at 10,250 feet in Lake Moraine, Colo-
rado.

These ferrets exist as parasites in the prairie-
dog colonies, making their homes in deserted
burrows and feeding on the hapless colonists.
In Kansas their presence in certain localities
appears to have been effective in exterminating
prairie-dogs, and similar activities may account
for the deserted "dog towns" which are not
infrequently observed on the plains with no ap-
parent reason for the absence of the habitants.

They do not appear to be numerous in any
part of their range and little is known con-
cerning their habits. Now and then they are
seen moving about prairie-dog "towns," passing
in and out of the burrows at all hours of the
day, but it is probable that they are mainly
nocturnal. This probability is strengthened by
the extreme restlessness shown at night by cap-
tive animals. With the occupation of the coun-
try and the inevitable extinction of the prairie-
dog over nearly or quite all of its range, the
black- footed ferret is practically certain to dis-
appear with its host species.

It has the same bold, inquisitive character
shown by the weasel, and when its interest is
excited will stand up on its hind legs and
stretch its long neck to one side and another
in an effort to satisfy its curiosity. When
surprised in a "dog town" it commonly retreats
to a burrow, but promptly turns and raises its
head high out of the hole to observe the visitor.
As a result ferrets are readily killed by hunters.
When one is captured it will at first hiss and
spit like a cat and fight viciously, but is not
difficult to tame.

Although mainly dependent upon prairie-dogs
for food, there is little doubt that ferrets, after
the manner of their kind, also kill rabbits and
other rodents in addition to taking whatever
birds and birds' eggs may be secured. In one
instance a black-footed ferret lived for several
days under a wooden sidewalk in the borrler
town of Hays, Kansas, where it killed the rats
harboring there.

O^^'^'U

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TRACK OF A COMMON PIG

Pig and deer tracks are often found in the
same places and to a casual glance may l)c mis-
taken for each other, but the bluntness of the
pig track distinguishes it and the clouts or
hind hoofs do not show on level gro'und, but
do in one or two inches of snow or mud.

572

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

1 mc/t-

itit'm<^'

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tfV HJ^/^

r. 7. s.

FOOTPRINTS OF A WIIITK-l'OOTl-.D MOUSK

When reduced to scale, the large tracks on
the left side are life size, showing the animal
making the ordinary bounds of about 3 inches
between each set of tracks. In speeding, the
space may increase to 12 inches. The tail usu-
ally shows in the deermouse track, and this,
with the pairing of the fore paws, is a strong
characteristic (see pages 521 and 530).

THE LARGE WEASELS, OR STOATS
(Mustela arcticus and its relatives)

(For iUustratioii, see page 554)

The weasel family includes not only the true
weasels, but numerous other carnivores, as the
sable or marten, mink, ferret, skunk, and land
and sea otters, all of which rank among our
highly valued fur-bearers. The large weasel
may be distinguished from others of its family
by the small size and the snakclike propor-
tions of the flattened and pointed head, com-
bined with a long, extremely slender neck and
body and a comparatively long tail. The best
known of these animals are the stoat of the
northern parts of the Old World {Mustela
erminea) and its close relative in northern
North America {Mustela arcticus), the winter
skins of which furnish the famed ermine, once
sacred to the trappings of royalty.

The northern weasels are strongly marked by
their habit of changing their brown coat to
one of snowy wdiite at the beginning of winter.
To the south the change becomes less com-
plete as the winter snows decrease, and south
of the limit of snow the brown coat is retained
throughout the year. The time of change de-
pends on the coming of the snow and varies
with the year, and the time of resumption of
the brown coat in spring depends in the same
way on the season. The white winter coat of
the larger and medium-sized species is accom-
panied by a strongly contrasting jet black tip
to the tail.

Weasels are circumpolar in distribution and
occupy nearly all parts of Europe, Asia, and
North and South America, the greatest number
and variety of species occurring in North
America. Surprisingly enough, the largest of
these eminently northern animals is found in
the forests of the American tropics. The Arctic
weasel ranges to the northernmost polar lands
of North America, where its presence has been
recorded many times by ice-bound explorers.
Other species are more or less generally dis-
tributed over the remainder of the continent.
In ^lexico I have found them from sea level
to al)ove timljerline, at more that 13,000 feet
altitude on the high volcanoes.

The strong personality of the weasels as a
group is based mainly on their extraordinary
celerity of movement, their courage, and their
insatiable desire to kill. They are not satis-
fied with supplying the call for food, but when-
ever opportunity arises kill from sheer lust of
slaughter.

Their slender forms enable them to follow
their prey to the remotest depths of their re-
treats, and that all rodents have an abiding
liorror of them is shown by the effect of a
weasel's appearance. Rabbits, although many
times tlicir size, become easy victims, and in
one instance when a large rat, which had
fought its human captor viciously, was put in
a cage with a weasel, it at once lost all its
courage and permitted itself to be killed with-
out an effort at defense.

Weasels are wonderfully endowed for their
predatory work and are undoubtedly the most

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

57J

perfectly organized machines for killing that
have been developed among mammals. Their
keen eyes are constantly alert to observe every-
thing about them, their ears are attuned to
catch the faintest squeak of a mouse or cry of
any other small animal, and their powers of
scent are very great. When hunting they dart
in and out of the holes of rodents, among
crevices in the rocks, or through brush piles,
pausing now and then to stand upright on their
hind feet, the head swaying to and fro as they
peer about. The squeak of a mouse starts
them instantly in search of it, and like a dog
they trail rabbits and other rodents by scent.

As a rule, weasels are terrestrial, but in
wooded country they chmb trees and leap from
branch to branch with all the ease of squirrels.
In most localities they are not common, but
now and then, where conditions are peculiarly
favorable, they become numerous. At one
naturalist's camp in the upper Yukon they were
surprisingly abundant, so much so that more
than forty were caught in a few days in traps
set among broken rocks. There th;y were ex-
tremely bold, hunting for their prey among the
rocks within a few feet of the trappers.

The prey of weasels includes almost every
kind of small rodent and bird living within
their territory. They feed especially upon
northern hares, cottontails, conies, ground
squirrels, chipmunks, tree squirrels, wood rats,
mice, lemmings, quail, ptarmigan, spruce and
ruffed grouse, ducks, and numberless other
small species. They are also very destructive
to domestic fowl, often killing thirty or forty
in a night. They unhesitatingly attack rodents
many times their own weight.

Once when hunting on the open plain near the
southern end of the Mexican table-land, I saw
at some distance what appeared to be a brown
ball rolling about on the ground. This was
soon determined to be a weasel fastened to one
of the large and powerful pocket gophers of
that region. The weasel had its teeth set in the
back of the neck of the gopher, while the latter
was blindly trying to tear itself loose. I fired
an ineffectual shot at the weasel and it vanished
like a flash in the open tunnel of the gopher.
As I drew near, the gopher, still in fighting
mood, faced me with bared teeth. Later, when
I removed its skin, I found that the weasel had
torn loose the attachment of the heavy neck
muscles to the back of the skull until only a
thin layer remained to protect the spinal
column. This had been accomplished w'ithout
breaking the thin, but extremely tough, skin of
the gopher.

When a weasel is attacking an animal which
resists, like a large ground squirrel, it raises
its head and sways its long neck back and
forth, its eyes glittering with excitement as it
watches for an opening to spring forward and
seize its prey. Its attack is always aimed at
a vital point, commonly tlie brain, the back of
the neck, or the jugular vein on the side.

Weasels dig their own burrows under the
shelter of slide rock, ledges, stone walls, stumps,
and outbuildings, or they occupy hollow trees

and the deserted burrows of other animals. In
nests thus safely located they have one litter
containing an average of from four to six, but
sometimes numbering up to twelve, young a
year. They are born at any time from April
to June, according to the latitude. The number
of young in a litter is enough to render weasels
very abundant, but this is rarely the case, and
raises the question as to the influence which
holds their number in check.

They are both nocturnal and diurnal, ap-
parently in almost equal degree, since they are
frequently observed hunting in the middle of
the day, while their nocturnal raids on poultry
houses testify to their activities at night. When
hunting they appear like sinister shadows ..and
are persistent in pursuit. The young commoinly
remain with the female until nearly or /fjuite
grown and follow her closely on hunting trips.
It is interesting to see a pack of these deadly
carnivores working, the mother leading and the
young skirmishing on all sides, now spreading
out, now closing in. like a pack of miniature
hounds. On these family hunting parties, how-
ever, they usually keep close to the rocks, logs,
brush, or other cover.

Themselves subject to the law of fang and
claw, weasels are killed and eaten by wolves,
coyotes, foxes, and various birds of prey. Their
very lack of fear perhaps in many cases leads
to their destruction.

These representatives of the primitive wood-
land life continue to occupy practically all of
their original range. They visit farms in all
parts of the country and I have seen them near
the outskirts of Washington.

It is well that weasels are not abundant, for
beasts with such innate ferocity and love of
killing would otherwise be a menace to the
existence of many useful species of birds and
mammals, especially the game birds. In many
places they live almost entirely on mice, and
there they should be left unmolested ;_ but
whenever they locate in the vicinity of a chicken
yard the owner will do well to take proper
measures for protection.

THE LEAST WEASEL (Mustela rixosus

and its relatives)

{Por illustyation, see page 554)

In addition to the larger members of the
tribe briefly described in the foregoing sketch,
the true weasels include another group of
species, so small they may appropriately be
termed the dwarfs of their kind. They vary
from a half to less than a fourth the size of
the larger weasels, but have the same char-
acteristic form and proportions, except that the
tail is very short and never tipped with black.
Like the larger species, they change their brown
summer coat for white at the beginning of
winter and back again in spring.

The least weasels are also circumpolar m
distribution, but are limited to the northern
parts of Europe. Asia, and North America
In England and other parts of the Old World

)74

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

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the; common brown rat

The large series shows the ordinary forag-
ing gait; the smaller one, to the right, shows
the travel at low speed. In all, the tail mark
is a strong feature (see pages 525 and 531).

the group is represented by the well-known
species Mtistela vulgaris. In North America
several species are known which, between them,
share all the continent from the Arctic coast
south to Nebraska and Pennsylvania. On the
desolate islands extending from the mainland
far toward the Pole their place seems to be
taken by the ermine.

The dwarf weasels appear to be less numer-
ous and, as a consequence, less known in most
parts of America than in England and north-
ern Europe. Our most northern species,
iJiistela rixosa, sometimes called the "mouse
weasel," occupies Alaska and northern Canada
and has the distinction of being the smallest
known species of carnivore in the world. In
this connection it is interesting to note that
in Alaska we have associated on the same
ground the least weasel and the great brown
bear, the smallest and the largest living car-
nivores.

Least weasels are characterized by the same
swift alertness and boldness so marked in the
larger species. In fact they are, if possible,
even quicker in their movements. Once when
camping in spring among scattered snowbanks
on the coast of Bering vSea, I had an excellent
opportunity to witness their almost incredible
quickness. Early in the morning one suddenly
appeared on the margin of a snowbank within
a few feet, and after craning its neck one way
and the other, as though to get a better view
of me, it vanished, and then appeared so
abruptly on a snowbank three or four yards
away that it was almost impossible to follow
it with the eye. It was beginning to take on
its summer coat of brown and was extremely
difficult to locate amid the scattered patches
of snow and bare moss of the tundra. Cer-
tainly no other mammal can have such flash-
like powers of movement.

They feed mainly on mice, lemmings, shrews,
small birds, their eggs and young, and insects.
Mice furnish a large proportion of their prey
and weasels have often been seen following the
runways of field mice. Their small size enables
them to pursue mice into their underground
workings as readily as a ferret enters a rabbit
burrow. They also climb trees and bushes with
great agility, although nearly always seeking
their victims on the ground. The mice upon
which they prey are often so much larger than
the weasels that they cannot be dragged into
the dens. The weasels continue in full activity
throughout the winter and constantly burrow
into the snow in search of their prey. In the
snow or in the ground the holes of this animal
are about the diameter of one's finger.

In the Old World the small weasels are re-
ported to have several litters in a season, each
containing five or six young. At Point P)arrow,
Alaska, a female captured on June 12 still con-
tained twelve embryos. This indicates that
only one litter a year would be born tliere, and
that Mustela rixosa is more prolific than its
European representative.

In the more soutliern latitude least weasels
live in forests and about farms, sheltering
themselves under logs, brush piles, stone walls,
and similar cover. They are always restless
and filled with curiosity regarding anything of

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

575

unusual appearance.
When one encounters a
man it shows no fear,
but slyly moving from
one shelter to another,
now advancing and now
retreating, examines the
stranger carefully before
going on its way. As
they devote practically
their entire lives to the
destruction of field mice,
they are valuable friends
of the farmer and should
have his good will and
protection. Unfortunately
for these weasels, no dis-
crimination is shown be-
tween them and their
larger relatives of more
injurious habits.

Among the natives of
Alaska all weasels are
looked upon with great
respect on account of
their prowess as hunters.
I found this feeling pe-
culiarly strong among the
Eskimos, whose existence
for ages has depended so
largely on the products
of the chase. Among
them the capture of a
weasel meant good luck
to the hunter, and to take
the rarer least weasel
was considered a happy
omen. The head and en-
tire skin of the least
weasel was highly prized
for wearing as an amulet
or fetich. Young men
eagerly purchased them,
paying the full value of
a prime marten skin in
order to wear them as a
personal adornment, that

they might thus become endowed with the hunt-
ing prowess of this fierce little carnivore.
Fathers often bought them to attach to the
belts of their small sons, so that the youthful
hunters might become imbued with the spirit
of this "little chief" among mammals.

THE AMERICAN MINK (Mustela vison

and its relatives)

(For illustration, sec page ^55)

In the American mink we have one of the
most widely known and valuable fur-bearers of
the weasel family. It is a long-bodied animal,
but more heavily proportioned than the weasel,
and attains a weight of from one and one-half
to more than two pounds. It has short legs
and walks slowly and rather clumsily with the
back arched. When desiring to travel rapidly
it moves in a series of rapid easy bounds which
it appears able to continue tirelessly.

h&to lie.

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trot

Fo X

f.7.S

the; track of a i^ox

The size, the small pads, and the set of all feet nearly in one line are
strong features, as also is the tail touch

The minks form a small group of species
circumpolar in distribution, and well known in
Europe, northern Asia, and in North America.
The European animal is closely similar to the
North American species and all have the same
amphibious habits. The American minks include
several different geographic races, which are
distributed over all the northern part of the
continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific and
from the mouths of the Yukon and Mackenzie
Rivers to the Gulf coast in tlie United States.
They are absent from the arid Southwestern
States.

Few species are more perfectly adapted to a
double mode of life than the mink. It is equally
at home slyly searching thickets and bottom-
land forests for prey or seeking it with otter-
like prowess beneath the water. It is a restless
animal, active both by day and by night, al-
though mainly nocturnal.

While usually having definite dens to which
tliey return, minks wander widely and for so

576

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

small an animal hunt over a large territory
and pass from one body of water to another.
Their wanderings are most pronounced in fall
and again during the mating in spring. They
are solitary, their companionship with one an-
other not outhvmg the mating period.

Mink dens are located wherever a safe and
convenient shelter is available, and may be a
hole in a bank, made by a muskrat or other
animal, a cavity under the roots of a tree, a
hollow log, a hollow stump, or other place.
The nest is made of grass and leaves lined
with feathers, hair, and other soft material. A
single litter of from four to twelve small and
naked young is born during April or ]\Iay.

The young remain with the mother through-
out the summer, and do not leave her to estab-
lish themselves until fall, when they are nearly
grown. When captured at an early age they
are playful and become attached to the person
who cares for them. When cauglit in a trap
they become fiercely aggressive, often uttering
squalling shrieks, baring their teeth, and front-
ing their captor with a truculent air of savage
rage. The adults have scent sacs located under
the tail like those of a skunk. When angry or
much excited they can emit from these an ex-
ceedingly acrid and offensive odor, but have
no power to eject it forcibly at an enemy.

Minks are bold and courageous in their at-
titude toward other animals, and attack and kill
for food species heavier than themselves, like
the varying hare and the muskrat. On land
they are persistent hunters, trailing their prey
skillfully by scent. They eat mice, rats, chip-
munks, squirrels, and birds and birds' eggs of
many kinds, including waterfowl, oven-birds,
and other ground-frequenting species. About
the waterside they vary this diet by capturing
fish of many kinds, wliich they pursue in the
water, snakes, frogs, salamanders, insects, crus-
taceans, and mussels.

Their prowess is shown by their raids on
chicken-houses, where they often kill many
grown fowls in a night, and sometimes drag
birds heavier than themselves long distances to
their dens. A remarkable indication of the
varied menu of the mink was exliibited in a
nest found by Dr. C. H. Merriam, where the
owner had gathered the bodies of a muskrat,
a red squirrel, and a downy woodpecker.

The value of the mink's furry coat has led
to its steady pursuit by trappers in all climes,
from the coast of Florida to tiie borders of
sluggish streams on Arctic tundras. Millions
of them have fallen victims to this warfare
and their skins have gone to adorn mankind.
In spite of this the mink today occupies all its
original territory, and each year yields a fresh
harvest of furs.

The mink by preference is a forest animal,
living along the wooded bottom-lands of rivers
or the tliicket-grown borders of small streams,
where the rich vegetation gives abundance of
shelter and at the same time attracts a wealth
of small mammals and birds on which it may
prey. From these secure coverts it wanders
through the surrounding country at night, visit-

ing many cliicken-houses on farms and leaving
devastation behind. It is persistent and bold
in such forays and in locations near its haunts
great care must be exercised to guard against
it. Minks have repeatedly raided the enclosures
of the National Zoological Park in Washington.

Now and then, on the banks of some wild
stream, one will try to appropriate the catch
lying at the very feet of a lone fisherman. A
naturalist fishing on a stream in northern
Canada, seeing a mink making free with his
catch, set a small steel trap on the bare ground,
and holding the attached chain in one hand
raised and slowly drew toward him the fish
upon which tlie mink was feeding. The mink,
without hesitation, followed the fish and was
caught in the trap.

An abundance of food may modify the pref-
erence of the mink for wooded or partly wood-
ed country. The marshy and treeless tundra
lying near sea-level in the triangle between tiie
coast of Bering Sea, and the lower parts of
the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers offers such
an attractive situation differing from their
usual haunts. The sluggish streams and num-
berless ponds abound with small fish four
to five inches long. Minks swarm in this area
to such an extent that the Eskimos who in-
habit the district are known among the natives
of the surrounding region as the "mink people."
Steel traps are used there, but a primitive
method is even more successful. A wicker
fence is built across a narrow stream and a
small fyke fish-trap placed in it. In swimming
along the stream minks pass into the trap like
fish, and I knew of from lO to 15 being thus
taken in one day.

During my residence in that region from
10,000 to 15,000 mink skins were caught in
this tundra district annually, and the supply
appeared to be inexhaustible. With the grow-
ing occupation of the continent and the increas-
ing demand for furs, however, the numbers of
the mink must surely decrease. To forestall
the shortage of furs that seems imminent, ef-
forts are now being made to establish fur farm-
ing to replace tlie declining supply of wild ftn"s
with those grown under domestication. The
nfink appears to be well adapted to successful
l)reeding in captivity. The main question to
solve is the relation of the cost of caring for
the animals to the value of its pelt in the
market.

THE MARTEN, OR AMERICAN SABLE
(Martes americana and its relatives)

{for ilhtstratioii, sec page 355)

Wild animals possess an endless variety of
mental traits whicli endow them in many in-
stances with marked individualities. Few are
more strongly characterized in this respect than
the marten. One of the most graceful and
lieautiful of our forest animals, it frequents the
more inaccessible parts of tlie wilderness and
retires shyly before the inroads of the settler's
ax. Its ricii l)ro\vn coat, so highly prized tliat

SMALLER MAAIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

577

the pursuit of it goes on winter after winter in
all the remote forests of the North, is a source
of clanger threatening the existence of the
species. The full-grown animal w-eighs five or
six pounds and measures nearly three feet in
lengtli.

The martens are circumpolar in distribution,
and the several species occupy northern lands
from England, Europe, and northern Asia to
North America. Of the Old World species, the
Siberian sable is best known on account of the
beauty of its fine, rich fur, which renders it
the most valued of all in the fur markets of
the world.

The North American marten is a close rela-
tive of the Siberian species, and occupies all
the wooded parts of North America from the
northern limit of trees southward in the for-
ested mountains to Pennsylvania, New Mexico,
and the southern part of the Sierra Nevada in
California.

Like other members of the weasel tribe, the
marten is a fierce and merciless creature of ra-
pine, but unlike the mink and weasel, it avoids
the abodes of man and loves the remotest
depths of the wilderness. ■

Martens are endowed with an exceedingly
nervous and excitable temperament, combined
with all the flashing quickness of weasels. They
are more restless than any other among the
larger species of their notably restless tribe,
and couple with this extraordinary and tire-
less vigor. This is admirably shown in cap-
tivity, when by the hour they dart back and
forth, up and down and around their cages
with almost incredible speed.

In the forest they climb trees and jump from
branch to branch with all the agility of a
squirrel — in fact, they pursue and capture red
squirrels in fair chase, and have been seen in
pursuit of the big California gray squirrel
(Sciurus grisens). On the ground they move
about quickly, hunting weasel-like, under brush
piles and other cover.

Practically every living thing within their
power falls victim to their rapacity. They eat
minks, weasels, squirrels, chipmunks, wood rats,
mice of many kinds, conies, snowshoe hares,
ruffed and spruce grouse, and smaller birds of
all kinds and their eggs, as well as frogs, fish,
beetles, crickets, beechnuts, and a variety of
small wild fruits. Unlike minks and weasels,
they are not known to kill wantonly more than
they need for food.

They make nests of grass, moss, and leaves
in hollow trees, under logs, among rocks, and
in holes in the ground. Sometimes they have
been found in possession of a red squirrel's
nest, probably after having slain and devoured
the owner.

The young, varying from one to eight in
number, are born in April or May. At first
they are naked and helpless, but when large
enough accompany the mother on her search
for food. This period of schooling lasts until
they are forced to take up their separate lives
with the approach of winter. Thenceforth they
are among the most solitary of animals, show-

ing fierce antagonism toward one another
whenever they meet, and associating only dur-
ing a brief period in the mating season m
February or March. Martens show a cold-
blooded ferocity toward one another that often
renders it dangerous to put two or more in
the same cage. When placed in a cage to-
gether the male very commonly kills the female
by biting her through the skull. At times they
utter a loud, shrill squall or shriek, and in
traps hiss, growl, and sometimes bark.

Among the dense forests of spruce and lodge-
pole pine high up in the mountains of Colorado,
martens are sometimes hunted on skis in mid-
winter, an exciting and often, on these rugged
slopes, a dangerous sport. They are not wary
about traps and are readily caught by dead-
falls and other rude contrivances as well as
by steel traps. In Colorado and Montana hun-
dreds of their skins are taken by trappers every
winter.

In Siberia the sable has been exterminated
by hunting in many districts, and before the
present w^ar began had become so scarce in
others that the Russian Government closed the
season for them for a period of years over
nearly all of their range. The same reduction
in the numbers of our marten has occurred in
most parts of Alaska and elsewhere in its range,
and its only hope against extermination lies in
stringent protection. Protective regulations are
already in force in Alaska.

During the early fur-trading days in north-
ern Canada the number of martens varied be-
tween comparative abundance and rarity. These
variations were said to occur about every ten
years. Some claimed the decrease was due to
a migration which the martens were believed
to make from one region to another, just as
was believed of the lynx. The lack of a corre-
sponding increase in surrounding districts,
where trading posts were located, effectually
disproved the migration theory. There is little
doubt that the increase of martens was due to
a reproductive response to a plentiful food
supply during years when mice or snowshoe
hares were abundant and their decrease was
due to a lessening of the numbers of these food
animals.

Efforts are being made to domesticate mar-
tens and raise them for their skins on fur
farms. The main difficulty so far encountered
lies in the fiendish manner in which the old
males kill the females and the younger males.
Although always nervous, they are not difficult
to tame, and will be most entertaining and at-
tractive animals to rear if their savage natures
can be sufficiently overcome.

THE LITTLE SPOTTED SKUNK
(Spiiogale putorius and its relatives)

(For iHustratiou, sec page 558)

The skunks form a distinct section of the
weasel family, limited to North and South
.America. The group is divided into three well-
marked sections. One of these, the little spot-

578

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

the: common woodcituck, or amf.rican
MARMOT (see pages 533-534)

Its track shows this animal's kinship with
the squirrels. The small series, to the left,
show the ordinary ambling pace. Wlien speed-
ing, it sets its feet mucli like the little, or east-
ern, chipmunk (see page 580).

ted skunks, is distinguished from all other
mammals by the curious and pleasing sym-
metry of the black and white markings of the
animals. Few more beautiful fur garments arc
made than those from the skins of these ani-
mals in their natural colors. These skunks are
smaller than any members of the other groups.

varying from a little larger than a large chip-
munk to the size of a fox squirrel.

Little spotted skvmks include several species
and geographic races. All are limited to North
America and are rather irregularly distributed
from the Atlantic coast to the Pacihc and from
Virginia, Minnesota, Wyoming, and southern
British Columbia southward to the Gulf coast,
to the end of Lower California, and through
Mexico and Central America to Costa Rica.
They inhabit a variety of climatic conditions,
from the rocky ledges high up on the slopes
of the western mountains to the hot desert
plains of the Southwest, and to partly forested
regions in both temperate and tropical lands.
In different parts of the United States they
have several other names, including "civet,"
"civet cat," and "hydrophobia skunk."

The spotted skunks make their homes in
whatever shelter is most convenient, whether
it be clefts in rocky ledges, slide rock, hollows
in logs or stumps, holes dug by themselves in
banks or under the shelter of cactuses or other
thorny vegetation, the deserted holes of bur-
rowing owls in Florida, or the old dens of
various kinds of mammals elsewhere. Thickets,
open woods, ocean beaches, and the vicinity of
deserted or even occupied buildings on ranches
are equally welcome haunts. On the plains of
Arizona they have been known to live inside
the mummified carcass of a cow, the sun-dried
hide of which made an impregnable cover. They
have a single litter of from two to six young
each year.

Their diet is fully as varied as that of others
of the weasel kind, but is made up mainly of
insects and other forms injurious to agricul-
ture, including grasshoppers, crickets, beetles,
and larvae of many kinds. They feed also on
flesh whenever possible and prey on wood rats,
rnice of many kinds, small ground squirrels,
small birds and their eggs, young chickens,
lizards, salamanders, and crawfish. This car-
nivorous diet is further varied with mushrooms,
peanuts, persimmons, cactus fruit, and other
small fruits. Sometimes the animals locate
about occupied habitations in primitive com-
munities, where they give good service by kill-
ing the house rats, mice, and cockroaches on
the premises. On one occasion a spotted skunk
was detected cunningly removing the downy
chicks from under a brooding hen without dis-
turliing her.

In comparison with the other skunks these
little animals are extremely agile. They are
strictly nocturnal and when pursued at night
by dogs will climb to safety in a tree like a
squirrel. When caught in a trap they struggle
and fight far more vigorously than their big
relatives. They usually carry the tail in a
somewhat elevated position, but when danger
threatens hold it upright like a warning signal.
If the enemy fails to take heed they shoot two
little spraylike jets of liquid bearing the usual
offensive skunk odor, and the victim retires
without honor.

In writing of these skunks about the Valley

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

579

of Mexico, in 1628, Dr. Hernandez tells us
that "the powerful arm which they use when
in peril is the insupportable gas they throw out
behind which condenses the surrounding at-
mosphere so that, as one grave missionary
says, it appears as though one could feel it."

That the little spotted skunk is subject to
rabies and has communicated it to many men
in the West is unquestionable. It usually bites
men who are sleeping on the ground in its
haunts, as they commonly do on the western
stock ranges.

I have personally known of several instances
in northern Arizona of men being bitten by
them. The head, face, and hands, being un-
covered, are the points attacked. One man in
the mountains south of Winslow, Arizona, was
bitten on the top of his head in April, 1910,
but paid no attention to the slight wound until
two months later when he began to have
spasms. He then hurried to town and died in
great agony the next day. The year following
a man in the same district was bitten in the
face, and seizing the animal threw it from him
in such a manner that it fell on his brother
and bit him before he awakened. Both men
were given the Pasteur treatment and had no
further trouble.

On New Year's night of 1906, while I was at
the village of Cape San Lucas, at the extreme
southern end of the Peninsula of Lower Cali-
fornia, a large-sized old male spotted skunk
entered the open door of a neighboring house
and bit through the upper lip of a little girl
sleeping on the floor. Her screams brought
her father to the rescue, and with a well-aimed
blow he killed the otYender. The next morning
the skunk was brought to me and added to my
collection. As I left a few days later I never
learned the result of this bite, but while there
was informed that a man had died the previous
year from a similar bite. The occasional in-
stances of this kind are remembered and ap-
pear more numerous than they are in fact. For
years many men have slept in the open where
these animals abound, without being molested.
It is interesting to find that when the voyager
Duhaut-Cilly visited the Cape in 1826, the na-
tives feared these skunks because they entered
housese at night, biting people and infecting
them with hydrophobia.

The little spotted skunks have extremely ani-
mated, playful natures, as I have had several
occasions to observe. Two instances serve to
illustrate this. Once at the mouth of a canyon
at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley,
California, I camped several days at a deserted
ranch. At night I spread my blankets on the
bare floor of the house, from which the doors
were gone. Under it led several burrows of
some animal which I at first supposed to be a
ground squirrel. Each night while there I was
awakened by the sound of little footfalls pad-
ding rapidly about over the floor on which I
was sleeping, and in the dim light from the
moon could see two or three little spotted skunks
pursuing one another around me like playful

kittens. At the slightest movement on my part
they dashed out the door and into their dens
under the house. As there was no food of any
kind in this room, it was evident that the little
fellows were there for a frolic on the smooth
board floor.

On another occasion in the mountains of
San Luis Potosi, on the Mexican table-land, I
found a spring to which bears were coming
for water at night. As the bears here appeared
to be strictly nocturnal. I ensconced myself in
the evening with a dark lantern, amid some
small bushes, against a large pine dog which
sloped downward to the bottom of the gulch
near the spring, with the plan to welcome any
bears which might come in. An hour or more
after dark the clinking rattle of small stones
on the far side of the gulch indicated the pres-
ence of some animal. The light from the
lantern was flashed on the spot and the rifle
lowered with exasperation as, running back and
forth, turning over stones in search of insects,
a spotted skunk was revealed. The movements
of this unwelcome visitor were extremely light
and graceful, and in my interest in watching
them, for a time I forgot the bear. Two or
three hours passed and the skunk tired of the
hillside and came down to the spring, where
he found the offal from a deer which I had
placed there for bait. This gave him more to
do, and after I had listened to him worry the
meat for awhile, I turned on the light and was
entertained by the sight thus revealed. The
skunk appeared to have a persistent desire to
drag away the offal many times his weight. Me
would seize the edge of one of the lungs and
after a hard struggle would get it up on one
edge, when the burden would turn over with
a flap, whirling the skunk flat on his back each
time. Immediately scrambling to his feet, he
would give the meat a fierce shake of resent-
ment and repeat the performance.

After a long time the moon arose and the
skunk could be plainly seen running back and
forth playfully, now biting at the meat and now
turning over stones apparently in sheer exuber-
ance of spirit. Then he suddenly mounted the
lower end of the log and came galloping up it
until he was close to my shoulder. There he
stopped and, coming as near as possible, ex-
tended his nose within a few inches of my
face, and for minute or more stood trying to
satisfy himself about this strange object. Satis-
fied at last, he turned and galloped back down
the log and resumed his antics in the gulch,
finally working close to the bank three or four
yards below me. There he found many small
stones and had a fine time rattling them about
until I decided that with this disturbing pres-
ence I should have little chance for other game.
Finding a convenient stone, and locating the
skunk as well as possible from the sounds, I
tossed it over to try and frighten him away.
My aim was too true, for the characteristic
skunk retort filled the air v/ith suffocating
fumes and I immediately lost interest in further
bear hunting.

580

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

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mur\K

TIFF, TRAIL OF TlIIv TvASTlCRN CHIPMUNK

The track is much like that of the fox squir-
rel, but usually the fore feet are a little, or
quite, one behind the other and, of course,
mucli smaller. No tail mark is ever seen (see
pages 542 and 549).

THE COMMON SKUNK (Mephitis

mephitis and its relatives)
(for illustration, see page 33S)
Probably no American mammal is more Rcn-
erally known and less popular than the skunk.

This current odium is due wholly to its posses-
sion of a scent sac of malodorous fluid, which
it distributes with prompt accuracy when an-
noyed. The possession of this method of de-
fense is common to all skunks. The term "pole-
cat," sometimes given to all kinds of skunks, is
the misuse of a name given Old World martens
of several species and to the Cape pole-cat, a
South African animal which in form and mark-
ings, including the plumelike tail, is remark-
ably like some of our smaller skunks.

In the preceding article an account was given
of the spotted skvuiks, smallest of the three
groups into which these animals are divided.
The common skunk and its relatives form an-
other group, which contains some of the larger
species of their kind, some of them weighing
up to ten pounds or more. These are the typi-
cal skunks, so familiar in most parts of the
United States, and distinguished by the dis-
proportionately large size of the posterior half
of the body and the long, plumelike tail.

The common skunk, witli its closely related
species, is generally distributed in all varieties
of country, except in deep forests and on water-
less desert plains. It ranges from the Atlantic
coast to the Pacific and from Hudson Bay and
Great Slave Lake southward to the highlands
of Guatemala. The vertical range extends from
sea-level up to above timberline in Mexico,
where I found one living in a burrow it had
dug under a rock at 13,800 feet altitude on the
Cofre de Perotc, Vera Cruz.

Skunks are most common in areas of mixed
woodland and fields, in valley bottoms, and
along the brushy borders of creeks and rocky
canyons. One of their marked characteristics
is a fondness for the vicinity of man. They
frequently visit his premises, taking up quarters
beneath outbuildings or even under the house
itself.

Any convenient shelter appears to satisfy
them for a home, and they will occupy the de-
serted burrows of other animals, small cavities
among the rocks, a hollow log, or a hole dug
by themselves. A warm nest of grass and
leaves is made at the end of the den, where the
single litter of young, containing from four to
ten, is born in April or May. As soon as the
young are old enough they follow the mother,
keeping close behind her, often in a long single
file along a trail. They are mainly nocturnal,
but in summer the mother frequently starts out
on an excursion with her young an hour or
two before sunset and they may remain abroad
all night.

The young family remains united through the
following winter, which accounts for finding at
times from eight to a dozen in a den. In all
the northern parts of their range they hibernate
during the two to four months of severest cold
weather, coming out sometimes during mild
periods. When the season of hibernation ends
the family scatters and mating begins. One
solitary skunk was found in Canada hibernating
in the same burrow, but in a separate chamber,
with a woodchuck, evidently an unbidden guest.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

581

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THE TRACKS OF A RUSTY iPOX SQUIRRElv AND FOX SQUIRRKE

The exaggerated pads of the squirrel foot are a strong feature of this track. It is typ-
ical in the pairing of the fore feet, much more so than that of the gray squirrel. There is
never a tail mark in this track (see pages 547 and 561).

As in the case of tlieir relatives, the common
skunks are omnivorous, but feed mainly upon
insects and rodents injurious to agriculture.
They are known to eat great quantities of
grasshoppers, besides crickets, cicadas, May
beetles, wasps, and larvse of many kinds. One
killed in New Mexico had its stomach crammed
with honey bees. Wherever possible they prey
upon small rodents, as mice, wood rats, and
small spermophiles. To these may be added
ground-nesting birds and their eggs, lizards,
turtle eggs, snakes, frogs, salamanders, fish,
crustaceans, and numerous small fruits. Now
and then they visit the farmers' chicken yards
with such disastrous consequences that in many
country districts the animals are killed at sight.

It is pleasing to record that a more intelligent
view of their real value to farmers, through

their destruction of farm pests, is rapidly gain-
ing ground, and they are now being protected
in many States. One of their worst traits is
their destructivencss to breeding game birds,
both upland species, and especially the water-
fowl.

Skunks walk on the soles of their feet in-
stead of on their toes, as do so many mammals.
The common skunks are wholly terrestrial and
move with the deliberation of one without fear
of personal violence or of having his dignity
assailed. Long experience has taught them that
the right of way is theirs. As they amble
slowly along, the tail is carried slightly elevated,
and when the owner is suspicious of attack, it
is raised and the hairs hang drooping like a
great plume, conspicuous and unmistakable. If
the disturber still refuses to take the hint, a

582

THE NATIONAI^ GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

X inck.

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5itti

A FULL SIZE RENDERING OF A FOX SQUIRREL TRACK

Illustrations of the arrangement of this track when the animal is foraging and traveling

shown on page 581

rear view is promptly presented and a dis-
charge made that puts most enemies to flight.
Some have thought that the odorous liquid is
scattered by the long hairs of the tail, but in
fact it is ejected in fine jets from two little
tubes connected with the scent sacs on each
side of the vent.

When mildly annoyed the big skunks stamp
their front feet on the ground and utter little
growls of displeasure. By some effort they can
be urged into a retreat which may take the
form of a clumsy gallop. They are known oc-
casionally to swim streams voluntarily, and even
to cross rivers, probably urged by the instinct
that so often forces animals of all kinds to
move to new feeding grounds.

Although usually safe from annoyance
through the protective armament, many skunks,
especially the young, each year fall victim to
natural enemies, including wolves, coyotes,
foxes, badgers, and great horned owls.

The flesh of the skunk is a favorite food
among certain tribes of Canadian Indians, and
many white men have pronounced it exceed-
ingly palatable, even claiming its superiority
over the flesh of domestic fowls. In the narra-
tive of his expedition through the Canadian
wilderness many years ago, the naturalist
Drummond recorded that when the party was
about a day's journey from Carlcton House it
had the good fortune to kill a skunk, "which
afforded us a comfortable meal." In the Valley
of Mexico I found the natives prize the flesh
of these animals as a cure for a certain loath-
some disease.

It is well known that large skunks are often
extremely fat. The oil produced from them is
clear and is said to have unusually penetrating
qualities. For many years there was a demand
for this oil for various medicinal purposes.

During recent years the fur of skunks has
come into great demand, and good prices are
paid for prime skins. The animals are so
numerous and the catch is so large that they
now rank among the most valuable of our fur-
bearers. They are gentle animals which readily
become domesticated and breed freely in con-
finement, and many efforts are being made to
establish skunk farms. Success in such farm-
ing depends wholly on the outlay for upkeep.
Skunk farming will probably pay better as a
side line, like chickens on the ordinary farm,
than to establish regular fur farms. The scent
sac may be removed by a slight surgical opera-
tion, so there need be no trouble from that
source. Common skunks when taken young
make affectionate and entertaining pets. They
l^ecome as tame and playful as kittens, and are
vastly more intelligent and interesting.

THE HOG-NOSED SKUNK (Conepatus
mesoleucus and its relatives)

(For ilhistration, see page 359)

The third and last group of skvmks contains
a number of species showing well-marked dif-
ferences from the two groups already described.
The species vary in size, but among them is
included the largest of all skunks. All are
characterized by comparatively short hair, es-

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

583

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WOLVERINE

Its weasel kinship is seen in the wolverine track. Occasionally, not always, its fifth toe
shows. The track is not plantigrade, and a single track is easily mistaken for that of a wolf.

pecially on the tail, and this appendage lacks
the plumelike appearance observed in other
skunks. The nose is prolonged into a distinct
"snout," naked on the top and sides and evi-
dently used for rooting in the earth after the
manner of a pig. In addition, the front feet
are armed with long, heavy claws, and the front
legs and shoulders are provided with a strong
muscular development for digging, as in a bad-
ger. This likeness has led to the use in some
places of the appropriate name "badger skunk"
for these animals. The single white stripe along
the back, and including the tail, is a common
pattern with these skunks, but this marking is
considerably varied, as in the common species.
The hog-nosed skunks are the only repre-
sentatives of the skunk tribe in South America,
where various species occupy a large part of
the continent. They appear to form a South
American group of mammals which has ex-
tended its range northward through Central

America. Mexico, and across the border of the
United States to central Texas, New Mexico,
and Arizona. In Mexico they range from sea-
level to above lo.ooo feet altitude on the moun-
tains of the interior.

The hair on these skunks is coarse and harsh,
lacking the qualities which render the coats of
their northern relatives so valuable. Where
their range coincides with that of the common
skunks, the local distribution of the two is
practically the same. They live along the bot-
tom-lands of watercourses, where vegetation is
abundant and the supply of food most plentiful,
or in canyons and on rocky mountain slopes.

For shelter they dig their own burrows, usually
in a bank, or under a rock, or the roots of a
tree, but do not hesitate to take possession of
the deserted burrows of other animals, or of
natural cavities among the_ rocks. Owing to
their strictly nocturnal habits, they are much
less frequently seen than the common skunks.

584

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

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the; 'j'rack of thk wivasdi.

The unusual space between the fore and
hind feet in the middle of the left scries is
often seen. Sometimes the tail mark is there
and sometimes not. Sometimes the trail is
like that of a small mink. The toes seldom
show (see pages 554 and 572).

even in localities where they are numerous. In
fact it is only within the last few years that
their presence in many parts of the southwest-
ern border has become known.

Although both the little spotted and common
skunks live mainly on insects, the hog-nosed
skunks are even more insectivorous in their
feeding habits. The bare snout appears to be
used constantly for the purpose of rooting out
beetles, grubs, and larvce of various kinds from
the ground.

On the highlands of Mexico I have many
times camped in localities where patches of
ground were rooted up nightly by these skunks
to a depth of two or three inches as thoroughly
as might have been done by small pigs. In
such places I repeatedly failed to capture them
by traps baited with meat, the insects and grubs
they were finding apparently being more at-
tractive food. I have had similar failures in
trapping for coyotes with meat bait in localities
where they were feeding fat on swarms of
large beetles and crickets. The persistence with
which the hog-nosed skunks hunt insects ren-
ders them a valuable aid to farmers.

In addition to grasshoppers, crickets, beetles,
flies, grubs, and other larvae, and many other
insects, they are known to eat wood rats, mice,
and the small fruit of cactuses and other plants.
The stomach of one of these skunks examined
in Texas contained about 400 beetles.

One Texas naturalist writes that he has lost
a number of young kids which had their noses
bitten off, and in one instance caught one of
these skunks mutilating a kid in this manner.
He also states that they pull down and eat corn
when it is in the "roasting-car" stage.

Far less is known concerning the habits of
hog-nosed skunks than of the other species of
these animals. The number of young appears
to be small, judging from the record of a single
embr}-© found in one animal and in another
instance of two young found in a nest located
in a hollow stump. They have a curiously
stupid, sluggish manner and have even less
vivacity than the somewhat sedate common
skunk. No use is made of their skins in this
country or in Mexico, but the gigantic natives
of Patagonia make robes of them which are
worn like great cloaks.

THE NINE-BANDED ARMADILLO
(Dasypus novemcincta and its relatives)

{Por illustration, sec page ^^q)

Armadillos arc distinguished from other
mammals by having tiie nearly, or quite, hair-
less skin developed into a bony armor cover-
ing the upperparts of the head and body and
all of the tail. They lack teeth in the front of
both upper and lower jaws, and are members
of the group of toothless animals which in-
cludes the ant-eaters. The insects they feed on
are licked up by the sticky surface of their
extensile tongues.

In the remote past many species of arma-
dillos, some of gigantic size, roamed the plains
of South America, and a number of small

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

585

species still exist there. These animals are
peculiar to America and have their center of
abundance in the southern continent.

The nine-banded species ranges over an
enormous territory and is subdivided into a
number of geographic races, living from south-
ern Texas through Mexico and Central Amer-
ica to Argentina. In Mexico its vertical dis-
tribution extends from sea-level up to an alti-
tude of about 10,000 feet on the mountains of
the interior. Like the hog-nosed skunk, it no
doubt originated as a member of the South
American fauna and has spread northward to
its present limits. It is one of the larger of
the living representatives of this curious group
of animals and reaches a weight of from twelve
to fifteen pounds.

As might be surmised from its appearance,
the armadillo is a stupid animal, living a mo-
notonous life of restricted activities. Its sight
and hearing are poor, and the armored skin
gives it a stii¥-legged gait and immobile body.
From these characteristics, combined with the
small head hung low on a short neck, it has in
life an odd resemblance in both form and
motion to a small pig; it jogs along in its trails
or from one feeding place to another with the
same little stiff trotting gait and self-centered
air. If alarmed it will break into a clumsy
gallop, but moves so slowly that it may be
overtaken by a man on foot. So poor is its
eyesight that a person may approach openly
within about thirty yards before being noticed.

When alarmed the armadillo immediately runs
to the shelter of its burrow, but may easily be
caught in one's hands, especially if intercepted
on the way to its den. When caught it will
struggle to escape, and while it may coil up
in a ball in the presence of a dog or other
mammal foe, I never saw one try to protect
itself in this way. While presumably serving
for protective purposes, the armor is flexible
on the sides of the body, and I have found the
remains of many armadillos where they had
been killed and eaten by coyotes or other preda-
tory beasts. The armor would no doubt be suf-
ficient protection to enable them to escape to
cover from the attack of birds of prey. They
are mainly nocturnal animals, but are fre-
quently seen abroad by day and in some places
appear to be out equally by day or night.

This armadillo lives by preference amid the
cover afforded by forests, brushy jungle, tall
grass, or other vegetation. In the midst of
such shelter it usually digs its own burrow a
few yards deep in a bank or hill slope, beneath
a stump, under the roots of a tree, or a rock,
or even on level ground. It will also occupy
small caves in limestone rock. At times it
shows a piglike fondness for a mud bath, and
the prints of its armor may be found where it
has wallowed in miry spots.

Well-beaten and conspicuous trails lead from
the burrows often for half a mile or more, fre-
quently branching through the thickets in vari-
ous directions. Armadillo burrows sometimes
accommodate strange neighbors, as was shown
by one in Texas which was dug out, and in

addition to containing the owner in his den at
the end, was found to be occupied by a four-
foot rattlesnake and a half-grown cottontail
rabbit, each in a side chamber of its own.

The food of the armadillo consists almost
entirely of many species of insects, among
which ants appear to predominate. When
searching for food the animals become so in-
tent that they may be cautiously approached
and closely observed or captured by hand. They
root about among fallen leaves and other loose
vegetation and soft earth, now and then digging
up some hidden grub or beetle. At night they
visit newly plowed fields in their haunts, root-
ing in the mellow earth. They are accused of
digging up plants in gardens during their noc-
turnal wanderings, and in Texas have been
charged with robbing hens' nests of eggs, and
of reducing the supply of wild turkeys and
quail by breaking up the nests, all of which
needs confirmation. Their method of feeding
appears to vary considerably, as they have been
seen rising on their hind legs to secure small
caterpillars infesting large weeds.

The insect food eaten by the nine-banded
armadillo in Texas, as known from examina-
tion of stomach contents, covers a wide range
of insect and other small life, including many
species of grasshoppers, crickets, roaches, cater-
pillars, beetles, ants, spiders, centipedes, and
earthworms. As the list includes also wire-
worms and other noxious species, these inoffen-
sive animals deserve thorough protection as a
most useful aid to the farmer.

Some time from February to April each year,
litters of from four to eight young are born.
They have their eyes open at birth, and the
armor is soft and flexible like fine leather. The
hardening of the skin into a bony armor is
progressive, continuing until after the animal
fully completes its growth. As soon as the
young are able to travel they trot along with
the old one during her foraging trips.

Early one afternoon, when riding along a
trail in the heavy forest of southern Oaxaca,
accompanied by an Indian boy and a pack of
dogs, I suddenly came upon an old armadillo
and eight young about two-thirds grown.
They had heard our approach and stood mo-
tionless in a compact little group half hidden
in the grass. I had barely time to stop my
horse when the dogs spied them and made a
rush. The armadillos darted into the under-
growth in every direction like a litter of pigs,
and with the exception of two caught by the
dogs gained safe refuge in their burrow. This
we found dug in the level ground about fifty
yards from where we encountered them.

The Maya Indians of the Peninsula of Yuca-
tan have a legend that the black-headed vul-
ture (Catharista at rata) in old age changes
into an armadillo. The tale runs, that when
a vulture becomes very, very old it notifies its
companions that the time has come and alights
before a hole in the ground that resembles the
den of an armadillo. The other vultures bring
food and the old one remains there for a long-
time. Its wings disappear, the feathers are

586

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

^f-

-<l o

■if.

l^ink

AMERICAN MINK TRACKS, SHOWING VARIOUS ARRANGE-
MENTS AND TAIL MARKS

The typical track of a mink is as in tlic Iwttom set at the
left, which also illustrates the tail mark. Twelve to twenty-
four inches are usually cleared at each bound. This illustra-
tion is greatly reduced from natural size (see opposite page
and pages 555 and 575).

lost, and when the change is complete the newly
created armadillo enters the hole and begins
its new life. If skepticism is expressed as to
this metamorphosis, the Indians point out as
proof of the legend the similarity between the
appearance of the bald pate of the vulture and
that of the armadillo.

THE RING-TAILED CAT (Bassariscus

astutus and its relatives)

(For illustration, see page 563)

The mild climate and the proximity of the
Southwestern States to Mexico and the tropics
brings within our borders numerous strange

types of wild life. Of these the
ring-tailed cat is one of the
most strikingly marked and in-
teresting. In the United States
it is known by several other
names, including "civet cat,"
"coon cat," and "band-tailed
cat." In Mexico it still bears
the old Aztec name cacomixtle,
except in Lower California,
where it is the "babisuri." It
is about the size of a large cat
but with proportionately longer
and slenderer body, shorter
legs, and longer tail. The al-
ternating bands of black and
white on the tail proclaim its
relationship, not to the cat, to
which it has no kinship, but
to the raccoon, which has a tail
similarly marked. Few mam-
mals possess such a beautifully
formed head and face, and its
large, mild eyes give it a vivid
expression of intelligence.

The ring-tailed cat occupies
areas under such differing cli-
mates as to produce geographic
races, but none of them vary
strikingly from the typical ani-
mal here illustrated. They
range from Oregon, Nevada,
southern Utah, Colorado, and
Texas south to Costa Rica. In
Mexico they occur from near
sealcvel up to an altitude of
about 10,000 feet. While chiefly
rock-inhabiting species, they
sometimes live in the forests
and as a rule make their dens
in caves and deep crevices, but
sometimes in hollow trees or
about houses. Their young,
from three to four in number,
are born in May or June.

In the Southwest they fre-
quent some of the ruined cliff
dwellings, and I have found
them haunting many of the
ancient ruins of Mexico. Their
presence in little caves and other
sheltered spots along cliffs and
rock walls bordering canyons
or on mountain slopes may usually be known
by an examination of the fine dust which accu-
mulates in sheltered places. Whenever present
their delicate cat-like tracks will be found
where they have been hunting mice or otiier
small game.

Strictly nocturnal, they do not_ sally forth
from their dens until darkness is complete.
During the night they are restless and fre- •
fluently wander far and wide in search of food,
and apparently at times merely to satisfy a
spirit of inquiry. Their inquisitive nature fre-
rpiently leads them to explore the streets of
towns and cities on the Mexican table-land,
filled though these places are with dogs. At day-

^.7. S.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

587

{

C/)

break, tracks left in the
dusty streets tell the story
of their wanderings, as
they often do also in the
case of opossums.

One morning in Febru-
ary, 1893, soon after sun-
rise, I chanced to pass
through a little wooded
square in the City of
Mexico and saw a lot of
boys pursue and capture
one of these animals
which, having overstayed
his time, had been sur-
prised by daybreak. This
wanderer might have had
its den in some house in
the neighborhood, since
one of its known habits
is to take up its abode
about houses, even in the
midst of towns. A friend
living in the City of
Mexico informed me that
after having been an-
noyed for some time by
noises on the roof at
night, he investigated and
discovered a female caco-
mixtle with partly grown
young snugly located in
a nest placed in a narrow-
space between the tile
roof and the ceiling. In
southern Texas the ani-
mals live on the brush-
grown plains under con-
ditions very different
from those usually
chosen.

Like its relative the
raccoon, the cacomixtle,
with a taste for a varied
fare, takes whatever edi-
bles come its way. It
stalks wood rats, mice,
and even bats amid their
rocky haunts and birds
in bushes and low trees.
About the southern end of the Mexican table-
land it is much disliked for its robberies of
chicken roosts, especially when these are lo-
cated in trees. Insects of many kinds, larvse,
and centipedes are eaten, as well as a great
variety of fruits, including that of the pear-
leaved cactus, and dates, figs, and green corn.
Ring-tailed cats regularly locate among rocky
ledges, neighboring orchards, or other culti-
vated areas where they may gather some of
- the bounty provided by man. I found them
more plentiful among the broken lava cliffs
bordering date palm orchards in Lower Cali-
fornia than in any other place. When the
dates were ripening they prowled about under
the palms after dark with gray foxes and
spotted skunks to pick up the _ fallen fruit.
They sometimes uttered a complaining cry and

\^iuk

6.7. S.

AMERICAN MINK TRACK NEARLY NATURAL SIZE

Although this animal has five toes on each foot, only four appear
in each track. This illustration, which is practically natural size,
shows the usual arrangement of the track. The hind feet are, of
course, in advance. Variations of arrangement are shown on the
opposite page (see also pages 555 and 575).

when caught in a trap would bark almost like
a little dog, or occasionally utter a vicious
scream of mixed fear and rage.

Being an intelligent animal, the cacomixtle is
readily tamed and makes a most interesting pet.
During the early years of gold mining in
California, when many men were living in rude
cabins in the mountains, the prevalence of mice
often attracted these "cats" to take up their resi-
dence there. Often the owner of the premises
and the mouser struck up a friendly relation-
ship and the cacomixtle, becoming as free and
friendly about the place as a real cat, kept it
entirely clear from mice. I have had first-hand
accounts of these tame individuals from miners
who had harbored them in this way for months.
These accounts always gave the impression that
the animal was somewhat playful and mis-

588

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

2. ivchts

OSSUITL

i^#\

-1*» ^•'.

'>?

NVi

\{^lK\^^6 ^-^5-

TRACK OF THE OPOSSUM

The liand-like paws are unmistakable. The tail mark appears. The absence of claw on the
thumb of the hind foot is usually seen.

chievous and most attractive to have about the
premises. All agreed that it was extremely
fond of sugar.

THE OREGON MOLE (Scapanus town-
sendi and its relatives)

(For illiistratioii, see page 36^)

The effect on mammals of a narrowly special-
ized mode of life is well illustrated in the
mole. It is an expertly constructed living mech-
anism for tunneling through the earth. The
pointed nose, short neck, compactly and power-
fully built cylindrical body, with ribs strongly
braced to withstand pressure, and the short,
paddlelike hands armed with strong claws for
digging are all fitted for a single purpose. Eyes
and ears are of little service in an luidcrground
life, so they have become practically obsolete;
the fur has been modified to a compact velvety
coat which will lie either front or back with
equal facility and thus relieve any friction from
the walls of the tunneled roads, no matter
which way the animal travels.

Moles are circumpolar in distribution, being
found from England to Japan in the Old

World and on both the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts of the New World, where they occur
only in North America. On this continent they
are limited mainly to the United States and
southern Canada, extending across the Mexi-
can border only in two limited areas at the
extreme east and west. Their distribution is
not continuous across the continent, but is
broken by a broad unoccupied belt formed by
the arid interior, including the Great Basin.
The home of the Oregon mole lies in the humid
area west of the Cascade Mountains in Wash-
ington, Oregon, and extreme northwestern
California. Closely related forms range from
eastern Oregon southward through California
to the San Pedro Martir Mountains in Lower
California, and others north into ]>ritish Co-
lumbia.

The Oregon mole is the largest and hand-
somest member of the group in America and
perhaps in the world. Its skin, a velvety coat
of nearly black fur, often with a purplish sheen,
now brings a higher price in the market than
that of any other species. Its size and the
beauty of its dark coat distinguish it from any
other mole.

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

589

Where the soil is loose the mole practically
swims through it, urged forward by powerful
impulses of its "hands" and feet. This is the
common mode of travel near the top of the
ground, where the course is marked by the
lightly upheaved and broken surface. When
working at a greater depth and in more com-
pact soil the mole must dig its way and dis-
pose of the loose earth by pushing it along the
tunnel to an outlet at the surface through which
it is thrust to 'form a mound similar to the
"dumps" of that other great miner, the pocket
gopher.

On account of this similarity in mode of life,
moles and pocket gophers are sometimes con-
fused by persons not familiar with the two
animals. The resemblance ends in this ap-
parent likeness, for the pocket gophers belong
to the great order Rodentia, or gnawing ani-
mals, while the moles are of the Insectivora,
or insect-eaters.

The superbly forested region inhabited by
Oregon moles is so well watered that few
places, even on high mountain slopes, are too
dry for them to occupy. These animals are
generally distributed, and their hills may be
seen in the midst of the great coniferous forests
as well as in the open valleys.

They are most abundant in open grassy areas,
especially in meadows and in the bottoms of
canyons and similar places, where the damp
rich soil affords a plentiful supply of earth-
worms, grubs, and insects on which to feed.
Like other moles, they lead lives of great activity
and almost constant hard labor. During damp
weather they work near the surface, but in
dry periods as the upper soil hardens they
follow their prey to lower levels. A hard
shower, however, always brings an outburst of
activit}' as they reoccupy the upper soil and
throw up a multitude of new mounds. They
have the habit of regularly coming to the sur-
face to hunt food during the night. This is
no doubt coincident with the swarming up to
the surface of earthworms on which the moles
feed. At such times many are captured by
owls, cats, and other beasts of prey.

The runways of moles close along the sur-
face, shown by well-marked ridges, are for
hunting purposes, and the lower tunnels, from
which the earth in the mounds is brought, are
for traveling and lead to the nest chamber.
The deep tunnels of the Oregon mole sometimes
extend considerable distances along fences, or
other surface cover, which afford more or less
protection. Such tunnels are a kind of high-
way often used by several moles and also by
shrews and field mice. The system of tunnels
of the moles over a considerable area often in-
tersect and are used more or less in common.
As a result more than twenty moles have been
trapped at a single point in one of these under-
ground roads.

They make an intricate system of many-
branched tunnels, the courses of which are
usually marked by series of mounds varying
from four to ten inches high and five to twenty
inches wide and often scattered over meadows
or other fields from two to six feet apart.

Owing to the persistence with which the moles
raise their mounds everywhere in the occupied
parts of their territory, they have become a
serious and costly pest. In meadows the knives
of mowing machines are dulled by them, and
in towns lawns are disfigured by their unde^
sirable activities. As a consequence they have
now fallen under the ban and are classed with
other mammals which have shown their lack
of ability to fit in satisfactorily with the changed
conditions brought to their ancient territory by
civilized man. Under natural conditions their
activities were vmdoubtedly entirely beneficial.

They appear to have but a single litter of
young, numbering from one to four, each year.
These are born in March and grow so rapidly
that by the last of May they are working in
the tunnels and are scarcely distinguishable
from the adults.

The recent discovery that the Oregon mole-
skin is valuable for its fur will give such an
incentive to trapping that there is little doubt
the boys of the State within a few years will
reduce the numbers of the animal and thus
control its injury to agriculture. The market
for the skins appears practically unlimited,
judging by trade reports, one dealer in Brook-
lyn stating that he dressed 4,000,000 imported
European moleskins in igi6.

THE STAR-NOSED MOLE (Condylura
cristata)

{For iUiistratiou, see page 563)

The star-nosed mole, known in parts of
Maine as the "gopher," is peculiar among the
moles in having a fringe around the end of its
nose formed by twenty-two short fleshy ten-
tacles. A less-marked character is in the pro-
portionately long tail, which becomes greatly
enlarged in fall and remains in this condition
during the winter months. Otherwise the ex-
ternal appearance of this species is much like
that of the common moles of America and the
Old World.

The star-nosed mole is found from southern
Labrador, the southern end of Hudson Bay,
and southeastern Manitoba south along the
Atlantic coast to Georgia and in the interior
down the Alleghenies to North Carolina and
to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Min-
nesota. Throughout this area it ranges irreg-
ularly and much yet remains to be learned
about the details of its distribution and habits.

Ordinarily solitary, these moles at times are
so numerous in limited areas that they appear
to form colonies. Such gatlierings probably
mean an unusually rich feeding ground, which
makes it unnecessary for the young to disperse
to outlying locations, as is the habit of molea
and most other mammals.

The star-nosed mole has a strong preference
for damp and even marshy or swampy loca-
tions. It frequents low-lying meadows, the
borders of streams, and grassy swamps, where
its underground burrows alternate with open
surface runways among grass roots and other
matted vegetation. It spends far more time

40"

< f'. i

4 4

ct5

C0O7\
f 7 S'

A RACCOON S TRACK

The track of the raccoon is very distinctive and usually easy to find, because it frequents
the mud by the water side. Sometimes, to a casual glance, the track of a small coon is taken
for that of a large muskrat, but their differences are very oljvinus.

590

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

591

above ground than the other moles, and not
infrequently swims among flooded cat-tails and
other vegetation and in winter has been seen
swimming under the ice.

Like others of its kind, this mole is amaz-
ingly powerful in proportion to its size. It per-
sistently adds to its surface ridges, and in con-
stantly extending its deeper tunnels must dig
loose earth and dispose of it by forcing it up
through an outlet to form the mounds which
mark the course of its travels. Where the soil
is loose it readily forces it aside with its com-
pact body and paddle-shaped hands. In push-
ing up the little piles of earth and in the ridges
raised when burrowing close to the surface it
sometimes injures meadows and other culti-
vated land. Occasionally it wanders away from
the fields and invades lawns and gardens, where
the only injury it docs is in the disturbance of
the soil.

Its nests are compact little balls of fine grass,
weeds, or leaves in dry underground chambers
excavated in its burrows. The nests are a foot
or two underground, but above the level of the
water, sometimes under a stump and again in
a knoll or bank. One nest containing five young
was found in Maryland in an old woodshed
under several inches of chips. This location
and its choice of a site for its nest under a
stuilip in a field or in a dry knoll are clear in-
dications of a kind of intelligence which even
the lowliest animals appear to have in caring
for their young.

The star-nosed mole is full of the restless
energy so necessary in a mammal which must
come across its food by more or less haphazard
tunneling through the soil. It is active both
summer and winter. In dry weather as the
moisture near the surface decreases the soil
hardens and earthworms and other subter-
ranean life seek deeper levels. The mole fol-
lows them, only to return with them nearer the
surface with a renewal of the moisture. In
winter it sometimes comes out and travels
slowly about on top of the snow, ready to bur-
row out of sight at once, however, at the sound
of approaching footsteps.

The food of the star-nose, like that of most
other moles, is made up mainly of earthworms,
white grubs, cutworms, wireworms, and other
underground insects. In captivity, before eat-
ing a worm or other flesh food offered, it first
feels of it with the little raylike organs of
touch on its nose. It is difficult to surmise the
real value of these "feelers," for it would seem
that the acute sense of smell so common to
mammals should do better service.

Aside from its disturbance of the surface soil
by its ridges and mounds, the star-nosed mole
does no direct injury, and its life is largely
passed in the useful task of searching out and
destroying insects. Indirectly it causes some
injury to root crops, plants of various kinds,
and fruit trees, by providing tunnels along
which meadow and pine mice travel to commit
the ravages which on circumstantial evidence
are charged to the mole.

THE COMMON SHREW (Sorex per-
sonatus and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 5(5(5)

Many interesting small mammals are noc-
turnal or lead such obscure and hidden lives
that they are rarely observed except by natural-
ists. Of these are the numerous species of
shrews, which include the smallest mammals in
the world. These tiny beasts all live among the
vegetation and debris on the surface of the
ground or in little burrows below. With the
moles they are members of the order Insec-
tivora and depend mainly on insects and meat
for food. Despite their minute size, they are
possessed of an indomitable courage and ferocity,
which leads them without hesitation to attack
and kill mice many times their own weight.

The genus Sorex, of which the common shrew
is a member, is circumpolar in distribution, the
various species ranging through England, the
European mainland, Asia, and North America
as far south as Guatemala.

The common shrew is a purely North Amer-
ican animal, occupying all the northern part of
the continent from the Arctic shores of Alaska
and Canada south to northern Nevada, South
Dakota, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, and along
the Allegheny and high Rocky Mountains to
North Carolina and New Mexico. Its vertical
range extends from the seacoast up to timber-
line in the Rocky Mountains.

The common shrew is the smallest of the
mammals in all the northern parts of this con-
tinent, and one marvels at the possibility of
such a tiny morsel of flesh and blood with-
standing the rigors of the arctic winters. It
measures about four inches in total length and
weighs about forty-five grains ; the body and
tail are slender, the nose long and sharp, and
the rim of the ears shows a little above the
dense velvety fur. By these characters it may
be distinguished from the larger, more heavily
proportioned (and darker-colored) short-tailed
shrews which abound with it in certain parts
of its range. Its smaller size and grayish
brown color are the main superficial differences
between it and other American members of the
same genus. The climatic differences in its
wide range have developed several geographic
races, none of which, however, show strongly
marked characters.

This shrew appears to have a most catholic
taste, so far as its surroundings are concerned,
for it appears to frequent every type of situa-
tion where shelter and food can be found. It
abounds among the peat beds and sphagnum
mosses of the desolate barrens bordering on
the Arctic coast, as well as amid the rotten
stumps, old logs, fallen leaves, and other vege-
table debris on the floor of the forests farther
south. It will be found also in the rank matted
vegetation about marshes, in old fields and oc-
casional sphagnum swamps in the southern
parts of its range.

The little tunneled runways of these shrews
form a network in the beds of moss in a sphag-

592

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AlAGAZINE

r- ^fX)^^: ^

\^\

r, SkuTxK

THE TRAIL OF Tlir; COMMON SKUNK

The hind foot of the skunk rarely shows the claws
in the track. The diagonal set during the gallop is char-
acteristic (see pages 558 and 580).

num swamp near Washington. In
the forest the animals always seek
the cover afforded by fallen logs, slabs
of bark, or anything else that will
give protection. On the coast of New
Jersey they live so near the sea that
an extra high tide forces them to
mount the drift logs on the salt
meadows for safety. They often make
little burrows in the soft earth under
the roots of a tree, a stump, or a log.

Their nests are small balls of dry
leaves, grasses, or other soft vegeta-
ble material placed snugly under a log
or in a hollow stump, burrow, or
other good retreat, where they appear
to have two or more litters of from
six to ten young during the summer
and fall.

As in the other shrews, the food
of the common species consists mainly
of insects, larvae, worms, and obtain-
able flesh; but in winter and possibly
at other seasons many kinds of food
are eaten, including insects, meat, fat,
flour, and seeds. During the years I
passed at St. Michael, on the coast of
Bering Sea, the beginning of winter
always brought into the storehouses
and dwellings a swarm of field mice,
lemmings, and these shrews. The
food requirements of all appeared to
l)e the same, and all fed freely on the
flour and other accessible stores.
Dozen of the shrews were killed in
the houses every winter.

Occasionally I caught and kept one
captive for a time to observe its
habits. It would be extremely rest-
less and equally active by day or night.
The small eyes appeared of little serv-
ice, but the long, flexible snout was
used constantly and served as the
main reliance of the little beast for
information as to the outside world.

Wherever they travel these shrews
utilize the runways of the field mice
or other small animals and make little
runs of their own only where neces-
sary. Aside from a faint squeak, I
have never heard them utter a sound,
but other observers credit them with
series of fine twittering notes ap-
parently uttered as a song.

The common shrew is a solitary
animal of so morose a disposition
that if two are placed in a cage to-
gether they almost immediately fall
upon one another with tooth and
nail, and the victor devours the body
of its companion at a single meal.
The digestion of shrews is so rapid
and the call for food so incessant
that it requires constant activity to
keep the demand satisfied.

After the winter snow arrived in
the North I found many tunnels of
these shrews running just under its

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

593

surface and raising it a little in a
slight but distinctly rounded ridge.
Such tunnels wandered widely and
on the ice of the Yukon River I
traced one of them more than a mile
and repeatedly saw them crossing the
river from bank to bank. It was sur-
prising to note the ability of the little
travelers under the surface to keep
in so nearly a direct line for long dis-
tances.

At times these little adventurers
make similar tunnels in the snow far
out on the sea ice. The mythology
of the Eskimos contains accounts of
many supernatural animals which a
lone hunter may meet and which
have the power to do him deadly
harm. Among these the "sea shrew"
is one of the most malignant. Its
appearance is described as exactly
like that of the common land shrew,
but it is said to live on the ice at sea,
and if it sees a hunter to dart at him
through the air, pierce the skin, and,
after running all through the body
with incredible rapidity, to enter the
man's heart and kill him. In con-
sequence of this belief the Eskimo
hunters were in mortal terror if they
chanced to encounter a stray shrew
on the sea ice. I knew one hunter
who suddenly meeting one on the ice
stood motionless for hours until the
shrew wandered out of sight. He
then hastened home and all the other
hunters agreed he had had a lucky
escape.

THE SHORT-TAILED SHREW
(Blarina brevicauda and its

relatives)

{for illustration, sec page 566)

Several groups of species or genera
of the little mouselike animals known
as shrews are peculiar to North
America. Of these one of the most
numerous and best known is the short-
tailed shrew. It is a dark-colored
animal much more heavily propor-
tioned, larger, and with a shorter tail
than the common shrew. Its fur is
so thick and velvety that it is con-
fused by many people with the mole,
despite its smaller size.

The short-tailed shrews, sometimes
called mole shrews, of the genus Bla-
rina belong to a single species with
several geographic races occupying
eastern Canada and the United States,
from Nova Scotia, southern Quebec, Ontario,
Minnesota, and North Dakota southward to
Florida and the Gulf coast as far as eastern
Texas. Vertically they range from sea-level
up to the tops of the Alleghenies. Another
group of American shrews, containing numer-
ous species belonging to the genus Cryptotis,

LITTLE SKUNK, POLECAT, OR SPILOGALK

This trail combines the characteristics of the skunk
with those of a squirrel. At first it looks like the track
of a stubby-toed squirrel, but the five-inch toe on the
front foot is plainly seen. The frequent pairing of the
fore paws is important. There is no tail mark (see
pages 558 and 576).

occupies the mountains of the Western States,
and ranges south to northern South America.
In external form it is indistinguishable from
the short-tailed species.

Probaljly no mammal is more numerous in
the eastern United States than the short-tailed
shrew. It occurs everywhere — in forests, in

594

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

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brushy areas, in old fields,
and along grassy banks.
Within the city of Wash-
ington it is common in
Rock Creek Park, where
it lives in covered runs
which it makes among the
grass and fallen leaves.
These shrews drink fre-
quently, and this may in
part account for their
abundance near streams
or other water, although
it may be the desirable
moist soil conditions
which draw them to such
situations.

The runways of these
shrews are scarcely half
an inch wide, usually
partly sunken in the mold
or rotting surface vegeta-
tion. These are not made
by digging, but by push-
ing aside the loose mold,
and they cross and re-
cross in an irregular net-
work. They lead to the en-
trances to burrows which
generally drop nearly
straight down. The bur-
rows are sometimes amid
the leaves, but usually
under the shelter of a
root, stump, old log, or
other cover. In addition
to their own runways, the
shrews make free use of
the runs of meadow mice
and even traverse the
tunnels of the pine mice
and moles in their rest-
less search for prey.

Small rounded cham-
l)ers opening off their
underground runways are
filled with tine grass,
pieces of leaves, and
other soft matter for a
nest. One nest examined
was made entirely from
the hair of meadow mice,
probably the spoils of
war from the bodies of
victims. As a rule, shrews
are extremely unsocial,
but a pair of this species
is sometimes found oc-
cupying the same nest, no
doubt a temjiorary ar-
rangement. Several lit-
ters, containing from four
to six each, appear to be
born through the summer
and fall, usually begin-
ning in June.

While equally active by
day, and by night, the eyes
of these shrews seem to

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

595

be of little use except to
distinguish between light
and dark, but their senses
of hearing and smell are
highly developed, as is
also the sense of touch
in their long hairs, or
"whiskers," about the
nose. In captivity an ex-
treme sensitiveness is ex-
hibited to sudden sounds,
especially such as those
of a bird's wings, indicat-
ing an instinctive fear
born of age-long perse-
cution by birds of prey.
Food is located by smell,
and as the flexible end
of the snout is moved
continually from side to
side, odors are caught
which may register con-
ceptions as definite in the
minds of these small ani-
mals as sight does in
more favored beasts. All
shrews are provided with
musk glands and on ac-
count of these are ap-
parently nauseous to most
other animals, as they
are rarely eaten by beasts
of prey. These musky
secretions must be of
great service to facilitate
them in locating one an-
other.

Like other shrews and
the moles, their digestion
appears to be very rapid
and they will eat -two or
three times their own
weight in a day. This
necessitates great activity
on their part during much
of the time in order to
find the required food.
They prefer insects and
meat, but are practically
omnivorous, feeding not
only upon many kinds of
insects, but on earth-
worms, slow-worms, sow-
bugs, snails, slugs, mice,
shrews, and the young of

ground-nesting birds, as well as such vegetable
food as beechnuts, seeds, bread, and oatmeal.

The instinct of prevision against the season
of winter scarcity appears to be developed in
them, as one in captivity buried beechnuts in
the earth, and they are known to store living
snails ip small piles and to gather disabled
beetles in store-rooms in their tunnels.

Jhe courage and blind ferocity of the short-
tailed shrews when they are placed near cap-
tive mice far larger than themselves, is amaz-
ing to all who witness their encounters. They
attack instantly, spreading their front feet to

XX,

C7S.

Tilt SHORT-TAILED SHREW, OR BLARINA

The curious grooved track in the snow with the tail mark is seen
on the left (see pages 566 and 593)

gain a firmer footing and moving forward in
little rushes. Mice larger and much more
powerful than the shrew are persistently at-
tacked and, finally giving out, are pounced upon
and the flesh torn from their heads and necks
with ravening eagerness. One day a passing
observer heard a loud squealing on a railroad
bank where an examination revealed a short-
tailed shrew dragging away a nearly dead pine
mouse, though the mouse was much the heavier.
The notes of shrews are a fine tremulous squeak
which becomes a longer, harsher, and more
twittering or chattering cry when they are angry.

596

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

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No cessation of their activity occurs in win-
ter. When the cold weather begins many gather
about barns and houses located near woods or
old fields, and thus with the field mice take
advantage of the garnered food supplies and

shelter. Others remain in their regular haunts,
where they frequently burrow long distances in
the snow, making networks of tunnels and
traveling long distances just below the surface,
leaving little raised ridges like the track of a
mole on the ground. Their journeys upon and
under the surface of the snow appear to be
in search of food, as they burrow clown to old
logs and stumps which make good feeding
grounds. Their movements are very active, as
they go about either at a walk or quick trot.

These fierce and truculent little hunters are
wholly beneficial in their habits and should be
encouraged in place of being killed on sight
indiscriminatelv, as one of the ordinary mouse
tribe.

THE RED BAT (Nycteris borealis)

{For illustration, see page 366)

Bats reach their greatest development in the
tropics, where a marvelous variety of these
curious mammals exist. To the northward the
number of species gradually decreases, until
eventually, in northern Canada and Alaska, a
single species represents the group. The United
States, occupying the middle latitudes, has a
considerable number of different kinds. Some
of these remain throughout the year, hibernat-
ing in caves during the period of cold, when
insects are not to be had; others wing their
way southward like birds on the approach of
winter and return in spring.

All bats are nocturnal, although individuals
of some species occasionally fly about for a
time by day and many come out just before or
soon after sunset. In this country practically
all species arc insectivorous, but in Mexico and
the West Indies many are fruit-eaters and a
few true vampires or blood-suckers.

As a rule, bats are clothed in dull colors, but
richly tinted coats give a few a more attractive
appearance. Of these none has a more strik-
ing adornment than that presented by the soft
covering of glossy orange-red fur of the red
bat. Its large size, about four inches in total
length, with a spread of wings amounting to
twelve inches, combined with its color, suffices
to distinguish it at once from any other north-
ern species.

The range of the red bat extends from the
Atlantic coast to the Pacific and from Ontario
and Alberta in southern Canada south through-
out most of the United States to the Gulf coast
and southern California; also beyond our limits
to Lower California and Costa Rica. The
genus to which this bat belongs ranges more
widely in other parts of North America; also
to South America and across the eastern Pacific
to the Galapagos and Hawaiian Islands.

The red bat rarely or never seeks shelter in
gloomy caves and crevices, but hangs to the
small twigs or leaf stems on trees and bushes
in the full light of the sun. One observer in
Texas on July 4 found four of them hanging
in a cluster from a twig on a peach tree, with
the sun shining full on them, although the tern-

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BIG DOG TROTTING

This track of a big dog trotting in about two
and a half inches of snow is singular in the
perfect register it shows. The hind foot drops
each time into the track of the front foot.
This correct style is more usual with wild than
with tame animals. Compare with track of
dog galloping, page 596.

A COMMON DOG

The hind feet are, as usual, narrower, though
nearly as long as the front. The dog is a loose
walker. Sometimes the hind foot is on the
track of the front, sometimes ahead, and often
behind. The claws show. The dragging of
the front feet is another slovenly habit, an evi-
dence of overdomestication.

597

598

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

perature in the shade was 82 degrees Fahren-
heit. I have found them in northern IlHnois
in the glaring sunliglit of May, hanging from
leaves in the tops of oak trees. This unusual
tolerance of light in a member of the bat tribe
is further shown by its habit of beginning to
hunt through the air for insects earlier in the
afternoon than other species in its range.

Long, narrow wings and swift, powerful flight
characterize the red bats in the air. They have
marvelous control in darting and turning here
and there, and no birds, except possibly the
chimney swifts, can equal them in their extra-
ordinary gyrations.

Red bats are known to migrate from the
northern part of their range in September or
October and to return in May. They have been
seen going south at Cape Cod the last of
August and in September; and late in October
Dr. E. A. Mearns has recorded great flights of
them down the Hudson Valley, lasting through-
out the day. That they share the vicissitudes
of migrating birds is indicated by observation
on the New Jersey coast of stray individuals
coming in from the sea exhausted early on
September mornings.

They are among the most solitary of their
kind, usually being found hanging singly on a
tree or bush, sometimes within a few feet of
the ground. On occasion they gather in clust-
ers as mentioned above, and in one instance in
Maryland more than a dozen were hanging in
a compact ball, which suddenly exploded into
its winged parts when disturbed.

One of the most unusual characteristics of
the red bat is found in the number of young
it bears. Usually other species, except the
hoary bat, have one or two young, but at vary-
ing dates between May and July each year the
red bat produces from two to four, the average
being three or four. The young when very
small are carried clinging to the body of the
mother in her flights. She continues to take
them from place to place in this manner until
their combined weight exceeds her own. The
strength of the maternal feeling in this species
is well illustrated by an instance in Philadelphia
where a boy caught a half -grown red bat in a
city square and carried it home. In the even-
ing, three hours later, he crossed the same
square, carrying the young bat in his hand,
when the old one came circling about him and
finally in her deep anxiety alighted on his
breast. Both were brought in, the young one
clinging to its mother's teat. The devoted
mother received injuries when she was cap-
tured, from which she died two days later.

In the contact between mankind and bats,
man, the invariable aggressor, finds the bats
baring their teeth, biting viciously, squeaking,
and behaving altogether like little fiends. A
gentler side is sometimes exhibited, however,
and one observer who caught a partly grown
red bat found that it became tame, shovyed in-
telligence, and developed a friendly feeling for
its captor.

THE HOARY BAT (Nycteris cinereus)

The hoary bat is a close relative of the red
bat described above, but is larger, about five
inches long, and, as its name implies, is of a
different color. It is widely distributed over a
large part of North America, where it is known
to breed from Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and the
southern shore of Great Slave Lake south prac-
tically throughout the United States. It is
one of our larger species and is remarkable for
its power and skill on the wing. The wings
are long and narrow and carry their owner
through the air in a bewildering series of
swoops, curves, and zigzag turns remarkable
even in a group of animals so notable for their
powers of flight.

With the approach of cold weather the hoary
bat migrates from the northern parts of its
range to the milder southern districts. It is a
late migrant, not leaving its northern home
until the last of September or October and re-
turning in May. Some individuals appear to
remain in the North all winter, as one has been
taken in Connecticut in December. In its south-
ern flight it wanders as far as Jalisco, near the
southern end of the Mexican table-land, to
Lower California, and to the Bermuda Islands.
To reach the Bermudas it is evident the bat
must make a continuous flight from the nearest
point on our shores of at least 580 miles — a
good tribute to its wing power.

Like the red bat, it lives in the open, hanging
from twigs and leaves in the tops of trees or
bushes in the broad light of day rather than in
the dark, stifling crevices where so many of its
kind pass their lives. It appears to hang up
indifferently on any convenient tree or bush,
including conifers, aspens, or willows. During
the day it has a curious lack of alertness, and
as it is not rarely attached to low branches or
bushes within a few feet of the ground it may
be readily approached and taken in the hand.
I once captured a fine specimen the middle of
May, in southern California, hanging on a bush
about four feet from the ground. It appeared
to be sound asleep until taken by the skin on
the back of the neck, when it became very much
alive and, struggling in a fury, uttered grating
shrieks of rage, baring its sharp, white teeth
and trying desperatcl}' to bite.

Its food is made up entirely of insects, which
it appears to hunt higher up than most bats,
sweeping over the tops of the forest and in and
out about the trees. It appears to be of even
more solitary habits than the red bat and is
nowhere so common. Another reason for our
lack of information concerning it is found in
its strictly nocturnal habits, for it rarely ap-
pears until shortly before the approaching
night hides it from view.

The hoary bat shares with the red species
the distinction of bearing from two to four
young each year. The young are born in June
and are carried attached to the underside of
the mother's body until they become too heavy

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

599

CoNote. rt.fort

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THE TRACK OF A COYOTE

This track cannot be distinguished with certainty from that of a small dog (see pages 596
and 597). The greater size of the side toes in the hind track I have often noticed, but there
is no corresponding disproportion in the animal's foot.

a burden. They hang to the teats with the
greatest tenacity and apparently rely mainly on
this hold to prevent being dropped as they are
carried on the wild aerial hunting excursions.
With the unusual fecundity indicated by the
number of young, it is difficult to account for
the scarcity of these bats unless their habit of
hanging in the open, exposed to the elements
and to other dangers, may cause a heavy mor-
tality among them.

Note. — The attention of the reader is called
to an error on page 566, where the Little Brown
Bat, Myotis bicifugiis, on the tree trunk, a
common species throughout most of North
America, is labeled "Hoary Bat, Nycteris cine-
reiis," which is a much larger and very differ-
ent animal.

THE MEXICAN BAT (Nyctinomus

mexicanus and its subspecies)

{For illustration, see page 56J)

Reference has been made in several preced-
ing sketches of this series to the mammals of
tropical origin which have invaded our south-
ern border. The Mexican bat is a notable

member of this class. It differs in many curi-
ous ways from the bats with which it associates
in temperate regions. It is smaller than any of
the other three bats treated here and is strongly
characterized by a flattening of the head and
body which enables it to creep into a surpris-
ingly narrow crevice in the rocks or elsewhere.
The ears are broad and flaring and extend for-
ward over the eyes like the visor of a cap, and
the end of the tail is not confined within the
membrane extending between the hind legs, but
projects from it. Another pronounced char-
acteristic of this bat and one highly disagree-
able is the rank musky odor which it gives ovit.
This pollutes the air about its harboring places,
rendering it a most imwelcome guest.

Whoever has visited the Southern and South-
western States or Mexico must have noted
the offensive odor in many places about the
verandas of houses and especially about old
churches and other public buildings. This is
the sign of occupancy placed on the premises
by the Mexican bats, which, to the number of
a few dozens or actually by thousands, as con-
ditions permit, may lie snugly hidden in cracks
and dark openings' of all kinds about the roof

600

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

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and walls. No other bat in
Mexico or the United States
is provided with so strong an
odor.

The Mexican bat is extremely
abundant, probably exceeding
in numbers any other species
within its territory. It ranges
throughout the tropical and
lower temperate parts of Guate-
mala, Mexico, and across our
border, throughout most of
Texas, and east as far as
Florida and South Carolina ; in
the West it also abounds both
in town and country in the
warmer parts of New Mexico,
Arizona, and California.

Closely allied relatives of the
Mexican bat abound through-
out the warmer parts of Cen-
tral and South America to be-
yond Brazil. The genus to
which this species belongs is
represented in the warmer parts
of both hemispheres. It ex-
tends north in the Old World
to southern Europe and also
is found in the Philippines.

The abundance of the Mexi-
can bat in some favorable
places is almost incredible. At
Tucson, Arizona, I once saw
them, a short time before dark,
issuing from a small window in
the gable of a church in such
numbers that in the half light
they gave the appearance of
smoke pouring out of the open-
ing. At times they occupy
houses in such numbers that
their presence and accompany-
ing offensive odor render the
places uninhabitable. At the
town of Patzcuaro, near the
southern end of the Mexican
table-land, I saw two rooms in
an old adobe house occupied
by as many of them as could
possibly hang from the rough
ceiling. The owner considered
their presence a valuable asset,
as he collected and sold the
guano for more than the rooms
would have brought in rent.
The bats congregate in even
greater numl)crs in large caves.
So numerous are they in cer-
tain caves in Texas that the
owner reports an annual in-
come of about $7,ooo from the
guano.

They are very plentiful by
day in the thin crevices about
the roof and walls of caves in
the celebrated Ixtapalapa, or
"Hill of the Star," beyond the
floating gardens at the City of
Mexico, and I also found them

SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

601

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BADGER

The huge fore claws are a strong feature. The hind claws rarely show in the track. The
broad spread of the tracks hi the lower trail corresponds with the low, thick form of thi.
animal.

living in many of the marvelous ruins of
Mexico, including Chichen-Itza, in Yucatan.
Wherever they occur in numbers they may be
heard frequently by day shuffling uneasily
about and squeaking shrilly at one another.

When they first come out after sunset they
usually fly away in a great stream, nearly all
in the same direction, as though migrating.
This course will probably be found leading to
water, where they scoop up a drink from the
surface before beginning their wonderfully
erratic zigzags through the air in pursuit of
insects.

From the colder northern parts of their range
thev migrate southward to milder climatic con-

ditions or descend to lower altitudes. In Mex-
ico, where they live up to above 8,000 feet alti-
tude, they move down from one to two thousand
feet. Their young, one at a birth, are born
from April to May.

It has been claimed that the Mexican bat
brings bedbugs to infest houses. This is un-
true of this or any other bat. These animals
have certain small parasites, some of which, re-
sembling small bedbugs, have probably given
rise to the belief mentioned. These parasites
live only on the bats.

Within a few years considerable publicity has
lieen given to the supposed possibility of utilizing
bats to destroy mosquitoes and thus eliminate

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SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

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malaria from infested areas. One or more bat
houses have been built at San Antonio, Texas,
for the purpose of assembling bats in large
numbers, and many untenable claims have been
put forth concerning the benefit to be derived
from their services. The Mexican bat is the
species which abounds above all others at San
Antonio and is the principal species which has
occupied the bat houses near town. It is def-
initely known that bats often fly miles from
their roosts wdien feeding and do not concen-
trate on any one kind of insect. Examination
of the contents of the stomachs of Mexican bats
shows that they feed on beetles and numerous
other insects, but rarely upon mosquitoes. I
have visited many Mexican towns and villages
in which every house was haunted by numbers
of these bats and where malaria was perennial.
The evidence against these animals serving any
useful purpose in checking malaria is con-
clusive.

It may be repeated here, however, that all
of our bats are of high utility as insect-destroy-
ers and should be protected. Among the many
species of varying habits which exist in the
United States, a few make their homes about
houses in annoying numbers. In place of killing
them to abate the nuisance, it would be better
to exclude them from buildings by closing the
entrance ways promptly after all have left in
the evening, and thus by quiet eviction cause
tliem to find abiding places elsewhere. The
destruction of forests, and the consequent ab-
sence of the hollow trees where they formerly
lived, is mainly responsible for bats and chim-
ney swifts coming- to houses for harbor.

THE BIG-EARED DESERT BAT (An-

trozous pallidas and its relatives)

{For illustration, see page 567)

The marvelous variations in structure of the
ears and other organs about the heads of insect-
eating bats serve probably as microphones by
which the flight of their prey may be detected
and its direction located with instantaneous
certainty. The beautiful accuracy with which
this hearing mechanism works must be evident
to any one who will take a position where he
may have the evening glow of the western sky
as a background for flights of bats. It is cer-
tain that the small and ineffective eyes these
animals possess could never locate their minute
flying game and enable them to secure it in
the whirling, zigzag courses they pursue, often
at a speed and under a control which few, if
any, birds could rival.

The great ears of the big-eared desert bats
illustrate one form of a highly developed hear-
ing apparatus and give these animals a hand-
some and strikingly picturesque appearance.
This character at once distinguishes them from
others of their kind in the United States.

The distribution of this species lies mainly in
the arid parts of the Southwestern States and
Afexico. It extends from western Texas, south-
ern Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon, south to

Queretaro, on the Mexican table-land, and to
the southern end of the peninsula of Lower
California. The vertical distribution extends
from sea-level up to at least 5,000 feet altitude.
By day these desert bats live in crevices and
caves in cliffs, in old mining tunnels, hollows
in trees, and in sheltered places about the roofs
and walls of houses, barns, or other buildings.
Their presence in dark hiding places may some-
times be detected by occasional grating squeaks.
They appear to lack any musky odor which
characterizes so many bats. About the ist of
June each year either one or two young are
born, and for a time these cling to the mother's
breast and are carried during her swift flights
in pursuit of insect prey.

Often when camping at desert waterholes, I
have seen them come in just before dark to
drink, scooping up water from the surface
while in flight, and then circling back and forth
over the damp ground at an elevation of a few
yards for the capture of some of the insects
common in such places. At such times, with
the distant hills mantled with a deepening
purple haze and the pulsating heat of the day
replaced by the milder temperature of approach-
ing night, these bats could often be seen sharply
outlined against the rich orange afterglow of
the departed sun. Here and there in the still
air flickered and zigzagged multitudes of tiny
bats, like black butterflies, and among them the
occasional big-eared bats on broad wings ap-
peared huge in contrast. Their wing strokes
were slower and shorter than those of the
smaller species and impelled them forward in
a swift, gliding movement which gave their
evolutions a sweeping grace beautiful to see.
In August several years ago, during a visit
to the Indian School at Tuba, in the Painted
Desert of northern Arizona, I found these bats
living in considerable numbers about the build-
ings. Just before dark they swarmed out and
hunted about the surrounding orchards and
small fields. One evening my collector shot
at one as it circled over a potato field in a small
orchard. It continued its flight, circling low
among tlie apple trees as though unhurt, when
suddenly it dropped to the ground. Supposing
the bat to be wounded, it was cautiously ap-
proached and covered with a hat, when, with-
out a struggle, it permitted itself to be picked
up by the nape. It then became evident that
the bat was imhurt from the shot. The reason
for its sudden descent was revealed in the per-
son of a large, fat mole cricket (Stciwpahnatiis
fuscus) which it was holding firmly in its jaws,
and so ferociously intent was it in biting and
worrying its luscious prey that it paid not the
slightest attention to its captor. Finally it was.
killed by having its chest compressed and died'
with its bull-dog grip on its prey unbroken.

These bats, like the other members of the-
tribe in the United States, are fully as bene-
ficial to the farmer as the best of our insect-
eating birds and deserve equal protection in
place of the general persecution from which
they now suffer.

-RocRyiMtCoaJr

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT

Kinship with sheep and antelope is reflected
in the track of the goat. Its heel-pads are so
large and rublier-like that the track is rarely
so sharp as here shown. "Although marvel-
ously surefooted and fearless in traversing the
faces of high precipitous slopes, goats lack the
springy grace and vivacity of mountain sheep
and move with comparative deliberation."

BIGHORN

The general style of a bighorn track is like
that of deer, but the toes are finished off
more squarely and the hollow in the outer
edge of each hoof is a strong characteristic.
Sometimes the tracks are in correct register.
The clouts rarely show. The dung pellets are
like those of the deer, but rounder. The track
is that of a ewe; the ram's is similar, jnit larger.

604

fit. li) ion-

MOUNTAIN I,ION, OR COUGAR

The track of a mountain lion is much like
that of a house cat, differing only in_ size.
Sometimes, as in the cat, the hind foot is set
exactly on the track of the front foot.

Wolf

GRAY WOLT^

The track is that of a large wolf. There is
no certain way of distinguishing it from that
of a dog (see page 597)- Size and proba-
bilities must be considered.

605

il^ Uk

Tr?2:'!s^K«r.''"Sfcista,a --. .*a**'«««p4^

5/>

tb ^^^ 5^

^^.

•* )i

r« r

Jl /n

V/littt-Ullcd Buck V/^ ;te-k((ea I>^e .

WHITE-TAILED DEER
WALKING

The track of the white-tail is
ideal — a starting point to study
all the tracks. Sometimes the
hind foot fits on the front
track, but sometimes not.

WHITE-TAILED DEER
BOUNDING

In these the clouts are clearly
shown. Note the resemblance
to the tracks of the moose
(see page 602), which differ
chiefly in their greater size.

wiirn;-T.\Ti.ED doe

WALKING

This track differs from that
of the buck in being smaller,
slimmer, and in having the toes
pointing forward or inward —
rarely outward.

606

I ir\ c k

ii"^

BvLl ELK QYW2,ttiti

This shows the track of a large male walk-
ing. Each hoof-mark is about 4^ inches long.
Had it been five inches it would have meant
a very large bull. The track is strictly deer-
like in type, but has a little of the roundness
of point that is so marked in the domestic
cow. At the upper end of the drawing is
snow one inch deep. Here no clouts show ;
at the lower end it is three inches deep, so the
clout-marks are clear. Size is essential in dis-
tinguishing the track. The dung pellets, about
H X% inch, are also important.

MUL15 DKER

The mule deer tread cannot be distinguished
with certainty from that of white-tailed or
coast deer; yet it averages larger than either
of these, and the curious close set together of
all four feet while it does its peculiar bovinding
is quite unlike wdiat we see in the white-tail
track. "These deer are not good runners in
the open. On level country in Arizona I have
ridden after and readily overtaken parties of
I hem within a mile. The moment rough coun-
try was reached, however, with amazing celerity
a series of mighty leaps carries them away"
(see page 456).

607

'' foYt

i \

*!■*

fttVidl

Bear

r f r-

GRIZZLY ]!Iv\R

The great size and the immense claws arc
the chief characteristics of the grizzly's track.
All five toes usually show in each track. "The
strongest and most distinctive characteristic of
the grizzlies is the long, proportionately slender
and slightly curved claws of the front feet,
sometimes more than three inches long" (sec
pages 440 and 442)

r.LACK r.iCAR

The plantigrade foot is clearly shown in the
hear track. That of a black bear differs from
that of a grizzly, first in size, second in the
shortness of the claws. Usually no claws
show, and the fifth toe, which is well devel-
oped on both front and hind paws, leaves little
sign and often none at all. Frequently the
hind foot is set on the track of the front foot
in correct register.

608

-*/•>.

%-,

r-^

A. Tr^cj< of 5iouy. Ind f'^Tl
•B. TracK of Whtte ^^-^J^.,:

V>,jSiu7dy Bofs foct^toofUf
C jShndeT- 7T7a7i
JD .Very robust m^n

THU HUMAN I^OOTPRINTS

The footprints of the human animal are included in this series of sketches for the pur-
pose of comparison. Especially interesting is the similarity to be noted between the tracks
made by man and those of the grizzly and the black bear (see page 608). The tracks shown
on the left half of this page present the moccasin-shod footprints of a Sioux Indian compared
with the shoe tracks of a white man. On the right are shown: (A) a woman's foot which
has been much pinched by tight shoes; (B) a sturdy boy's foot, somewhat too flat to be nor-
mal; (C) the footprint of a slender man, and (D) the imprint of a robust man's foot.

609

Kiy'id' »

'Withoijt shots

i^jn

,"i!rt(

in-- *
ftre

ns.

THE IIORSH

A hunter needs to know horse tracks as
much as those of wild game. The greater
size and roundness of horse tracks distinguish
them from those of mules and asses. When
shod the toe calks are a strong feature; when
without shoes the unbroken front edge is dis-
tinctive. Some horses walk in correct register ;
some do not. Mules arc more exact than
horses. When trotting the arrangement is
much as in walking, but the spaces are longer
and the hind- feet track farther ahead of the
front feet. In galloping the arrangement is
much as in the white-tailed deer.

J0f f ■

4 i^

%, /

^ ^

BARRliN GROUND CARIBOU

The caribou track is distinguished by its;
great spread and the fact that the clouts or
iiind hoofs touch the ground, even on a hard
surface. I know of no difference but size be-
tween the tracks of the various caribou and
reindeer. The probabilities of time and lo-
cality help in determining the species, but it
need never be mistaken for that of any other
type of deer. In winter the caribou's tracks
in the snow show that its feet, instead of be-
ing raised high at each step, like those of a
Virginia or mule deer, drag through the snow
like those of domestic cattle.

6io

t 1

2.«I1:'

I' S

%i <r<<

r -^

i > ~\\

KmoL

,-r

fi^

V 4'

^ t

Anteloj^e
k

r. 7

.^■j/^

COAST BLACK-TAILED DOp;

I know of nothing but probabilities to dis-
tinguish tire walking tracks of the coast deer
from those of nearly related species. This
track of a bounding female shows a peculiar
grouping that corresponds fairly with the
bounding action characteristic of the species.

ANTKLOrit

The different styles of front and back feet
is a marked character of the antelope's track
and is best seen in the walk. In galloping all
of these animals leave the hind tracks ahead of
the fore tracks, but disturb the ground, so that
almost no characteristic marks are to be seen.

6ii

Xr^

l^x-rxd /

^i*

>-€,

h iy\d

V/iUcxt

CANADA LVXX

This track I sketched on the Athabasca
River. In summer the track of a lynx shows
the toe-pads faintly; in winter all are muffled
in hair and the track is much larger. "The feet
in winter are so broad that they serve admira-
bly for support in deep snow" (see page 409).

TKXAN WILDCAT

This track, while akin to that of a cat (see
page 487), has some very well-marked charac-
teristics. The complicated outline of the heel-
pads is striking. This, with its large size, will
distinguish it "from the track of a house cat.
The claws do not show.

61:

[Reprinted from Sci-ENCE, N. S., Vol. XL VIII., No.
1S48, Pages 547-549, November S9, 1918]

Wild Animals of North America: Intimate
Studies of Big and Little Creatures of the
Mammal Kingdom. By Edward W. InTelsgn.
Natural-Color Portraits from Paintings by
Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Track Sketches by
Ernest Thompson Seton. Published by the
National Geographic Society, Washington,
D. C, U. S. A.; 8vo, pp. + 385-612, folded
frontispiece, 108 colored illustrations on text
paper (not plates), 85 halftone illustrations.
[This' is essentially a reprint of two articles
which appeared in the National Geo-
graphic Magazine, for November, 1916, and
May, 1918. The changes comprise repaging
beyond page 472, the readjustment of the
■ matter on pages 473-475, the replacement of
a half-tone on page 475, the rectification of
page references to illustrations to accord
with the new paging where needed, and read-
justment of the matter from page 571 on,
so as to admit 32 new illustrations of foot-
prints and the captions to these.]
This is a work which meets to a gratifying
degree the need for an essentially non-tech-
nical treatise upon the natural history of the
mammals of North America. No living person
is better equipped to carry to a successful con-
elusion such an midertaking than is its author.
Nelson has contributed in the fiield of verte-
brate zoology now for over forty years, to be
explicit, beginning in July, 1876 (Bulletin
Nuttall Ornithological Club, Vol. 1, p. 39).
With a background of long experience in the
field, and with further years of official con-
nection with the United States Biological Sur-
vey and its unique resources in mammalogy,
he has made available a brochure of pleasing
amplitude and satisfying authoritativeness.
Between the colored pictures and the written

sketches the public can gain from this con-
tribution a better idea of our principal mam-
mals than from any other available publica-
tion. It should awaken a generally greater
interest in our native manunals, and this will
help build up a desire for the conservation of
the harmless and useful species such as has
resulted from the public education in relation
to our bird life. On the other hand it is im-
portant to be able to distinguish those mam-
mals, chiefly of the order Rodentia, which are
thoroughly inimical to human interests. Peo-
ple at large must laiow how to cope with these
enemies. It would seem that a full knowl-
edge of the natural history of such animals is
essential to determining the most successful
means of controlling them and to applying
these means properly to the varying conditions
throughout the country. Nelson's accounts of
our injurious mammals are full of stimulative
suggestions along these lines, and while the
work as a whole can not be considered as an
" economic " publication, its influence will go
far to secure adequate popular consideration
of these matters.

The species are taken up in groups, in so
far as this can be done safely. Each biog-
raphy, of which there are 119, is, as a rule, a
composite applying to a number of near-re-
lated forms, thus simplifying matters of pre-
sentation, and avoiding repetition. A marked
feature of the book is the degree of concen-
tration attained ; there is no trace of padding,
and no room for baseless speculation, senti-
mentalizing or humanizing, such as character-
ize many current " nature " books. At the
same time the style is animated and thor-
oughly entertaining, a gift of composition
which Nelson has exercised in many preceding
contributions. Here is an instance, unfortu-
nately a rare one, in which a man who really
knows the field has put out a popular book on
a natural history subject.

Many are the portrayals which are evidently
based on Nelson's own personal field knowl-
edge, some of them involving facts here for
the first time -made known to science. His ac-
count of the behavior of kangaroo rats in
Lower California is particularly apt in illus-
tration of the above statement.

During several nights I passed hours watching
at close range the habits of these curious animals.
As I sat quietly on a mess box in their midst . . .
[they] would forage all about with swift gliding
movements, repeatedly running across my bare
feet. Any sudden movement startled them and all
would dart away for a moment, but quickly re-
turn. . . . They were so intent on the food [grains
of rice put out for them] that at times I had no
difficulty in reaching slowly down and closing my
hand over their backs. I did this dozens of times,
and after a slight struggle they always became
quiet until again placed on the ground, when they
at once renewed their search for food as though
no interruption had occurred. . . . While occupied
in this rivalry for food they became surprisingly
pugnacious. If one -was working at the rice pile
and another rat or a pocket mouse approached, it
immediately darted at the intruder and drove it
away. The mode of attack was to rush at an in-
truder and, leaping upon its back, give a vigorous
downward kick with its strong hind ' feet. . . .
Sometimes an intruder, bolder than the others,
would run only two or three yards and then sud-
denly turn and face the pursuer, sitting up on its
hind feet like a little kangaroo. The pursuer at
once assumed the same nearly upright position,
with its fore feet close to its breast. Both would
then begin to hop about watching for an opening.
Suddenly one would leap at the other, striking with
its hind feet, . . . [producing] a distinct little
thump and the victim rolled over on the ground.
After receiving two or three kicks the weaker of
the combatants would run away. The thump made
by the kick when they were fighting solved the
mystery which had covered this sound heard re-
peatedly during my nights at this camp.

The brilliantly coated paper used tlxroughout
this book although hard on sensitive eyes, is

necessary to the handling of the halftone illus-
trations. ^The printing of both the colored
and nncolored pictures in all the copies we
have seen has been done with pronounced suc-
cess. The color drawings by Fuertes are ad-
mirable and we are astonished at the success
with which this noted bird artist was able to
turn to mammals, the drawings of which in
this contribution mark as far as we know his
first efforts in the new field.

A critical reviewer might succeed in finding
a nimiber of small points to elaborate upon
and of which to complain. For instance: It
is trite to say that an Alaska brown bear is no
more an animal than is a house fly. Yet here we
have the title, " Wild Animals of North Amer-
ica," though there is an evident effort made in
the subtitle to remedy the matter by using the
expression, " mammal kingdom." But here a
taxonomic blunder is tumbled into! We can
hardly believe that Nelson himself had any-
thing final to say with regard to the title page
of this book, but that the editor of the Na-
tional Geographic Magazine got in his work
here in the belief so characteristic of editors
of popular magazines that their public must
be talked down to.

But to , pin the attention of the reader of
this review upon such really minute defects
would do violence to the facts in the case,
which are that, according to the convictions
of the reviewer, Nelson's " Wild Animals of
North America " is more uniformly accurate
and at the same time replete with information
along many lines than any preceding book on
American mammals. And even more, it may
be declared with confidence that this book is
by far the most important contribution of a
non-systematic nature that has appeared in its
field in America.

Joseph Grinnell

Museum of Vertebkate Zoology,
University of Califohnia

^~^.^ ' ORI

*-* J\9 >--i 13

*0 ^ Or 00 /°^ <• ,

^ CO

fS.'

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