192 JJarber Little-known New Mexican Mammals. 



Castor canadensis f rondator M earns. 



In September of 1898, I located a large colony of beavers about six 

 miles below Ruidoso Post Office, on the Ruidoso Creek, Lincoln County, 

 New Mexico. After a period of probation spent in learning their habits 

 and how to trap them, I succeeded in securing a series of eleven speci 

 mens, representing all ages. This species lives here in the creek bank, 

 and little attempt was made to deepen the stream by damming it. I 

 found old cuttings up the stream to an altitude of about 8,000 feet. At 

 the time I visited tha colony they were living among the Mexican 

 ranches at about 6,000 feet elevation. At that season (September to 

 November) they were feeding on corn alone, although a few scarred 

 willows were to be seen along the bank. The Mexicans had planted 

 their corn 'right down to the water's edge to utilize all the available 

 ground in the narrow valley. The beavers were cutting and dragging 

 the corn to the stream, then floating it to their dens. In places there 

 was a wagon load of stalks in the water. Near the dens they had 

 cleaned the ground for a hundred feet on either side and made great 

 trails in dragging stalks to the stream. The Mexicans could not trap 

 them, and as they never appeared in the day time and seldom in the 

 twilight, very few were killed. 



Felis hernandesii (Gray). 



Mr. Nat. Straw, hunter and trapper, informed me that he trapped a 

 jaguar near Graf ton, on Taylor Creek, Socorro County, New Mexico, in 

 May, 1900. He gave its length as 8 feet and 3 inches (2439 mm.) I saw 

 the skin made up into a rug. I have heard of several others being seen 

 or killed. It is probable that they find their way into the Mogollon 

 Mountains by ascending the Gila River. 



Conepatus sp. inc. 



On August 12, 1901, I trapped an immature individual of this genus in 

 the Domingo Baca canyon on the west side of the Sandia Mountains, 18 

 miles east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The trap was . baited with 

 carrion and set at the base of a large pine (Pinus ponderosa). The alti 

 tude was about 7,000 feet. I trapped for several weeks in the same 

 locality but could secure no further specimens. The one secured 

 is not over half grown and does not show specific characters. I can find 

 no record of specimens from New Mexico nor from any point as far north. 

 The species does not appear to be abundant. It seems very strange to 

 find this young individual several hundred miles north of the known 

 range of the genus, and at a high altitude at that. The specimen is now 

 in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



