ANIMALS AND PLANTS OF THE REGION 43 



prise the principal wild life to be seen in the valley, 

 were then tame enough for good hunting with bows and 

 arrows. Cottontails are still abundant in the valleys 

 and on the ridges, while fat rock squirrels occupy the 

 canyon walls and are easily caught in dead falls made 

 of flat stones tilted up on a notched stick. Populous 

 prairie-dog towns are still found at the base of the hills, 

 and their fat little occupants are easily obtained. But 

 most abundant, most easily obtained, and most de- 

 licious of all the small game are the two species of wood 

 rats (Neotoma micropus and N. albigula) that live in the 

 cliffs and cracks of the rocks, even far down the throat 

 of the cave, and make their houses of sticks, stones, and 

 thorns under cactus, mesquite, and all thorn bushes, 

 and in the dagger-bristling bunches of yuccas or 

 lechuguillas. Anyone who could not go out with a long 

 stick and catch a meal of wood rats before supper would 

 not be much of a hunter. Kangaroo rats, pocket 

 gophers, and ground squirrels were always available, 

 but probably were rarely needed for food. 



Scaled quail (cotton-tops) were, and still are, abun- 

 dant and easily trapped or shot at the water holes, and 

 the beautiful speckled Mearns or fool quail, so tame as 

 to be easily killed with a stick, are still found on the 

 ridges above the cave. 



A few years ago great numbers of geese, ducks, coots, 

 cranes, herons, and other water birds and waders win- 

 tered along the Pecos, and considerable numbers still 

 do, while big catfish, hard and Soft-shelled turtles, and 

 heavy-shelled mussels gave a good variety of game 

 fully appreciated by the aborigines, if the old camp- 



