FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 327 



Family ERETHIZONTIDAE 



Erethizon dorsafum: American Porcupine 

 Erethizon dorsafum myops 



Morzhovoi Bay: Noon (Wetmore) 



Porcupines are found along the entire length of the Alaska 

 Peninsula. Osgood (1904, p. 38) suggested that their fondness 

 for the aments and young leaves of the alders may cause them to 

 wander some distance beyond the forest proper. In fact, recent 

 records prove that some of them live several hundreds of miles 

 beyond the forest. At Izembek Bay, in 1925, I found alder 

 cuttings that had been made by porcupines in winter. Evidently, 

 in the summer they were living on green herbaceous plants. 



In 1911, near Frosty Peak, Wetmore observed that a porcupine 

 had shuffled along the beach for more than 2 miles before turning 

 inland, evidently nosing around bunches of kelp. 



So far as we know, the porcupine is not found on Unimak 

 Island. 



Family OCHOTONIDAE 



Ochotona collaris: Collared Pika 



Apparently, pikas are rare at the base of Alaska Peninsula, 

 though True (1886, p. 221) quotes from McKay's notebook: 

 "Said to be very plentiful in the mountains. The Indians in their 

 vicinity have a superstitious dread about killing them, and can 

 not be hired to do so." 



McKay obtained two specimens in the Chigmit Mountains. We 

 have no other specimens from this region. 



Family LEPORIDAE 



Lepus americanus: Varying Hare 

 Lepus americanus dalli 



Osgood (1904, p. 39) found these hares to be abundant about 

 Lake Clark and along Chulitna River. Specimens have been taken 

 at Nushagak, Lake Aleknagik, Ekwok, and Kakwok River. They 

 probably do not range far beyond the timbered areas. 



Varying hares were introduced to the Kodiak-Afognak Islands 

 by the Alaska Game Commission and are now established there. 

 The introduced stock was obtained from territory along the 

 Alaska Railroad on the mainland. 



