TENNESSEE MAMMALS KELLOGG 289 



Cosby. Woodland jumping mice were trapped by Komarek and 

 Komai'ek (1938, p. 160) in the humid forest along Eagle Rocks Prong 

 of Little Pigeon River, Sevier County. The measurements of the 

 three females listed below are, respectively: Total length, 185, 221, 

 233; tail, 120, 133, 142; hind foot, 29, 29, 29. 



Cocke County: Low Gap, 4^2 miles southeast of Cosby, altitude 2,700 feet, 1. 

 Sevier County: Indian Gap, altitude 5,200 feet, 2. 



Family ERETHIZONTIDAE 



ERETHIZON DORSATUM DORSATUM (Linnaeus): American Porcupine 



No mention of the porcupine within the State of Tennessee has 

 been found in the accounts of early explorers. Mercer (1897, pp. 42, 

 58, fig. 2), however, found the dried feces and quills of a porcupine 

 in Bigbone Cave near Elroy, Van Buren County, Tenn. During the 

 recent rearrangement of the mammal collection in the National Mu- 

 seum, a left mandible of an immature porcupine labeled as coming 

 from a "Tennessee cave," but with no other data, was found. 



Family LEPORIDAE 



LEPUS AMERICANUS VIRGINIANUS Harlan: Virginia Varying Hare 



Information received from local residents suggests that varying 

 hares were formerly present in the mountainous district extending 

 from Mount Guyot to White Rock, Cocke County. These residents 

 inquired if Perrygo had seen any of the rabbits that turned white in 

 winter and made such long jumps when chased in the snow by dogs. 

 He was told that they were usually "jumped" fi'om rhododendron 

 thickets near the summits of the peaks. From repeated inquiries, 

 Perrygo learned that these rabbits were very rare now but formerly 

 were often seen during winter months by local hunters. 



SYLVILAGUS FLORIDANUS MALLURUS (Thomas): Eastern Cottontail 



The eastern cottontail ranges westward into the valleys, foothills, 

 and even the higher mountain slopes of eastern Tennessee. It is 

 abundant and generally distributed over most of middle and western 

 Tennessee and occurs along some of the smaller tributaries of the 

 upper Cumberland River drainage area. It is most abundant in 

 abandoned farm fields overgrown with broomsedge, weeds, and brush, 

 brier patches, and the thickets bordering deciduous woods and small 

 streams. Although largely nocturnal, when routed during the day 

 from their "form" in some tussock or grass and clump of weeds these 

 rabbits run with surprising speed, twisting and doubling across the 

 field or thicket until they reach shelter in a thicket or hollow log. 



