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MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



same stupid eyes, and the same inditTerent atti- 

 tude toward his enemies. The chief difference 

 is in color, the western type being of a greenish- 

 yellow hue. 



The range of altitude of this western cousin is 

 remarkable. The writer has seen a dead Porcu- 

 pine in the sagebrush desert of the Wind river 

 valley in Wyoming at an altitude of 6000 feet, 

 and a live one above tree line, 12,400 feet, on 

 the top of Flattop Mountain in Colorado. It was 

 a great surprise to see him amlaling along on 

 this wind-swept, cold, boggy surface. His food 

 must have been the bog willows which were only 

 a few inches high and widely scattered. Per- 

 haps he had only strayed for a few hours to the 

 point where he was seen. Groves of jack-pine 

 and other conifers grew several hundred feet 

 below, and in these he must have had his home. 



Another specimen was found at an altitude of 

 8500 feet, in Estes Park. He was in a wood 

 road, and hurried toward a wall under the tree 

 beside the road. We wanted a photograph, and 

 grabbing long sticks, ran to him and, by dint of 

 much prodding and shoving, managed to keep 

 him out of the deep shade long enough to get 

 two good exposures. His constant endeavor was 



to get his head vmder something, but never once 

 did he try to curl into a ball. 



The remains of a Porcvipine in the Wind river 

 valley were discovered in a curious and laugh- 

 able way. A member of the party with whom 

 the writer was traveling on horseback through 

 western Wyoming, leaned over, cowbov fashion, 

 to pick up a handkerchief from the ground with- 

 out dismounting. A loose saddle-cinch allowed 

 the saddle to turn, and the rider suddenly found 

 himself on the ground, sitting squarely upon the 

 skin of a dead Porcupine. Although the ani- 

 mal was dead, the quills were just as much alive 

 and full of vim as ever. When the rest of the 

 party rode up, the unfortunate man was busily 

 engaged in pulling out the quills, meanwhile 

 expressing a pointed opinion about all Porcu- 

 pines in general and this one in particular. 



The Indians value the Porcupine as food and 

 as a source of the quills which the women use 

 for various kinds of fancy work. The white 

 man. however, has made little use of this pecu- 

 liar animal. It has, however, saved the life of 

 more than one hungry man lost in the wilds, as 

 it is the only edible animal that can easily be 

 killed without firearms. J. M. Johnson. 



YELLOW-HAIRED PORCUPINE 

 A western species, photographed in Estes Park, Colorado 



