MABTEN 83 



The common name of this animal would suggest that it is an inhabitant 

 of the forest, and so it is in Canada and Alaska; but the race inhabiting 

 the Yosemite region seems to have departed from its ancestral predilections 

 in some measure, for it here lives about the rock slides. Our knowledge of 

 the marten locally was all gained during the summer season when its 

 addiction to the talus rocks is marked ; but it may be that, in winter when 

 the rock slides are buried in snow, the animals live in the adjacent forest. 

 Only winter observatoins in the high mountains can determine this par- 

 ticular point. 



None of our party happened to see any Pine Martens except those 

 trapped for specimens ; but a group of campers located on Fletcher Creek 

 in September of 1915 reported seeing four or five in. a rock slide opposite 

 their camp. It is not unlikely that watchful visitors in the Hudsonian 

 Zone may, with some frequency, catch sight of martens, as well as other 

 interesting but elusive denizens of the rocks. 



In general form, especially in its relatively slender body, the Pine 

 Marten resembles the weasel. But the tail is much more heavily haired 

 and the tip is not abruptly black. The facial expression, with pointed 

 features, recalls strongly that of the weasel. The marten never gets white 

 in winter, but retains its brown color throughout the year. 



It might be expected that the marten would pursue game of a size 

 proportionate to its own bulk ; but its constant residence in the rock slides 

 makes it seem likely that the decidedly smaller conies and Bushy-tailed 

 Wood Rats are the most important items of its food. Our specimens were 

 caught in traps baited with the bodies of small mammals and birds ; in 

 one case fish was used. 



Pacific Fisher. Martes pennanti pacifica (Rhoads) 



Field characters.— Size twice that of a large domestic cat ; body rather slender 

 (pi. 23a), tail bushy, more than half length of head and body; ears short and rounded. 

 Head and body 20 to 25 inches (520-625 mm.), tail (without end hairs) 15 inches 

 (375-380 mm.), ear l^/^ inches (35-40 mm.); weight (from specimens taken elsewhere 

 in California) 8 to 10 pounds for males, 4 to 5^/^ pounds for females. Coloration black 

 on tip of nose, legs and feet, hind part of body and whole of tail; rest of body drab 

 brown (many of the hairs black-ended), becoming grayish on head and shoulders; 

 occasionally white spots on chest and belly. 



Occurrence. — Moderately common resident in boreal region of Sierra Nevada. Winter 

 specimens taken from Big Meadows and Tuolunme Grove Big Trees eastward to Chin- 

 quapin and floor of Yosemite Valley at Pohono Bridge. Seen in head of Lyell Caiion 

 at about 11,000 feet altitude, July 18, 1915. Mostly inhabits forest. Solitary. 



Information concerning the Pacific Fisher in the Sierras, save for that 

 obtained through trapping, is slow in accumulating. In fact, except for the 

 specimens obtained from trappers in the western part of the Yosemite 



