88 ANIMAL LIFE IN TEE YOSEMITE 



weasel was reported near Sentinel Hotel. December 9, 1914, tracks were 

 seen in the snow on the Yosemite Falls Trail, and December 23, the same 

 year, tracks were seen on the Vernal and Nevada Falls trail. In the latter 

 case runways crossed the trail in many places, but these did not extend 

 A'ery far out on the unbroken snow. The weasels were then evidently living 

 among the rocks which bordered the trails, for the short runs often led into 

 holes about 1^ inches in diameter burrowed in the snow covering the 

 rocks and adjacent bushes and small trees. 



During the rather brief stops which our party made at the various 

 camps occupied in the Yosemite country, we saw many of these animals. 

 At Chinquapin, on June 19, 1915, one of our party came upon a weasel 

 in a small pile of old logs near a clearing. The weasel disappeared. The 

 observer waited ten minutes and then went cautiously around to the other 

 side of the pile where he found the animal peeking out at him curiously. 

 When we stopped near the Tuolumne Meadows camp of the Sierra Ckib 

 in late July of 1915, one weasel was shot right in camp as it made its 

 appearance under a log beside a small rocky eminence. Another individual 

 was seen close by, at the base of the same rock heap, where it was traveling 

 in long bounds along the boulders. These two individuals caused par- 

 ticular concern to a number of White-crowned Sparrows which had their 

 broods in the near vicinity ; the birds evinced their anxiety over the 

 presence of the enemy with many sharp notes of alarm. In Yosemite 

 Valley on June 25, 1920, a Mountain Weasel was discovered through the 

 excited calling of a pair of Spurred Towhees in a cascara thicket. This 

 weasel took refuge from our pursiiit up in an apple tree ; there he dodged 

 about among the branches and repeatedly looked down at us, monkey 

 fashion. The black-appearing head, big round ears, and beady eyes had a 

 strikingly alert expression. 



In Yosemite Valley domestic cats were kept bj^ the local residents until 

 about 1908 when they were banished by order of the park authorities. 

 The following year mice swarmed ; then weasels began to be noted and they 

 have been observed there in numbers ever since. We were told by Mr. C. W. 

 Baker that on July 25, 1915, there was a brood of young to be seen playing 

 about an occupied tent. The same informant stated that weasels were 

 common about the horse barns and that they came out and watched like 

 cats when bales and sacks were moved about and mice were likely to appear. 

 Twice, we were told, weasels in the Valley had been seen carrying pocket 

 gophers. At Tuolumne Meadows a packer told us that he saw one kill a 

 'picket-pin' (Belding Ground Squirrel) ; the weasel had the squirrel by 

 the back of the neck. 



At Walker Lake on September 12, 1915, a Red Squirrel was caught 

 in one of the traps in a setting placed between the butts of two logs. Later, 



