ZOOLOGY 93 



the housewives. They are often to be met with out of doors 

 under cattle dung, stones, and piles of sticks. They are 

 nocturnal in habit. Their bite is by no means as serious as 

 represented. The common belief that they carry a poison 

 sac on each of their feet is, of course, erroneous. 



Thelyphonus sp. The whip-Scorpion, or, as is commonly 

 known here, the "Vinagron," is rarely met with on the mesa. 

 Though probably poisonous its bite is also grossly exaggerated 

 in popular belief. 



Lycosa sp. "Tarantulas" are somewhat more common than 

 the last but much less so than the centipedes. Their bite is 

 more serious than any of the above, but still not dangerous 

 to most people. 



MAMMALS 



The mesa is the particular home of the coyote, the Black- 

 tailed Jack- Rabbit and formerly of the Pronghorn (usually but 

 incorrectly spoken of as the "antelope") which is said to have 

 been common here twenty or thirty years ago and still occurs 

 in limited numbers in the eastern part of the Territory. 

 This and the Jackrabbit are true steppe forms in that they 

 depend entirely upon fleetness for safety, never entering the 

 the ground even for breeding purposes, as the coyote does. 

 The Prong-horn is said by Thompson-Seton to be on the 

 average the fleetest animal in the world. The coyote and the 

 Jackrabbit are frequently seen as high as the Yellow Pine 

 Assn. The latter avoids, in the main, the more open mesa, 

 and is most abundant in the Cane cactus Soc. (Opuntia 

 arborescens) and in the Dalea scoparia Soc. 



Other common mesa mammals are Prairie Dogs, Ground 

 Squirrels, and Pocket Gophers all true ground forms and to 

 them may be added the Cotton Tail Rabbit which is more 

 widespread in its distribution, ascending high into the moun- 

 tains and occupying all of the valley. With possible excep- 

 tion of the last probably none of these rodents drink water 

 except after the very occasional showers which may be months 

 apart and seldom indeed is there any dew. It is a common be- 

 lief that in every Prairie-dog town there is one hole that goes 

 down to water. As it is two hundred feet to water in some 

 of the "towns" east of Albuquerque the ridiculousness of the 

 belief is apparent. 



