1936] MAMMALS OF OBEGON 129 



EUTAMIAS TOWNSENDII COOPERI (BAIRD) 

 COOPER'S CHIPMUNK 



Tamias cooperi Baird, Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. Proc. 7 : 334, 1855. 



Type. Collected at Klickitat Pass, Cascade Mountains, Wash., by J. G. Cooper 

 in 1853. 



General characters. Similar to typical townsendii, but paler, the browns more 

 mixed with gray. Summer pelage, back with 3 black and 2 outer brown stripes, 



2 grayish white, and 2 yellowish gray stripes ; sides of head with 2 whitish and 



3 brown stripes; sides and most of upper parts and feet grayish brown; tail 

 pale rusty brown underneath with black top and tip and margins, frosted above 

 with white tips of long hairs ; patch back of each ear and lower parts white or 

 whitish. Winter pelage and color of young scarcely different from summer. 



Measurements. Average of adults: Total length, 250 mm; tail, 112; foot, 

 36; ear (dry), 16.8. 



Distribution and habitat. These chipmunks occupy the Cascade 

 Range from southern British Columbia south to Mount Jefferson and 

 thence southwest along the west side of the range to Glendale in the 

 Rogue River Mountains, mainly in Transition Zone, but in places 

 also in Canadian Zone (fig. 21). 



General habits. Like other forms in the group these are mainly 

 forest chipmunks, although often found in the underbrush or out in 

 dense chaparral, or along fence rows at a distance from the main 

 forest. They climb trees readily but depend on their burrows, hollow 

 logs, or trees for refuge, or on flight under cover of dense brush and 

 low vegetation. In voice and habits generally they seem not to differ 

 from typical Eutamias townsendii. 



Breeding habits. On the slopes of Mount Hood at 2,800 feet, 

 Cantwell found them out on the snow, on March 23, actively running 

 about in their mating activities. At McKenzie Bridge the writer's 

 party found the young out of the nests in the latter part of June, 

 most of them not long abroad and scarcely half grown. There 

 seems to be no evidence of any second litters of young, which, since 

 August and September is their time for harvesting and storing winter 

 food, would mature top late to permit securing of the necessary stores 

 and carrying on the vital processes of hibernation. 



Food habits. The food of Cooper's chipmunks consists mainly of 

 nuts, seeds, berries, roots, green vegetation, and insects, varying 

 with the season and the local supply. Along the west base of Mount 

 Jefferson in October, they were feeding extensively on the seeds of 

 dogwood, Oornus nuttallii, the scarlet berries of which were found 

 scattered on logs and stumps all through the woods. On Mount 

 Hood, in September, they were gathering the seeds from hemlock 

 cones, getting the rich little seeds from under each scale as it was 

 clipped off, and leaving piles of cores and scales where they were 

 feeding. 



Economic statics. Except for the fact that Cooper's chipmunks 

 live more in the mountains and less in agricultural regions their 

 economic relations are practically the same as those of Townsend's 

 chipmunk. 



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