1936] 



MAMMALS OF OREGON 



149 



Apparently no food is stored for winter use nor do they carry food 

 in the rather small cheek pouches. 



Economic status. In Washington, Idaho, and Montana these 

 squirrels are among the most destructive rodents in the grainfields, 

 causing heavy losses each year. Their limited range in Oregon, how- 

 ever, is fortunately not in an extensive grain-producing section. 

 Around the edges of the Grand Konde and Wallowa Valleys and over 

 part of the Imnaha Plateau they do come in contact with grainfields, 

 and locally destroy much of the growing and ripening grain, feeding 

 on it from the time the seed is sown until the harvested crop is 

 securely shut away from 

 them. Their large size 

 enables them to pull 

 down the standing grain 

 and eat the heads, so that 

 in addition to the con- 

 siderable amount eaten, 

 much is tangled and 

 wasted. On the stock 

 range they also consume 

 much valuable forage, so 

 that it is necessary to 

 destroy them locally. 



Lewis and Clark found 

 them good food when 

 other game was scarce, 

 and in camp the writer 

 has enjoyed many good 

 meals from them. Their habits are exemplary as food animals, and 

 their use for food should be encouraged. 



\^4 *> 

 CITELLUS OREGONUS (MEERIAM) 



FIGURE 28. Range of the Oregon ground squirrel, 

 Citellus oregonua, in Oregon. Type locality 

 circled. 



OREGON GROUND SQUIRREL; ME-SAS of the Klamath (C. H. M.) ; KUA-PA of the 



Piute at Burns 



Spermophilus oregonus Merriam, Biol. Soc. Wash. Proc. 12 : 69, 1898. 



Type. Collected at Swan Lake Valley, Klamath County, Oreg., by Vernon 

 Bailey in 1897. 



General characters. A medium-sized ground squirrel about half as large as 

 Citellus columbianus and twice as large as C. mollis canus; ears short; tail 

 iy 2 times the length of hind foot; soles half naked; fur short and soft. Color 

 about the same at all seasons and ages, upper parts buffy gray, becoming 

 brownish gray on nose and back; tail clear chestnut below, with black tip 

 and margins; top dusky gray with buffy tips to long hairs; feet and lower 

 parts buffy gray. 



Measurements. Total length, 280 mm; tail, 68; foot, 42; ear (dry), 10, 

 from crown, 5. Average weight of adults, 302 g (about 10 ounces). (Grinnell 

 and Dixon, 1918, p. 658.) One large moderately fat male, in eastern Oregon, 

 weighed 1 pound on August 2. 



Distribution and habitat. These medium-sized and plain-colored 

 ground squirrels are the most abundant and widely spread species 

 in the State, occupying the more open parts of the Transition Zone 

 in Oregon east of the Cascades, and extending into northeastern 

 California, northern Nevada, and southwestern Idaho (fig. 28) . They 



