1936] MAMMALS OF OREGON 259 



THOMOMYS MONTICOLA NASICUS MERBIAM 



DESCHUTES POCKET GOPHER 



Thomomys naswus Merriam, Biol. Soc. Wash. Proc. 11 : 216, 1897. 



Type. Collected at Farewell Bend on the Deschutes River, west of Prine- 

 ville, Oreg., by Edward A. Preble, August 4, 1896. 



General characters. Size and general characters of maza/ma but lighter and 

 more yellowish in coloration; skull long and narrow with long, spreading 

 nasals ; upper parts bright yellowish hazel, with plumbeous nose and ear 

 patches ; lower parts rich buff ; feet, most of tail and chin, usually whitish. 



Measurement s. Type, adult male: Total length, 214 mm; tail, 69; foot, 27; 

 ear (dry), 6. 



Distribution and habitat. This is the pocket gopher of the yellow 

 pine forest east of the Cascades, from Farewell Bend on the Des- 

 chutes to Fort Klamath, and in the Paulina and Yamsey Mountains 

 (fig. 58). 



General habits. In the open yellow pine forest country these 

 pocket gophers live among the trees as well as out in the meadows, 

 fields, and cleared pastures. In habits they differ little from mazama 

 except that at lower levels they more often come in direct conflict with 

 agriculture and in many places prove so troublesome that their de- 

 struction in the fields and among the irrigation ditches becomes 

 necessary. 



THOMOMYS FUSCUS FUSCUS MEERIAM 



BROWN POCKET GOPHEB 



Thomomys clushis fuscus Merriam, North Amer. Fauna No. 5, p. 69, 1891. 

 Thomomys qua&ra-tus icalloica, Hall and Orr, Biol. Soc. Wash. Proc. 46: 41, 



1933. Type from Catherine Creek, 7 miles east of Telocaset, Wallowa 



Mountains, Oreg. 



Type. Collected in mountains at head of Big Lost River, Idaho, 8,000 feet 

 altitude, by B. H. Dutcher, September 28, 1890. 



General characters. Small, relatively light and slender; ears small but 

 pointed; incisors not protruding; upper parts light brownish or dull walnut 

 brown, not so bright as in nasicus or mazama; ear patches blackish; nose 

 plumbeous; lower parts buffy; feet and tail soiled whitish or buffy. 



Measurements. Average of typical adult males : Total length, 203 mm ; tail, 

 70; foot, 27; ear (dry), 5. 



Distribution and habitat. This is a small mountain pocket gopher 

 of the northern Rocky Mountain region, extending west into eastern 

 Washington and the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon, mainly 

 in Transition and Canadian Zones (fig. 58). 



General habits. These little pocket gophers live in the meadows, 

 parks, and open woods of the Blue Mountain section and range down 

 into only the higher of the agricultural valleys. Their small 

 " gopher hills " are often thickly scattered over the most beautiful 

 and fertile parks and open places where they bury some of the grow- 

 ing vegetation, and, in course of time, thoroughly plow the parks 

 and mountain slopes, stirring, mixing, and mellowing the soil as 

 well as enriching it, and providing mellow spots for the seeds of 

 such plants as could not grow in a crowded turf. 



Breeding habits. The mammae are in four pairs, and young 

 of various sizes are found throughout the summer months. Little 

 is oh record, however, of their actual breeding habits. 



