298 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA [No. 55 



at Strawberry Lake. In 1919 Cantwell reported them as rare but 

 occasionally taken by trappers in favorable places in the Sled 

 Springs district north of Enterprise, and in the Wallowa Mountains. 

 In the Rocky Mountains these animals are found mainly in Cana- 

 dian and Hudsonian Zones of the mountain ranges. 



General habits. The habits of the martens everywhere seem to 

 be much the same; they are boreal forest hunters of small game, 

 expert climbers, and great travelers over the winter snow fields, 

 and keep generally in the shelter of the forests and away from the 

 water or open country. They are to some extent weasellike in their 

 methods of hunting over the ground, along logs, and even up the 

 trees after squirrels or birds. They climb rapidly and hunt Rich- 

 ardson's squirrels in their tree homes. Chipmunks, ground squir- 

 rels, and various mice are common prey. At Strawberry Lake, 

 where Jewett caught a whole family of martens, the old male 

 had a water ouzel in its stomach. Rabbits and grouse are about the 

 largest game on their list, but mice and insects are their " daily 

 bread " in summer, and berries in their season are said to be a 

 favorite food. 



MARTES PENNANTI PACIFICA (RHOADS) 

 PACIFIC FISHER ; PEKAN ; AGABASTAM of the Wasco 



Musteld canadensis paciftca Rhoads, Amer. Phil. Soc. Trans, (n. s.) 19 : 435, 1898. 



Type. Collected at Lake Keechelus, Kittitas County, Wash., by Allan Rupert, 

 1892. 



General characters. Much larger than the marten, with longer tail and 

 heavier build, nearly as large as a fox but with shorter legs, tail, and ears; 

 tooth and cranial characters as in martens, but with heavier skull and teeth; 

 high sagittal crest; feet heavily furred in winter; toes webbed at base only; 

 nails sharp and curved for climbing; without the conspicuous abdominal 

 gland of the male martens. Summer pelage thin and harsh, the coarse outer 

 hairs hiding thin underfur. Winter fur long, light and wavy, much obscured 

 by very long, sparse outer hairs; tail heavily furred to tip with long shiny 

 black outer hairs. Color much the same at all seasons; upper parts variable, 

 buffy gray or snuff brown, coarsely grizzled with black-tipped white hairs 

 over shoulders and becoming darker or blackish over back and rump; tail, 

 feet, nose, and back of ears black or blackish; lower parts mostly black or 

 blackish with often white spots on throat, breast, and in axils of front and 

 hind legs. 



Measurements. Large male: 1,013 mm; 395; 128; 41. Weight 10 pounds 2 

 ounces. Other weights given up to 12 and 18 pounds. 



Distribution and habitat. The fisher of the Cascades extends from 

 British Columbia south through Washington and Oregon to north- 

 ern California and also through the Coast Ranges (fig. 71). No 

 specimens have been seen from the Blue Mountain section, but pro- 

 visionally the records are included under this name. Like the 

 martens, they are boreal in habitat, but in Oregon they occupy also 

 the cool humid Coast Kanges and coniferous coastal forests. They 

 are forest dwellers and are rarely found far from cover of spruce and 

 pine. 



General habits. Fishers are similar to the martens in habits, being 

 great climbers and hunters, pursuing their prey on the ground 

 or to the tops of the tallest trees, and even making long leaps from 

 tree to tree in pursuit of squirrels or to escape their enemies. Their 

 nests and breeding dens are said to be in hollow trees or hollow 



