1936] MAMMALS OF OREGON 305 



tude on the back to devour it. The character of the molar teeth, 

 with rounded, crushing surfaces, would indicate their use in crush- 

 ing shells rather than catching fish or tearing and cutting any kind 

 of flesh. The kelp which they are said to eat may be accidentally 

 included with the crustaceans, mollusks, and other inhabitants of 

 the kelp beds. The abundance of their favorite food in the past was 

 undoubtedly a very important factor in determining their distribu- 

 tion and abundance. 



At times they become very fat and are reported by some to be 

 good eating and by others as not fit for human food. 



Economic status. Sea-otter fur has been generally considered the 

 most beautiful and valuable fur in the world, and has brought the 

 highest price, even up to several thousand dollars each for choice 

 skins. Their high value brought about almost complete destruction 

 of the species during a time when no international protection was 

 possible. Now with the help of international laws and a partially 

 awakened world conscience, it would seem to require mainly the effi- 

 cient local enforcement of the laws to bring back gradually a fur 

 bearer that under proper care would be worth more to the State 

 than all of her present yield of fur. 



TAXIDEA TAXUS NEGLECTA MEABNS 



CALIFORNIA BADGES; HOONAH of the Burns Piute; AKOWA of the Wasco; 

 KOLTZ of the Klamath (C. H. M.) 



Taxidea wnericana negtecta Mearns, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Bull. 3 : 250, 1901. 



Type. Collected at Fort Crook, Shasta County, Calif., by John Feilner in 

 1859. 



General characters. Body heavy, low, and wide (pi. 43, B) ; tail short; 

 legs short and powerful, with long digging claws on front feet; soles mostly 

 naked and partially plantigrade; ears low and wide; eyes small; skin thick 

 arid tough, especially over head and neck, and muscles of head, neck, and 

 shoulders powerful; fur in winter long and loose, with very long coarse 

 hairs projecting along the sides; in summer short, harsh, and hairy; skull 

 heavy, triangular, with 34 teeth. Color, in summer pelage, upper parts coarsely 

 grizzled buffy brown, from black and white tips of long hairs showing over 

 clear buff underfur; top of head, back of ears, a spot on each cheek, feet, and 

 legs blackish ; a narrow stripe from nose to back of neck or shoulders white ; 

 lower parts buffy, paler on throat and sides of face around black spot and 

 inside and edges of ears; a white stripe generally along middle of belly. 

 Winter fur paler, more frosted with the long white tips of the hairs which 

 partly obscure the dusky subterminal zones. 



Measurements. A large male from Antelope, Oreg., measured in the flesh: 

 Total length, 800 mm ; tail, 120 ; foot, 130 ; ear from notch to tip, measured dry, 

 about 30. A female from Yamsey Mountain measured 780; 154; 108; 30. 

 Weight of a large male from North Dakota 25 pounds. Weight of average 

 animals when lean about 16 to 20 pounds. 



Distribution and habitat. This form of the genus, characterized 

 by slightly smaller size, darker colors and more inflated audital 

 bullae than typical taxm from Saskatchewan, occupies the Great 

 Basin region, including Oregon east of the high part of the Cas- 

 cades (fig. 75). There is one record for the upper Kogue Eiver 

 Valley where many of the desert species cross over the low pass 

 west of Klamath Lakes. They are primarily animals of the sage- 

 brush plains with no zonal restrictions wherever a convenient food 

 supply may lead them. Their apparent aversion to forest country 



7209 36 20 



