1936] MAMMALS OF OREGON 319 



Food habits. Small mammals, largely mice and wood rats, are 

 said to furnish most of their food, but like other closely related 

 species the ringtails undoubtedly capture some small birds and eat 

 insects and fruit when other game is scarce. They are readily 

 attracted to traps by any kind of meat, fur, or feathers, and are easily 

 caught. 



Economic status. As fur-bearing animals ringtails have but little 

 value and often are not considered worth skinning when caught. 

 Still their fur is fine and soft and when prime rather pretty, as well 

 as light and warm. Perhaps the fur value, however, makes up 

 for their occasional meal on poultry or small game, while their 

 greatest value lies undoubtedly in their check on overabundance of 

 wood rats, mice, and other rodents. To what extent they destroy 

 insects and such small animal life is not known. 



Family URSIDAE : Bears 



EUARCTOS AMERICANUS CINNAMOMUM (AUDUBON AND BACHMAN) 



IDAHO BLACK BEAR ; CINNAMON BEAR ; YACKKAH of the " Chopunnish " Indians 

 (L. and C.) ; TOKA'KUACHA of the Piute at Burns; WE-TAM of the Klamath 

 (C. H. M.) 



Ursus americanus var. cinnamomum Audubon and Bachman, Quad. North 

 Amer., v. 3, p. 125, 1854. 



Type locality. Lower Clearwater River, Camp Chopunnish, near mouth of 

 Jim Ford Creek, western Idaho. Description based on skin purchased from 

 Indians by Lewis and Clark on May 31, 1806 (1893, v. 8, p. 1030). 



General characters. Bears are heavily built and powerful animals with 

 mere rudiments of tails, very strong limbs, plantigrade feet, strong claws, 

 and heavy carnivore dentition. The black-bear group differs from the grizzlies 

 in generally smaller size, relatively as well as actually lighter dentition, and 

 in short well curved rather than long relatively straight claws on the front 

 feet. Nose with large naked pad; eyes small; ears well haired, prominent in 

 summer, almost buried in the long fur of winter; teeth normally 38, but some 

 of the small premolars usually lacking. 



This subspecies averages larger than the eastern americanus, with higher, 

 more arched outline of skull, relatively heavier canines and lighter molars. 

 The skull is similar to that of amblyceps, of the southern Rocky Mountains, 

 hut molar teeth larger and thicker. Color varying from black to dark and 

 light brown and often fading in summer to yellowish or whitish in the old 

 winter coat, sometimes with a white spot or patch on throat or breast ; nose 

 usually brown or yellowish. Judging from specimens examined and field 

 reports there are about one-third more brown than black bears in eastern 

 Oregon, and about four times as many black as brown west of the Cascades. 

 There are several records of twin cubs, 1 brown and 1 black, with either a 

 black or a brown mother. 



Trustworthy measurements and weights of bears are greatly needed for all 

 parts of the country, including Oregon. A well-tanned skin of a large male 

 from the Blue Mountains measures in total length 6 feet ; hind foot, 7 inches ; 

 tail, 3 inches; ear, 4 inches. Skull of old male from Wallowa: Basal length, 

 275 mm; zygomatic breadth, 185. Published weights of from 200 to 500 

 pounds rarely specified whether the animal was actually weighed or the weight 

 merely estimated. 



Distribution and habitat. The black bears still occupy much of 

 their original range in Oregon, but generally in greatly reduced 

 numbers (fig. 79). They were once common throughout the Blue 

 Mountain section and along the east slope of the Cascades. Ap- 

 parently they never occupied the arid southeastern part of the State, 

 or any part where water and timber were not within easy reach. 



