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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



areas the animal distribution as out- 

 lined by Bailey. This latter part of 

 the task has been particularly difficult, 

 because of the lack of exact and sufficient 

 information as to the limits of distribu- 

 tion of the animal life of the state, but 

 such data do not exist. 



1. Southeastern coniferous forest 



This is an area of some 6000 or more 

 sq. mi. of territory in eastern Texas, 

 which is the western limit of a great 

 band of forest that extends westward 

 into Texas from the Atlantic coastline 

 of South Carolina. In Texas it is 

 separated from the coast by the coastal 

 prairies, which are the western limits of 

 a similar area following eastward 

 through Louisiana along the gulf coast. 

 The western limit of the area is approxi- 

 mately at the Trinity River, while to 

 the north and northwest it blends off 

 into a transition area, the Oak Grove 

 Savanna. It is the region of greatest 

 rainfall in the state, the precipitation 

 exceeding 50 in. annually. Topograph- 

 ically, it is a region of rolling sandy 

 ridges, the Fayette sands, which in 

 itself is an important ecological factor 

 in the floral distribution. The charac- 

 teristic tree of this forest is the long- 

 leaved pine (Pinus palustris], whose 

 deep, penetrating tap root is best suited 

 to such soil. This tree is found in pure 

 stand where abnormal conditions (such 

 as fire and lumbering) have not over- 

 thrown the balance. The undisturbed 

 forest is one of open formation with 

 practically no woody undergrowth, car- 

 peted with grass and low herbs, as the 

 conditions are xerophytic for shallow 

 rooted plants. The region is transected 

 by local Bottomland forests (Bray) 

 which follow the wide channels formed 

 by the Sulphur Fork of the Red River, 

 the Sabine, Neches, Trinity and the 

 San Jacinto river systems. It also 

 includes a part of the loblolly pine 

 (Pinus taeda) forest (of Bray) which 

 reaches its climax in the Big Thicket of 

 Hardin County. In the Bottomland 

 forests we find hickories, oaks (white, 



post, bur, red, Quercus alba, Q. stellata, 

 macrocarpa, rubra) elms, bays, gum, 

 haws, holly and ash, while in the Lob- 

 lolly forests we find as dominants the 

 loblolly pine, gum, magnolia, with sub- 

 dominants of holly, waterbeech (Car- 

 pinus caroliniana] , hornbeam (Ostrya 

 virginiana), dogwood (Cornus florida}, 

 witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana] and 

 others. 



The animal life is typically that of the 

 coniferous forest of the Mississippi val- 

 ley. Here we find the eastern rattle- 

 snake (Crotalus horridus) at the extreme 

 western edge of its range, and barely 

 extending over the limits of the conifer 

 forest into the transition area to the 

 deciduous forest. Among the squirrels, 

 the western fox squirrel (Sciurus niger 

 rufiventer] and the gray squirrel (Sciurus 

 carolinensis} are here in abundance, 

 overstepping into the aforesaid transi- 

 tion area in eastern Texas as the red and 

 white oak and hickory extend into this 

 area. The same may be said of the 

 Florida flying-squirrel (Glaucomys vo- 

 lans texensis) and the pine-woods deer 

 mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus mega- 

 cephalus) . The Louisiana harvest mouse 

 (Reithrodontomys fulvescens aurantius] 

 covers eastern Texas and is also typical 

 of this region, pushing its range toward 

 the coast, where it enters the coastal 

 prairies, living in the tall grass at the 

 edge of the woods a local extension of 

 its range. To this region belong also 

 the raccoon (Procyon lot or), Virginia deer 

 (Odocoileus virginianus texanus), black 

 bear (Ursus americanus} and bob-cat 

 (Lynx rufus texensis), these species have 

 a range considerably outside of the coni- 

 fer forest, due to extensions up the river 

 bottoms where the wooded conditions 

 and the presence of abundant water 

 make these extensions possible. 



Local conditions. As local conditions 

 we have within the coniferous forest 

 areas of cane breaks on bottomlands, 

 within which black bears are to be found. 

 The longleaf area is dotted with low 

 patches of hardwoods, known as "ham- 

 mocks," characterized by holly, etc. 



