82 



YOSEMITE NATURE NOTES 



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Gray f<>\. Note black-tipped tail. 



ows early in 1952. The gray fox is often 

 mistaken for this species because of cer- 

 tain reddish portions of the coat. The 

 upperparts of the red fox are a yellowish 

 red and it has a large, bushy tail with a 

 white tip. 



This species produces the "cross," "sil- 

 ver" and "black." phases associated with 

 red foxes elsewhere. It is a denizen of the 

 higher elevations and is found more com- 

 monly east of the crest, outside the park. 

 It is more numerous in Sequoia-Kings 

 Canyon National Parks. 



In the middle and lower elevations of 

 the park, the Townsend gray fox is 

 quite likely to be seen. At night, the car 

 headlights will often pick one up as it 

 scurries away. The first impression may 

 be that it is a cat, for the gray fox is 

 slender and quick. 



Visitors seem prone to mistake the 

 gray for a red fox, doubtlessly misled by 

 the reddish color along the sides and base 

 of the neck, together with the reddish 

 flanks. In reality, the larger part of the 

 animal is iron gray, thereby justifying the 

 name. The black stripe along the top of 

 the tail, ending in a black tip, gives con- 

 clusive identification for the gray fox. 



At times, the hoarse, single bark will 

 be clearly heard coming from a rocky 

 hillside. It sounds like a sharp "rawk," 

 and if one is not close enough to detect 

 the hoarse qualitv, it may be mistakenly 



attributed to a "frog" or "night bird." 

 Often, a fox will emit one bark, then 

 move a short distance and give another. 



Like other grays, our form has been 

 known to climb trees, especially if the 

 trunk is sloping. They are not animals 

 of the deep forest, however, preferring 

 areas with shrubbery, where they hunt 

 for the small rodents and vegetable mat- 

 ter, particularly berries, which comprise 

 their food. Garbage will not be spurned 

 by them when available. 



All the bears now in Yosemite are the 

 Sierra black bear, a subspecies of the 

 American black bear. Several color 

 phases are found, ranging from coal 

 black to light brown or cinnamon. Black 

 phase females often produce brown cubs, 

 or one black and one brown cub, and 

 brown females do likewise. 



Population estimates for the 1,189 

 square miles embracing Yosemite Na- 

 tional Park vary between 300 and 400 

 bears. In summer, there are from 4 to 

 12 bears living on the valley floor. Under 

 primitive conditions, the area would not 

 be large enough to support over three or 

 four individuals. The higher concentra- 

 tion now present is probably due to the 

 presence of thousands of people, who 

 furnish considerable food through gar- 

 bage and the larders of unwary campers. 



Little is known about the length of 



Stquoia Nal!. Isrk Pi'oto 



Gray fox pup. 



