68 SECOND BIENNIAL EEPORT [W. VA. 



It is possible that the western fox squirrel, S. rufivenier, may occasionally 

 occur in the western part of the State. The fox squirrels, like our other 

 species, need further study in order to determine their respective ranges. 



Ground Squirrel or Chipmunk, Tamias siriaius Linn. 



May be met with from the low river valleys to the spruce woods of our 

 highest mountains. Occasionally becomes very abundant and sometimes does 

 considerable damage by pulling young corn plants in the spring in an effort 

 to get the grain of seed-corn on the root. 



Woodchuck or Ground Hog, Arctom-ys monax Linn. 



Common in most agricultural districts and is occasionally met with in for- 

 ests remote from human habitations. Feeds on corn in the roasting-ear, which 

 it procures by breaking down the stalks; is also fond of pumpkins, young 

 beans, grass and other cultivated crops. Frequently gnaws and scratches the 

 bark of young -fruit trees. Sometimes used as food and its hide is tanned in 

 rural districts by crude, home-made processes, the tough light-colored leather 

 which is obtained being used for gloves, strings, etc. 



\' ; 



Virginia Flying Squirrel, Sciuropterus volans Linn. 



Probably common in all parts of the State but is rarely seen on account of 

 its nocturnal habits. A handsome and harmless little mammal which sleep* 

 by day in hollow trees and comes forth at night to feed on nuts, seeds, etc. 

 Has remarkable flying capacity for a mammal. 



Beaver, Castor canadensis sp. 



Once common but probably long since extinct within our limits. Hon. 

 Andrew Price, of Marlinton, has informed me that there is a well- authenti- 

 cated case of a beaver being killed in .Pocahontas county about 1907 but he 

 supposes: it to have been an individual that had escaped from captivity at 

 some unknown place. The many streams, mountains, and other natural 

 features within the State that have the word "beaver" as a part of their 

 name, indicates the general distribution of this mammal here in an early day. 

 The same inference may be drawn in the case of elk, buffalos and other locally 

 extinct mammals, from the number of times their names occur in the geography 

 of the State. 



Cloudland Deer Mouse, Peromysous maniculatus nubiterrac Rhoads. 



Found only in the Canadian zone where it dwells in crevices of rocks, old 

 logs and other hiding places in the dense, evergreen forests. I have trapped 

 it at Spruce Knob, Cheat Bridge, Cranberry Glades, and in great numbers at 

 "Hanging Rock," an old hunters' camp on the mountain ridge between Cherry 

 and Cranberry rivers. This species has a much shorter tail than the deer 

 mouse found on the lower levels and the color of the back and sides is more 

 of a sooty brown. 



White Footed or Deer Mouse, Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis Fisch. 



This common and handsome little mouse of decidious woods is more often 

 known by the name of "woods mouse" than any other. It is found in all 

 parts of the State below the spruce belt. It lives in the woods but occasionally 

 invades cleared lands where it sometimes enters houses, especially new build- 

 ings near woodlands. The upperparts and sides are russet or fawn-colored and 

 the underparts are pure white. The ears are large and the eyes large and 



