GEAY SQUIBEEL 203 



the ranks of the Gray Squirrels from time to time, as is known to have 

 been the case, in other places in California ; and, most important of all, 

 the downward fluctuations in the crops of seeds on the principal food trees 

 operate to limit the population. 



Locally, interference by man is operating to reduce the pressure exerted 

 by native carnivorous species on the Gray Squirrel. In Yosemite Valley, 

 the government authorities have favored the elimination of coyotes, bob- 

 cats, and other natural checks. This has evidently worked to the advantage 

 of the Gray Squirrels, and accounts, in part at least, for the great numbers 

 of animals present during certain recent years on the floor of the A^alley. 

 To our way of thinking, this sort of interference is doubly disadvantageous. 

 A National Park ought to be a "natural" park, where the "balance of 

 nature" can remain undisturbed. 



Sierra Chickaree. Sciurus douglasii albolimbatus Allen 



Field characters. — Body size a third that of Gray Squirrel, about equal to that of 

 House Eat; tail about % length of head and body, brush-like, with long hairs at sides; 

 ears tall, slightly tufted (fig. 29). Head and body 7% to 8^4 inches (188-209 mm.), 

 tail 4% to 5% inches (111-139 mm.), hind foot about 2 inches (48-54 mm.), ear (from 

 crown) % to IVs inches (21-30 mm.); weight 7% to 10% ounces (218-299 grams). 

 General coloration above dark brown; a reddish tinge along back; a black line along 

 each side sharply marking off the white or buflfy color of under surface; feet light 

 reddish brown; tail blackish with silvery white hair-tippiugs. Voice: A short explosive 

 note, quer-o, often repeated ; also a prolonged whickering or whinneying, of high-pitched 

 notes uttered 4 or 5 a second and continued for several seconds. Workings : Pine and 

 fir cones cut green and cached on ground about logs; kitchen middens consisting of 

 remains of cones which have been dissected, on the ground (fig. 31), on tops of logs 

 (pi. 36&), or on large rocks; freshly cut foliage scattered on ground beneath trees 

 (pi. 355). 



Occurrence.— Common resident throughout Canadian and Hudsouiau zones to extreme 

 upper limit of forest on both slopes of Sierra Nevada; sparingly represented in upper 

 part of Transition Zone on west slope. Recorded from Sequoia, Hazel Green, and Chin- 

 quapin eastward across mountains to Leevining Creek and Walker Lake. Also on Mono 

 Craters. Found at times in Yosemite Valley. Altitudinal range 4000 to 11,000 feet. 

 Inhabits coniferous trees. Diurnal. Solitary. 



From the lower border of the fir woods to the extreme upper limit of 

 tree growth, the most conspicuous day-moving mammal is the Sierra 

 Chickaree or Red Squirrel. This species is not found in the company of 

 its relative, the Gray Squirrel, save where the ranges of the two overlap 

 slightly on the west slope and in the exceptional instances when the chick- 

 arees in numbers move down into the Transition Zone. Near Sequoia, 

 at Hazel Green, and at Chinquapin the two have been found together. 

 Occasional individuals are to be seen in Yosemite Valley ; in the winter 

 of 1918 large numbers of Red Squirrels moved down into the Valley from 

 the surrounding high country, and some of them were still present at the 



