1919] 



Dixon: Bushy-tailed Wood Rats of California 



63 



Breeding Season of the Subspecies of Neotoma cinerea in California as 

 Determined prom Eecords of Young Captured 



Locality Date 



North Fork Coffee Creek, 4500 ft., 



Trinity Co. July 4-5, 1911 



Vogelsang Lake, 10,350 ft., Yosemite 



National Park Aug. 30, 1915 



Near Merceil Lake, 7500 ft., Yosem- 

 ite National Park Aug. 22, 1915 



Jackass Meadow, 7750 ft., Tulare Co. July 28-29, 1911 

 Little Cottonwood Creek, 9500 ft., 



Invo Co. Sept. 5, 1911 

 Jordan Hot Springs, 6700 ft., Tulare 



Co. Sept. 12, 1911 



Sugar Hill, 5000 ft., Modoc Co. May 25, 1910 



Sugar Hill, 5000 ft., Modoc Co. June 3, 1910 



No. of 

 young 



2 

 2 



1 



4 



1 



1 

 2 



1 



Size of 

 young 



% grown 



% grown 

 (wt. 131.9 g.) 



1/4 grown 

 (wt. 95.4g.) 

 % grown 



^2 grown 



% grown 

 % grown 

 % grown 



According to the data at hand the breeding season of N. c. occi- 

 dentalis, a subspecies living for the most part at comparatively low 

 altitudes, appears to' be slightly earlier than that of N. c. cinerea. 

 At 4500 feet on the North Fork of Cof¥ee Creek, Trinity County, on 

 July 4-5, 1911, two adult females that were still nursing young were 

 taken together with the young. It furthermore seems fairly certain 

 that the mother Teonoma continues to nurse and care for her offspring 

 even when they are one-third grown and foraging for themselves. 



GEOWTH OF YOUNG 



We have no information at hand regarding the condition of young 

 bushy-tailed wood rats at birth or of their care and development while 

 in the nest. In our experience, the young have not been available 

 until ter they have left the nest and begun to forage for themselves. 

 By this time they are about one-fourth grown and weigh nearly 100 

 grams or about 31/2 ounces. In individuals of this size, the tail is 

 slightly flattened, with the longest hairs on the sides of the tail not 

 over ten millimeters in length. It is interesting to note in this con- 

 nection that the tail of a very young California ground squirrel 

 (Citcllus leecKeyi) also shows comparatively slight development of 

 the fringe of hairs on the sides of the tail. Comparatively speaking, 

 this character, bushiness of tail, is as much developed in the young 

 Teonoma as it is in the young of Citcllus hcccheyi. If the rate or 

 lime of development of a character in the individual is any reliable 



