528 University of California Publications in Zoology | Vou. 17 
Frepine Hairs 
Aplodontia is rarely seen in the daytime, but comes forth early in 
the evening in search of food and doubtless remains active through- 
out the night. Bretherton (1895, p. 124) mentions that he has trapped 
a large number without ever having seen one abroad in daylight. 
Our own observations as well as those of others confirm him. An indi- 
vidual of Aplodontia rufa phaea that the author kept captive built 
itself a nest where it remained passive in a sitting posture throughout 
the day. 
rs 
4 
ip 
bf 
a*/- 
Fig. 5. Entranee to burrow of Aplodontia rufa phaea; six miles west of 
Inverness, Marin County, California. Cutting of sword fern to be seen in mouth 
of burrow. 
This rodent is slow and cumbersome in gait and seldom ventures 
far from its burrow. Tunnels are dug directly into suitable clumps 
of vegetation where the animals wish to forage, and from the burrow 
entrances issue short trails or runways along which the animal trans- 
ports cut stems and leaves to the mouths of its burrow system. Occa- 
sional sections of eut material are dropped along these pathways, 
thus distinguishing them from the runways made by rabbits and 
eround squirrels (see fig. 5). Remains of fresh leaves and twigs 
