ifxp^^Ste.} lAFK HISTORY OF THE KANGAROO RAT. 9 



protection than mesqiiite — since cattle more often seek shade under 

 the hitter, and in so doing frequently trample the mounds severely — 

 it appears that the general protection of a tree or shrub of some sort 

 is sought by kangaroo rats, rather than the specific protection of the 

 thickest or thorniest sj^ecies. 



The following records indicate particular habitat preferences of 

 spectabilis as noted at different points in its range : 



Occurs" on open bare knolls exposed to winds, also on gravelly places at 

 lower edge of foothills (Franklin Mountains, Tex., Gaut) ; here and there 

 over the barest and hardest of the gravelly mesas (Bailey, Tex., 1905, 147) ; 

 on open creosote-bush and giant-cactus desert (Tucson, Ariz., Vorhies and 

 Taylor) ; on firm, gravelly, or even rocky soil on the grassy bajada land along 

 the northwest base of the mountains, either in the open or under Celtis, Pro- 

 sopis, Li/Qiicm, Acacia (jregyi;, or other brush (Santa Rita Mountains, Ariz., 

 Vorhies and Taylor) : mounds usually thrown up around a bunch of cactus or 

 mesquite brush (Magdalena, Sonora, Bailey) ; in heavy soil (Ajo, Ariz., A. B. 

 Howell) ; loamy soil (Gunsight, Ariz., A. B. Howell) ; in mesa where not too 

 stony (Magdalena, Sonora, Bailey) ; grassy plain (Gallego. Chihuahua, Nelson) : 

 in open valley and high open plains (Santa Rosa, N. Mex., Bailey) ; in grassy 

 and weed-grown parks among the larger junipers, pinyons, and scattering 

 yellow pines (Bear Spring Mountains, N. Mex., Hollister) ; on sand-dune strip 

 (east side of Pecos River, 1.5 miles northeast of Roswell, N. Mex., Bailey) ; 

 among Ephedra patches (San Juan Valley. N. Mex., Birdseye) ; in open sandy 

 soil along dry wash (Rio Alamosa, N. Mex., Goldman) ; on sides and crests 

 of bare, stony hills (Mesa Jumanes, N. Mex., Gaut) ; in open, arid part of the 

 valley and stony mesas (Carlsbad and Pecos Valley, N. Mex.. Bailey) ; about 

 the edges of the plains of San Augustine and the foothills of the Datil and 

 Gallina Mountains, and in the Transition Zone yellow-pine forest of the Gallina 

 Mountains (Datil region, N. Mex., Hollister) ; on hard limy ridges (Monahans, 

 Tex., Gary). 



A. Brazier Ho^Yell notes that spectahUis occurs in harder soil than 

 does deserti. This observation is confirmed by others, and seems to 

 afford a conspicuous habitat difference between the two. for deserti 

 is typically an animal of the shifting aeolian sands. 



Usually, as on the Range Reserve, the rodents are widely distributed 

 over a considerable area. Occasionally, as in the vicinity of Rio 

 Alamosa, N. Mex., as reported hy Goldman, they occur only in small 

 colonies. ^ 



HABITS. 



EVIDENCE OF PRESENCE. 



Mounds. 



One traveling over territory thickly occupied by the banner-tailed 

 kangaroo rat is certain to note the numerous and conspicuous mounds 

 so characteristic of the species, particularly if the region is of the 

 savannah type, grassy rather than brushy. These low, rounded 

 mounds occupy an area of several feet in diameter, and rise to vary- 



