MAMMALS. 53 



deep snow for seven or eight months, and as they do not lay up any 

 stores, the accumulated fat must carry them through this inactive 

 period. Dry grass and sedges are carried into-their burrows for nest 

 material, and we can imagine them comfortably curled up in their 

 Avarm beds deep under the cover of ground and I'ocks and snow ; but 

 except for a few burrows excavated l)y bears, I have ncAer been able 

 to explore their dens. 



Brown Woodciiuck : Marmota mona.v pcfrensis HowelL — The 

 brown woodchuck, which is found a little farther north and west, 

 undoubtedly does occur in some of the lower areas of the park, but I 

 could not get any definite record of its occurrence. Park Ranger 

 Gibb thinks he has seen them within the park boundaries, but could 

 not give me a specific locality record. Apparently none of the other 

 rangers had seen or recognized the species. 



Family MURID^: Mice, Rats, etc. 



Gkay Bttsiiy-tailed Woodeat: Neotoma cinerea cinerea (Ord). — • 

 These bushy-tailed woodrats, pack rats, trade rats, or cliff rats, as 

 variously called, are not closely related to the common barn rat, 

 or wharf rat, which is justly held in such ill repute. They belong 

 to a different subfamily and are natives of America, while the -wharf 

 rat is an introduced pest of Asiatic origin. Far from having the dis- 

 gusting habits and mean appearance of the wharf rat. woodrats are 

 bright, attractive animals Avith big eyes, expressive faces, and 

 squirrel-like tails, and no animal could be more neat and exemplarjr. 



They are common wherever rocks and cliffs or any suitable cover 

 provides them with homes throughout the lower levels of the park. 

 Their greatest abundance is in the Transition Zone borders of the 

 park, and usually they do not extend far into the- Canadian Zone 

 nor at all above it. They are not strictlj^ confined to any zone, how- 

 ever, as their selection of homes protects them from the. severity of 

 climate and enables them to adaj^t themselves to- a wide range of 

 environment. A broken cliff or deep talus on a steep' south slope 

 will sometimes carry them well up the mountain side without ex- 

 posure to the extreme cold of the higher zone, and occasionally their 

 signs are found almost up to timberline. 



Woodrats are the original cliff dwellers, having made their' homes 

 among the rocks for so many ages that some of their deposits- have 

 become almost geological in formation. Their safest strongholds 

 are found in caves and crevices in the rocks and they have adapted 

 their building methods and manner of life to these cliff dwellings. 

 A typical family residence was found in the wall of the canyon 

 over Swiftcurrent Falls near Many Glacier Hotel. The overhanging 

 cliff shelters a small cave which opens back in narrow cracks and 



