Zoology of California. 3297 



Notes on the Zoology of California. 

 Communicated by John Henry Gurney, Esq. 



Having just received the following notes on the animals of Cali- 

 fornia, from a friend of mine who is resident at Monterey, in that 

 country, I beg to forward them for insertion in the ' Zoologist.' 



J. H. Gurney. 



Easton, Norfolk, October 24, 1851. 



The elk is found in great numbers in the San Joaquim and Sacra- 

 mento Valleys. It is a beautiful animal. A gentleman informed me 

 the other day, that when he first came into the country six years ago, 

 he saw one of the grandest sights that a man's eyes could light upon. 

 About 3 o'clock of a summer's afternoon, he came in view of the plains 

 of the Joaquim, as you travel from the ocean. The view from hills 

 1000 feet high, and the plains (flat lands), as far as the eye could see, 

 were covered with immense herds of the noble elk. This animal has 

 immense antlers, and you can imagine the effect of two thousand of 

 them at one view, and entirely in a state of nature, that is, undis- 

 turbed by the hunter. 



There are three or four kinds of deer, also antelopes. 



In the neighbourhood of the Tula lakes, immense bands (sometimes 

 said to contain a thousand) of wild horses roam without a master. 

 They are considered by the Californians as stock escaped from the 

 settlers since the settlement of the country in 1770. 



Hares and rabbits are very plentiful, as well as innumerable ground 

 squirrels, which are exceedingly annoying to the farmer. 



Since the discovery of gold, immense numbers of the common rat 

 have been imported in the ships arriving, and they have now become 

 exceedingly numerous and annoying, and will, I have no doubt, at no 

 distant day, be destructive to the crops. 



Beavers are sometimes found. In former days they used to be very 

 numerous in the Joaquim and Sacramento Valleys. 



Black and grisly bears are abundant in the hills and mountains 

 throughout the state, and are very destructive to young stock. 



The wild cat and a kind of panther are also found in the mountains. 



The Coyote or fox is very numerous, and, with the common gray 

 wolf, is very destructive to young cattle and horses. 



We have also a mole, with fur finer and softer than the best Genoa 

 velvet: also the Gopher, a kind of mole or earth-rat. 



ix 2 s 



