28 Joixt Bulletin 2 



THE MAMMALS OF VERMONT 



George L. Kirk. 



The four footed wild creatures of Vermont seem to have been 

 neglected by nature writers. Much good work has been done by the 

 botanists and the ornithologists but the mammals have been almost 

 overlooked. And this is strange, taking into consideration the excellent 

 state and local floras which have been published and the very credit- 

 able birds lists which have appeared in print to show that the state 

 has a number of amateur naturalists who are close observers and en- 

 thusiastic to the last degree. In 1842 the venerable Zadock Thompson 

 devoted a chapter of his famous Vermont history to mammals and it 

 was remarkably complete, considering how few and far between scien- 

 tific men were in that early day and the disadvantages under which 

 he had to work. There have been many changes in nomenclature since 

 Thompson's day and much biological work has been done in New 

 England so that his list cannot at present be turned to as a catalogue 

 of the four-footed animals of Vermont. 



Dr. G. H. Perkins of Burlington in his "Report of the State Geol- 

 ogist, 1909-1910," gives an account of the mammals to be found in the 

 state cabinet at Montpelier, with interesting notes as to the abundance 

 or rarity of most of the species, and Dr. Glover M. Allen of Boston in 

 his "Fauna of New England, No. 3," Boston Society of Natural His- 

 tory occasional papers, makes reference to the species found in Ver- 

 mont in his general check list of all of the New England states. These 

 papers, however, are based on such material as had found its way into 

 museum collections and by no means give an adequate idea of the 

 fauna of Vermont. 



Realizing that there was abundant opportunity for systematic col- 

 lecting Mr. Duane E. Kent of Rutland and the writer began in 1912 

 to make a survey of the mammalia of the state. As this has been done 

 merely as a pastime at leisure moments, in addition to daily duties 

 which demanded attention 51 weeks in the year, the time devoted to 

 it has necessarily been limited and the pleasant task is by no means 

 completed. Taking the mammal lists of adjoining states as a basis for 

 comparison, nearly all of the species which could be expected in the 

 Green Mountain state have been secured and it seems proper to publish 

 the list at this time. 



The writer is greatly indebted to Mr. E. W. Nelson of the United 

 States biological survey and to Dr. Glover M. Allen for identification 

 of material and to Mr. Kent, Mr. D. L. Dutton of Brandon, Mr. D. R. 



