COMMON MAMMALS OF WESTERN MONTANA. 



45 



author kept alive for several weeks during the summer of 1911 was 

 very fond of these rodents and sometimes ate three or four of them 

 in a day. It also ate woodchucks. chipmunks, pine squirrels, and 

 mice. From a study of the food habits of these animals it is evident 

 that they must destroy large numbers of rodents, but the large 

 mounds which they throw up in digging out the squirrel burrows are 

 so great a nuisance in cultivated fields that many ranchers consider 

 badgers as much of an annoyance as are the animals which they kill. 

 Moreover, the badger is one of the few hosts of the adult wood tick 

 and, since it is a comparatively wide-ranging animal, probably carries 

 ticks from one locality to another. Thus, while the badger is a valu- 

 able destroyer of rodents, it is hard to urge its protection as strongly 

 in fever-infested regions as in localities where its importance as a 

 tick host need not be considered. 



WEASELS. 



Weasels occur more or less commonly in most parts of western 

 Montana. (Fig. 34.) They live almost entirely on live animals — 

 mice, ground squirrels, rabbits, and chipmunks being favorite food. 

 A weasel kept in captivity by the writer for several weeks was easily 

 able to kill the largest ground squirrels placed in its cage. Since in 

 a state of nature adult weasels undoubtedly kill many rodents, it is 

 evident that the animals are a valuable aid in the control of these 

 pests. Extensive trapping of ground squirrels with "hole sets" 

 usually results in the capture of one or more weasels. 



Although the weasel is frequently infested with ticks, these are of 

 species harmless to man and domestic stock; and the animal's relation 

 to the spotted-fever problem seems to be wholly beneficial. 



BIG GAME ANIMALS. 



MOUNTAIN GOATS. 



Mountain goats frequently serve as hosts for large numbers of 

 adult and young wood ticks. On three goats shot on Rock Creek near 

 Lake Como, in May, 1910, there were over 300 wood ticks. But since 

 goats are not abundant and occur onh r far back in inaccessible parts 

 of the mountains, there is no need to lessen the protection now fur- 

 nished them as game animals. 



ELK. 



Elk are now so scarce in the area infested with spotted fever that 

 they can not bear any very important relation to that disease. No 

 ticks were found on the only elk examined during these investigations. 



DEER. 



Although many hunters say that deer frequently serve as hosts for 

 wood ticks, none were found on any of the six black-tailed or the two 



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