680 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



of these and various seeds are then housed away in the ground for use 

 the following spring when the animals come out of hibernation and 

 food is difficult to find otherwise. One individual had its cheek-pouches 

 crammed with fragments of a brown-colored fungus such as forms 

 bracket-like outgrowths on the bark of dead trees and old logs. Our 

 experience shows this article of diet to be much sought after by members 

 of the squirrel tribe generally. 



Then, too, the Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel eats meat, and even 

 carrion, as we can testify from the persistency with which our meat- 

 baited steel traps set for coyotes and other carnivores are sprung by 

 the Copperheads. Indeed, it seems reasonable to infer that this ground 

 squirrel would lose no opportunity to appropriate to its use the dead 

 remains of any sort of animal. Around camp sites we have often 

 received good evidence of the omnivorous nature of the Copperhead's 

 diet from seeing them gathering the scattered barley from the ground 

 where the horses had been fed and then gleaning the scraps of cooked 

 meat as well as bread crumbs from our own table near by. In one 

 case a "Callo" came again and again to gnaw at a bacon rind. The 

 young, but a third grown, show almost as much industry in carrying 

 away food as do the adults. 



That not all the food gathered, over and above what is immediately 

 eaten, is carried to some definitely located storehouse, is shown by an 

 observation by W. P. Taylor (MS). On the summit of Cloud's Rest, 

 Yosemite Park, a "Callo" was encountered which was so used to the 

 almost daily visits of people as to have become remarkably tame. It 

 would run up to within three feet of a person, take the dried fruit 

 thrown down for it, stuffing its cheek-pouches to capacity, and then run 

 off just a little ways. After digging out a little hollow in the ground 

 with its front feet, it placed the fruit therein and proceeded to cover 

 it up with earth, using its front feet again. Sitting over the spot, it 

 reached out to gather in additional loose stones until the cache was 

 effectually concealed. Such hiding places as these are probably used 

 only temporarily, at times when an abundance of food is suddenly 

 available, to be stowed safely from someone else's reach as soon as 

 possible, and later reclaimed for more permanent salvage. 



The young are born mostly in July, but as early as the last of June 

 at the lowest altitudes of occurrence, and as late as the first week of 

 August up near timber line. Young one-half grown were taken on 

 Cannell Meadows, 7,500 feet altitude, Tulare County, on July 7, 1911 ; 

 and young but a third grown were taken at Cottonwood Lakes, 11,000 

 feet, near Mount "Whitney, August 31, 1911. These dates are the 

 extremes in the considerable series we have for time of appearance of 

 young. Young come above ground when they are as small as one- 

 fourth adult size (as determined by weighing). There is but one litter 

 each year. This probably averages close to five in number. Six 

 females captured along the central Sierras, of dates June 12 to 28, 

 contained 5, 2, 5, 6, 6 and 5 embryos, respectively. The number of 

 mammae (represented by nipples) is either four pairs or five pairs, but 

 this number is not, as some persons think, any index to the number of 

 young born. 



The enemies of this squirrel probably include most of the carnivores 

 of the higher mountains. Hair of a "Callo" was found in the feces 



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