694 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



The fact that there is a special winter pelage, long, full and silky, would 

 seem to have some meaning as an accompaniment of outdoor activity 

 at that season. Certain it is, that in texture, the pelage of the Antelope 

 Squirrels is quite different from that of those species which hibernate 

 regularly and long. The latter are woolly, with much under-fur. In 

 the fall and winter "Aminos" are uniformly very fat. This condition is 

 probably maintained by drawing upon their food stores, which, to 

 judge from their persistent industry earlier in the season, must be 

 extensive. We have never taken the opportunity to dig out the burrows 

 to see how the seeds and other foodstuffs are garnered. Interesting 

 facts doubtless await inquiry in this direction. 



The Antelope Ground Squirrel is preeminently a gatherer of seeds 

 and fruits. The two inside-opening cheek-pouches are extensive, doubt- 

 less on this account. Rarely does an animal captured away from its 

 burrow fail to show something in them. The following records of 

 findings of this nature will give a good idea of the diet of the species. 



In the tree-yucca belt near Mohave, March 11 to 16, 1918, many of 

 the squirrels examined were carrying the large flat black seeds of the 

 tree-yucca (Yucca brevifolia) . These seeds were being gathered for 

 the most part from the ground, where they had fallen from the pod- 

 clusters overhead. But in a few cases the squirrels were seen up in the 

 yuccas going right after the ripe pods themselves. The greatest number 

 of these seeds being carried at one time was seventeen, this in the case 

 of a male taken on Lee Flat, fifteen miles north of Darwin, September 

 28, 1917. A female taken in Walker Pass, June 27, 1911, contained in 

 its cheek-pouches 98 shelled seeds of juniper (Juniperus calif ornicus) . 

 A female captured at Keeler, April 28, 1912, had gathered into her 

 cheek-pouches 178 husked seeds of the salt-grass (Distichlis spicata). 



Cactus seeds are frequently gathered, and, in season, the fleshy fruits 

 are eaten. At Vallevista, San Jacinto Valley, September 4, 1908, the 

 squirrels were feeding chiefly on the ripe cactus ' ' pears. ' ' The animals 

 were well stained with the purple juice both outside and in ; the whole 

 abdominal region was purple in some of the individuals skinned for 

 specimens. At Cabezon, May 6, 1908, a squirrel was watched in the 

 top of a cholla cactus eating the tender new-growth buds. The animal 

 seemed to be able to move about without its feet being injured by the 

 spines, but upon being shot a thorn was found sticking firmly in the 

 roof of its mouth. 



This squirrel also gathers, doubtless for food, the stems of squaw-tea 

 (Ephedra) , cut into sections, and the leaves of Sarcobatus. Immedi- 

 ately after rains, when the evanescent annual vegetation of the desert 

 starts to grow, sprouting plants of certain species are also gathered. 



Judging from the frequency with which Antelope Ground Squirrels 

 get into meat-baited traps, they must have a decided taste for flesh. We 

 have also frequently found them eating into the bodies of rodents already 

 caught and killed in small traps, and in one case, at least, one of its 

 own kind was the victim. Nelson (1918, p. 443) says that insects are 

 eaten when occasion offers. 



As for cultivated crops, it is not often that Antelope Ground Squirrels 

 are to be found in settled regions, and even where they are, they do not 

 seem to be attracted by the conditions which accompany irrigation. 

 For example, around Cabezon in San Gorgonio Pass, in May, 1908, the 



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