MAMMALS OF SAC COUNTY 
281 
killed his first jack rabbit in 1879, and did not see another for 
five years (6). They were first seen at Sac City in 1880 (2, 3). 
They became numerous about 1890 to 1900 (7). They are now 
common but their numbers seem to vary over a term of years, 
as they are more common some years than the next series of 
years. When I visited some of my cousins in Clinton county 
about 1905, they reported that jack rabbits were just begin- 
ning to be captured occasionally in their locality. 
Cottontail ( Lepus floridcmus mearnsi) . Cottontails or gray 
rabbits were always common, but in early days were always to 
be found in the brush and timber in winter, on account of the 
numerous coyotes (2). Today, almost none can be found in the 
timber in winter, while they are common in the cornstalk fields 
(2). In the vicinity of Wall Lake they are usually found in the 
corn fields but in severe weather they often seek shelter about 
farm buildings. They are also numerous in the long marsh grass 
of the “Goosepond” in winter. 
Jumping Mouse ( Zapus hudsonius campestris) . One man re- 
ported a “kangaroo” mouse which had a tail about eight inches 
long and was found in the fields (4). Another man reported 
an extremely long-tailed mouse (2). 
Pocket Gopher ( Geomys tnisarius) . In early days the pocket 
gophers were not as numerous as now (8). Before the prairie 
was broken up, the pocket gophers were found in the morning 
glory patches (2). Today, the pocket gophers are numerous 
in clover and timothy fields, and often are found in pastures 
or along roadsides. I have found spotted skunks, weasels, and 
minks living in freshly opened pocket gopher tunnels, and I be- 
lieve that all these species prey upon the pocket gophers. 
Muskrat ( Fiber zibethicus). Specimen in the Smith collec- 
tion. Muskrats were very abundant at the time of settlement. 
The skins were worth from 8 to 10 cents each in 1857 and from 
12 to 15 cents each in 1870, when Shelt Tiber ghien and two 
partners trapped 6,250 musk rats from October, 1870, to May, 
1871. The highest day’s catch was eighty-one rats (4). A num- 
ber of the early settlers could not have lived except for the musk- 
rat trapping. A man could make good wages at 10 cents each, with 
the storekeepers willing to accept furs the same as they do eggs 
at the present day (8). The muskrats were called the “saviour 
of the people,” and taxes were paid from the proceeds of trap- 
ping in the days before the railroad furnished a market for 
