ZOOLOGY. 
125 
the same mountains. The Indians trap them, and value their flesh highly as food. The Yakima 
Indians call it Squallah. Its range in the Territory is quite extensive, from high mountain 
elevations to near the salt water. 
Colonel Simmons, one of the earliest settlers in Washington Territory, confirms the statement 
of the Indians that the show’tl, like the prairie dog, lives in companies. He has frequently 
seen them sitting at the entrances of their burrows early in the morning, and whistling some¬ 
thing in the manner of the prairie dog. 
Lewis and Clark say that this animal “mounts a tree and burrows like a squirrel.” The state¬ 
ment that it “mounts a tree” is probably an error.—G. 
In 1856 I obtained at Fort Steilacoom four specimens of the show’tl, of which three were 
adults. The other half-grown individual was caught June 25. It is probable that the Aplodontia , 
like many other rodents, has several litters of young during the season. 
The Nisqually Indians, in their mythological traditions and obscure stories concerning the 
creation, say that the show’ tl was the first animal created luith life. I cannot find out whether 
they undergo a regular torpid hybernation. The natives say that they move about a little 
during the winter, but do not become, decidedly active until late in the spring. They live in bur¬ 
rows, in small companies of a dozen or more, and subsist on roots, berries, &c. The Indians 
say that the show’tl of the Cowlitz river has a white breast and belly. Those at Nisqually, having 
the under parts dark, are said to retain the same coloration throughout the year, of which the 
specimens bearing the private marks 92, 93, and 94, are good examples. 
They are considered by the Indians to possess high gastronomic excellencies. To ascertain 
this I had one roasted secundum artem. I found it excellent; tasting much like chicken, or 
perhaps more like a well-roasted sandhill crane; far superior to woodchuck, neotoma, raccoon, 
or beaver— u de gustibus non est disputandumd ’ 
Measurements of specimens. 
No. 92, male. 
No. 93, male. 
No. 94, female. 
From tip of nose to base of tail _ __ _ _ __ _ 
Inches. 
12. 75 
1.50 
2. 37 
3.00 
2. 75 
.75 
7.36 
2. 50 
.50 
1.60 
7.12 
18.00 
2.12 
Inches. 
13. 00 
1.50 
1.25 
Nearly 3. 00 
Inches. 
12. 25 
1.60 
2. 25 
Nearly 3. 75 
Vertebras of tail_ __ __ _ 
From base of tail to tip of hair_.......___..... 
From occipital protuberance to tip of nose_ 
Distance between ears________________ 
Height of ears posteriorly, about......_......_..._.... 
.75 
Easy girth of head, measured around the ears_......_..._....... 
Olecranon to wrist_____...._____ 
2. 25 
Middle nail of fore paw, about......... 
From wrist to end of longest nail........ 
1. 87 
7. 75 
18. 00 
2. 25 
3. 00 
Easy girth behind shoulders.._____ 
Extent from most projecting toe nail of hind foot to ditto of fore foot, 
extreme stretch_ 
17.75 
From heel to end of middle toe nail_______... 
Longest whiskers, about. ________ 
Hind feet of all the specimens very destitute of hair; fore feet more hairy. Tongue fleshy. 
Eyes small, (about .36 of an inch in diameter.) Cheeks and lips very thick and fleshy. Teeth 
