Read Ebook: Mammals of Washington Volume 2 University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History by Dalquest Walter Woelber Hall E Raymond Eugene Raymond Editor Hoffmeister Donald Frederick Editor

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Was it for this we loved: to settle down In some nice suburb not too far from town, To eat and sleep and kiss complacently, Loving by rote as decent people do: Was it for this we hungered, I and you?

A lover's vows are gossamer, they say; But we have registered our mutual vow For seven and sixpence, dearest. Yesterday There was but love to bind our hearts, but now We owe it to the Vicar to be good And love each other as we said we would.

That promise at the altar is a link between us two; For every time I kiss you I shall think: 'How this would please the Vicar if he knew!' And we shall put our youthful dreams to bed, And so live on--long after we are dead.

We are made one. One mind will serve us both. In ever-living witness of our troth You'll serve the vegetables, I the meat... O happiness! It is our wedding day! Embrace me, dear: the Prayer Book says you may.

Crucifixion

We wage eternal war on the losing side; Ever defeated we by the sinister foe That only pathetic piety seeks to hide In a theological costume of long ago.

The goal we seek to attain will never be ours: All our hopes will end in ashes and dust; All our dreams will be dead desolate flowers, Plucked by the pitiless Hand we were taught to trust.

Doomed to eternal defeat in the endless strife, Scornful of Chance the Almighty, we worship with pride The divine, frail, terrible Beauty of Life On the Cross of Fate incessantly crucified.

Spring in Winter

My memories of you are singing birds In the green forest of my mind, where I May roam, recapturing your whispered words, Or on a bank of glowing bluebells lie, Listening for ever. Spring is come again In all her glory; the erst withered trees That creaked, like living skeletons in pain, Defying the wind, have donned green garments: these New shoots, these blossoms and these buds, the springing Grass, and the sky where many colours blend, My songsters by the magic of their singing Have in a moment made. My thoughts of you Are music which to all my spirit's rue Is the ineffable answer and the end.

The Exile

Now I return to my own land and people, Old familiar things so to recover, Hedgerows and little lanes and meadows, The friendliness of my own land and people.

I have seen a world-frieze of glowing orange, Palms painted black on the satin horizon, Palm-trees in the dusk and the silence standing Straight and still against a background of orange;

A gorgeous magical pomp of light and colour, A dream-world, a sparkling gem in the sunlight, The minarets and domes of an Eastern city; And in the midst of all the pomp of colour

My heart cried out for my own land and people; My heart cried out for the lush meadows of England, The hedgerows and little lanes of England, And for the faces of my own people.

Sonnet for Helen

When you're very old, when in the candlelight your hair Silver shews--when by the fire you spinning sit and weaving, You will croon my verses, but in wonder, scarce believing 'Ronsard hymned my beauty in the days when I was fair.'

Never servant could you have, tho' half-asleep she were, But would rouse herself to listen to your lyric grieving, Wake to he Townsend meadow mice 348

INTRODUCTION

Mammals of Washington are of especial interest to the naturalist because many of them are recent immigrants; much of Washington was buried under thick glacial ice until relatively recently and many of the mammals, therefore, have inhabited the area only since the ice disappeared. The evolution or development of certain subspecies, in Washington, has certainly occurred within the last few thousand years. To be able thus to date such evolutionary changes as have occurred is of course a matter both of importance and interest to zo?logists. The evolutionary changes in several species are relatively great. In color, for example, the bobcat in the humid coastal area of western Washington is notable for its dark coloration, whereas in the more arid area of southeastern Washington it is remarkably pale and of a different subspecies. Within the limits of the state of Washington, elevations ranging from sea level to more than 14,000 feet occur. Since different elevations have their characteristic mammals, more kinds are found in Washington than in other areas of corresponding size that lack such topographic diversity. Expressed in terms of the life-zone concept, Washington includes faunas ranging from the Upper Sonoran Life-zone to those of the Arctic-Alpine Life-zone.

The basis for a study of the mammals of Washington was laid in 1929 by W. P. Taylor and W. T. Shaw in the "Provisional List of the Land Mammals of the state of Washington." Bailey's "Mammals and Life Zones of Oregon" and "The Recent Mammals of Idaho" by W. B. Davis deal with the habits and distribution of mammals in the areas bordering Washington on the south and east, and were very useful in the organization of the present report.

The study was first planned from the taxonomic and ecologic point of view. Such a study, of necessity, involves the classification and distribution of the forms concerned. Classification has required more work than any other part of the study and has been, in a sense, the nucleus of the study. Nevertheless, as the report began to take form it was recognized that the part dealing with classification and other purely technical aspects of the paper probably would be uninteresting to the average reader. Therefore it was felt that a greater impetus to the study of the mammals of Washington would be given by reducing the taxonomic accounts to the minimum and dealing principally with the problems of distribution.

As originally planned, the present report was to be of joint authorship by Dr. Victor B. Scheffer of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Seattle, and the writer. The press of other work prevented Dr. Scheffer from devoting as much time as he had planned to the project. He has, however, contributed his field notes, specimens, and photographs, and in many other ways assisted in the project.

Field work on mammals of Washington was carried out by the writer from 1936 to 1940 but a decision to prepare a complete report was not reached until 1938. Intensive field work was done between 1938 and 1940. In August, 1941, the author took up residence at Berkeley, California. Drafting of the manuscript was begun at that time as a student under Professor E. Raymond Hall. War conditions and the press of other work delayed completion. Subsequently, the manuscript was put in final form at the University of Kansas.

Many persons in addition to Dr. Scheffer have given assistance in the course of this work. Dr. E. Raymond Hall, in particular, encouraged the project and gave assistance in various ways including critical attention to the manuscript. I am indebted also to Dr. Trevor Kincaid and Mrs. Martha Flahaut of the University of Washington, Dr. Seth B. Benson and Dr. Alden H. Miller of the University of California, Dr. H. H. T. Jackson of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Dr. George E. Hudson of the Charles R. Conner Museum, Mr. Burton Lauckhart of the State of Washington Department of Game, and Mr. Ernest Booth of Walla Walla College. Mrs. Peggy B. Dalquest typed and edited the several preliminary drafts of the manuscript and aided in the laboratory and field work. Thanks are due also to many others, including game protectors, hunters and trappers, who have given assistance. The names of some of them are mentioned in the following pages.

Approximately ten thousand specimens of mammals were used. In decreasing order, according to the number of specimens studied from Washington, the following collections are to be mentioned: materials obtained principally from southern Washington in the years 1939 to 1942 as a result of the interest of Miss Annie M. Alexander and Dr. E. Raymond Hall; these materials are in the University of California Museum of Vertebrate Zo?logy. The writer's own collection which at one time numbered 2,500 specimens was the second source. The residue, the part not destroyed by fire at the writer's home in the spring of 1942, in Seattle, now is in the Museum of Vertebrate Zo?logy at the University of California and the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas. The other collections are those of the Biological Surveys of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Washington State Museum at Seattle, the Charles R. Conner Museum at Washington State College, and the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas. In the latter collection are some materials obtained nearly half a century ago by the late L. L. Dyche, some recently taken specimens added by reason of the provision for work of this kind by the University of Kansas Endowment Association and, as noted above, a part of the author's original collection. Selected specimens from several other collections have been used and these are indicated in the text when particular reference is made to the specimens. Most of the specimens studied were conventional study skins with skulls. In some instances skeletons, skins alone, skulls alone, or entire animals preserved in alcohol have been used.

PHYSIOGRAPHIC PROVINCES OF THE STATE

The state of Washington was divided into seven physiographic provinces by Culver . Culver points out that the physiography, though complicated in detail, is basically simple.

The state, including Puget Sound and other inland waters, is nearly rectangular in shape and is 69,127 square miles in area. Its western boundary is the Pacific Ocean. Politically, it is bounded on the north by the United States-Canadian Boundary , on the east by the state of Idaho, and on the south by the state of Oregon.

The Cascade Mountain Range, or Cascade Mountains Province, runs from the northern to the southern boundary and divides the state into two sections, of which the eastern is slightly the larger. The mountain range trends approximately 10? east of north and continues uninterruptedly into British Columbia, but on the south the Columbia River separates the Washington Cascades from the Cascades of Oregon. Near the northern border of the state the range is wide, extending from the Mount Baker Range on the west to Mount Chopaka, 100 miles to the east. In the central part of the state it is more compact, being some 60 miles wide in the vicinity of Mount Rainier. Farther south it expands to approximately 100 miles.

The Cascades of Washington possess five great volcanic cones. These are Mount Baker on the north, Glacier Peak in the north-central part, Mount Rainier in the central area, and Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens on the south. Excluding these volcanic peaks, the crests of the Cascades have a relatively uniform level descending from an average of 8,000 feet at the north to 5,000 feet at the south. Ranges jutting southeastwardly from the north-central Cascades parallel elongate intermontane valleys. These include the Entiat and Wenatchee mountains. The latter range reaches the Columbia River and forms an important barrier to mammalian movements.

There is an extensive area of anticlinal ridges extending from the southern Cascades to the Columbia River. This area includes the Horse Heaven and other hills. Most of it is drained by the Yakima River and is termed, in this report, the Yakima Valley Area.

The Puget Sound Trough, or Puget Sound Province, is immediately west of and parallel to the Cascade Mountains. It is part of a structural downwarp that extends southward into Oregon. Most of the area is below 1,000 feet elevation, and much of the northern part is below sea level and therefore flooded by the marine waters of Puget Sound. The most prominent feature of this area is Puget Sound. This is a glacially-carved and drowned river valley, studded with islands, peninsulas, fjords and bays that all possess a general north-south orientation resulting from the direction of ice movement. Puget Sound is connected with the Pacific Ocean by the Strait of Juan De Fuca, a wide channel separating the state of Washington and Vancouver Island.

The San Juan Islands represent the glaciated remnants of mountains that, in preglacial time, may have connected the mountains on Vancouver Island with the Cascades of Washington. The San Juan Islands lie at the junction of Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and the Strait of Juan De Fuca. As a result of a boundary dispute and subsequent arbitration, the islands were apportioned, on the basis of the deepest channel separating them, between Canada and the United States. The American portion includes more than 400 islands. These vary in size from mere rocks above high tide to Orcas Island, 60 square miles in area.

The Olympic Peninsula, or Olympic Province, lies between Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean. The Strait of Juan De Fuca separates this peninsula from Vancouver Island on the north. In the south the valley of the Chehalis River is a convenient boundary for the province. The central portion of the peninsula is occupied by the Olympic Mountain Range. This range is nearly oblong in shape, measuring some 70 miles east to west by 45 miles north to south. The mountains are extremely rough and jagged. They rise from sea level to above 6,000 feet. The highest peak, Mount Olympus, is 8,150 feet in elevation.

South of the Olympic Province and west of the Puget Sound Trough is an area of low, rough hills. Culver called it the Willapa Hills Province.

The northern third of the land east of the Cascade Mountains, or northeastern Washington, is termed the Okanogan Highland Province by Culver. Its southern boundary is set at the east-west flow of the Spokane and Columbia rivers. The outstanding physiographic feature of this area is its division into north-south trending areas of lowland with intervening highlands and mountain ranges. The rivers are, from east to west, the Clark Fork, Colville, Columbia, Kettle, San Poil and Okanogan. Not all intervening highlands are separately designated as mountains. Among these named are the Pend Oreille, Huckleberry, Kettle River, and Okanogan ranges.

The part of eastern Washington south of the Okanogan Highland Province, save the extreme southeastern corner of the state, constitutes the Columbia Lava Province. This is an extensive, relatively level plateau that lies mainly below 2,000 feet elevation. The plateau consists of gently folded lava flows that reach a depth of 4,000 feet in some places and slope inward from the east, north, and, in part, the west . These horizontal layers of basalt are extremely resistant to erosion by other than large rivers. Two great gashes cross the Plateau diagonally from the northeast to the southwest; these are Moses Coulee and the Grand Coulee. These old coulees are the former valleys of the Columbia River, and were formed at the time when the course of the river was successively blocked by the advance of Pleistocene ice. The Snake River crosses the southern edge of the Columbia Lava Province and separates the plateau proper from an area of similar land to the southward.

The Blue Mountains Province is an area of relatively small extent in the extreme southeastern corner of the state of Washington. There, the province concerned constitutes, as it were, a northward extension of the Blue Mountains of Oregon. The mountains rise to only 5,000 feet elevation in the Washington part of the Blue Mountains Province.

DISTRIBUTIONAL AREAS

The physiographic provinces are areas of land form. The form of the land has a considerable effect on the temperature, humidity, drainage, weathering, soil, and other non-organic features that combine to produce the various life-zones and influence the distribution of mammals. One might therefore expect a close correlation of mammalian distributional areas with physiographic provinces. Although there is a correlation, it is not exact because the distribution of mammals is influenced also by certain other factors. Among these are historical factors and isolation by geographic barriers.

The Cascade Mountains Province of Culver includes the Yakima Valley Area. This province contains two completely different mammalian distributional areas. The higher mountains possess a boreal, alpine fauna; the Cascade Range itself is called the Cascade Area in this report. The Yakima Valley Area possesses a desert fauna derived from the desert of eastern Oregon.

The land west of the Cascades is separated into three physiographic provinces, the Puget Sound, Willapa Hills, and Olympic Mountains Province. The differences between the mammalian faunas of the Puget Sound and Willapa Hills provinces are slight. The Olympic Mountains possess a few species not found in the lower areas. The similarities of the faunas of the three provinces far outnumber their differences, and it seems best to consider them subdivisions of one distributional area.

The Okanogan Highland Province extends, from a physiographic point of view, west of the Okanogan River Valley. This valley, however, is a fairly efficient barrier to mammals. Thus the part of the state east of the Okanogan Valley and north of the east-west flow of the Spokane and Columbia rivers may be called the Northeastern Washington Distributional Area.

The Columbia Lava Province includes the land both north and south of the Snake River. Since the Snake River serves as a barrier to some species, it seems better to term the area north of the Snake River the Columbian Plateau Area and that to the south the Southeastern Washington Distributional Area.

The Blue Mountains Province and the Blue Mountains Distributional Area are the same.

PHYSIOGRAPHIC PROVINCES DISTRIBUTIONAL AREAS

Cascade Mountains Willapa Hills } Western Washington Olympic Mountains }

Okanogan Highlands Northeastern Washington

Order CHIROPTERA--bats

Order CARNIVORA

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