Chapter I: Front Matter

MAMMALS
of the southwest
MOUNTAINS
and
MESAS

by
GEORGE OLIN
illustrations by
EDWARD BIERLY

Southwest Parks and Monuments Association
Box 1562, Globe, Arizona 85501

Copyright 1961 by the Southwestern Monuments Association. All rights
reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may
quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or
newspaper.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-11291
SBN 0-911408-32-0

Southwest Parks and Monuments Association
(formerly Southwestern Monuments Association)

First printing, 1961.
Second printing, 1971.
Third printing, 1975.

Popular series no. 9.

Printed in the United States of America
Arizona Lithographers · Tucson, Arizona

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With this booklet, as with _Mammals of the Southwest Deserts_, we are indebted to Dr. E. L. Cockrum, Assistant Professor of Zoology at the University of Arizona who has checked the manuscript for accuracy. We are also grateful to him for offering suggestions and criticisms which have added materially to its interest.

The writer would also like to voice his appreciation to Ed Bierly whose magnificent illustrations adorn these pages. His is a talent with which it is a privilege to be associated.

Finally our thanks to the editor and his staff. It is not an easy task to combine text with illustrations, nor to match space with type, yet it has been done with feeling and precision.

Together, we hope that you will approve of our efforts. If through this booklet you gain a better understanding of the mammals that share the great outdoors with us, or if through it you should become aware of the urgent necessity of preserving some of our wild creatures, (and wild places), now before it is too late; we shall indeed be well repaid.

CONTENTS

Hoofed Animals 1
Bighorn (mountain sheep) 2
Pronghorn (antelope) 4
Bison (buffalo) 8
Mule deer 10
White-tailed deer 13
Elk 16
Rodents (Including Lagomorphs) 21
Snowshoe hare 22
White-tailed jackrabbit 24
Mountain cottontail 26
Pika 28
Tassel-eared squirrel (Abert’s squirrel) 31
Kaibab squirrel 34
Arizona gray squirrel 36
Spruce squirrel, Pine squirrel (Douglas squirrel, chickaree) 39
Northern flying squirrel 42
Western chipmunks 44
Golden-mantled ground squirrel 48
White-tailed prairie dog 51
Yellow-bellied marmot (woodchuck) 53
Deermouse (white-footed mouse) 57
Mountain vole 58
Western jumping mouse 59
Bushy-tailed woodrat (pack rat) 60
Muskrat 64
Beaver 67
Porcupine 72
Northern pocket gopher 75
Carnivores (Including the Insectivores and Chiropterans) 79
Mountain lion 80
Bobcat 85
Red fox 87
Gray wolf 89
Coyote 92
Wolverine 95
Marten 97
River otter 101
Mink 103
Short-tailed weasel (ermine) 105
Spotted skunk 108
Striped skunk 110
Black bear 112
Grizzly bear 117
Vagrant shrew 119
Bats 121
References 123
Index 125

ELEVATION PRECIPITATION
FEET DRY MOIST WET
14,000 ARCTIC-ALPINE _above
ZONE[1] timber-line;
small, mat-like
plants._
13,000 _pika_
12,000 _mountain sheep_
11,000 HUDSONIAN ZONE _spruce_ _red squirrel_
10,000 _fir_ _marten_
9,000 CANADIAN ZONE _quaking aspen_ _beaver_
_Douglas fir_,
_mule deer_
8,000 TRANSITION ZONE _tassel-eared
squirrel_
7,000 _ponderosa pine_,
_mountain lion_
6,000 UPPER SONORAN
ZONE[2]
_pinyon pine_ _deer mouse_
5,000 _juniper_ _bobcat_
_sagebrush_ _pronghorn_
4,000 LOWER SONORAN
ZONE[3]
3,000 _mesquite_,
_kangaroo rat_
2,000 _giant cactus_
1,000 _kit fox_
HOT WARM COLD
TEMPERATURE

Notes

[1]THIS BOOKLET DESCRIBES MAMMALS OF THE SOUTHWEST WHICH LIVE IN THE
LIFE ZONES ABOVE THE LOW DESERT.
SEE FLOWERS OF THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS FOR PLANTS OF THESE ZONES.
[2]SEE FLOWERS OF THE SOUTHWEST MESAS FOR PLANTS OF THIS ZONE.
[3]SEE MAMMALS OF THE SOUTHWEST DESERTS FOR MAMMALS OF THESE ZONES.
SEE FLOWERS OF THE SOUTHWEST DESERTS FOR PLANTS OF THIS ZONE.