Hide Article Text (OCR)
Prowling through the brush near the Redlands golf course is the California wildcat (Lynx rufus californicus). Leery of him is baby the San Diego cottontail rabbit. (Sylvilagus andbonii sanctidiege). Also hoping he won't be eaten is the long tailed harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys megalotis long icandus). How’s that again? Well, it’s like this. The San Ber nardino County Museum Associa tion has just published: “Mam mals of San Bernardino County— a Check List,” by Elton R. Edge and Gerald A. Smith. With this informative publica tion in hand, and a little knowl edge of the fauna hereabouts, you can make quite a show of larnin’ what with ‘those long Latin handles on the ends. But don’t get us wrong. We aren’t spoofing the booklet, be cause it is a valuable addition to the natural science publica tions of our area. It is one thing to consult Lloyd Glenn Ingles “Mammals of California,” which takes in a great deal of geograph ical and zoological territory, and something else to have a list that tells what critters are found in your own area. Also, whether they are common, fairly common, un common or rare. There are, for instance, five kinds of wild rabbits in our coun ty but in the valley the cotton tail is the San Diego cottontail and the only jack is the San Di ego Jack Rabbit. Gophers come in three common varieties but here he is the Grapeland Pocket Gopher. You may not know that the beaver “has been introduced in the Deep Creek area (in the Mountains north of Redlands), near the Deep Creek Public camp ground and appear to be doing well.” Nor may you be aware of the spotted skunk unless, in the qui et and dark of the night, your nose tells you that he is stroll ing across your yard. Horrified, you turn over on your side and hope that he will go away — which he does. Being a check list, only, the new museum publication bears no text to explain how the authors know, perchance, that the San Bernardino Flying Squirrel inhab its the nearby mountains. Some of these tales are not without charm and our favorite is found in the classic “Biota of the San Bernardino Mountains” by Joseph Grinnell. Making a scientific study of life in the mountains northeast from Redlands, he did his field work there in the summers of 1905, 1906 and 1907. Among his specific reports was this one— “Flying squirrels are doubtless far more plentiful than one would judge from our experience with them. None of my party ever saw one outside of a trap, and they were reported by campers and others very rarely. “Their strictly nocturnal habits doubtless account for this. “We heard of flying squirrels have been caught at Bear lake, on Fish creek and on Barton flats. In the last case a woodchopper had found one in a dead tree. “All the summer of 1905 we kept traps out in every likely lo cality we visited, but it was not until August 29 that we were final ly successful. “We had been told of some lit tle animal which had been heard at night on the roof of the cream ery on the south side of Bear Lake; also that these of other ani mals had visited a garbage box back of the Coombs house, car rying off musk-mellow rinds. “TI accordingly sent Joseph Dix on down August 28, 29 and 30 and he set ‘out o' sight’ rat traps and No. 0 steel traps on the roof and on branches of a pine stand ing close by. “The first night a trap was sprung and on each of the next two nights a female flying squir rel was secured in a rat trap. Meanwhile, we had run traps at Bluff lake and at our camp a mile east of there; and on Sep tember 2 about midnight a third female was captured in a figure- 4 trap within 10 feet of where we were lying. “We had used a variety of bait, but the only thing which proved attractive was dried prunes. “The last individual I took back t a Pasadena, alive, and it lived in my mother's house, a very attractive pet, until April 24, 1907.”
Newspaper Details
Redlands Daily Facts
Redlands, California, US
Sat, Sep 15, 1962
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Margaret E.
