Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
Lee Arnold Horse Canyon 5,000ft. Pahran Mtn. Washoe Co. Nevada
1937
Itinerary
May 28 that the rat must have just entered the
crack when it heard me approaching. The floor
of the tunnel was covered with dung. This
was in the form of pellets about 1/2 inch long
and 1/4 inch across. I later found out that
these were probably porcupine droppings. From
the great numbers of these droppings in all of
the mines and the absence of the mammals from
the mines at this time of the year I presume
that they are used as places of refuge in the
winter. From the miners around here I have
found that quite a few of the mammals
inhabit the aspen trees in the winter. In the
4th cave I found two small mice scampering
about trying to find a way out at the far
end of the mine when I had shut off their
means of escape. I was able to catch one
of these (Peromyscus [menigulpetus] crossed out, then written as) gambelii.) At the
mouth of this same mine I found the nest
of a Say's Phoebe with 4 oval, white eggs
in it. The nest was set on a ledge and contains
very little mud. The most of the material of
the nest seemed to be moss. The two adult
birds hovered around the entrance of the
shaft while I examined their nest. In the
fifth cave I found nothing but porcupine
droppings. In the 6th the floor was covered
by about five inches of water. It was