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Engels 1935 Vicinity of Sacramento Sacramento Co., California. Stockton, San Joaquin Co., California May 9, 1935. (cont.) We then went on to our next locality - 8/10 mi. NE American River. - This is just inside the city limits of North Sacramento, + our site are at the end of Birch Ave. I put out one more trap here. Later we crossed U.S. 99E + went along Southgate Road, North Sacramento for about a half mile - in a field here I found fairly fresh looking workings in two places + put out 2 traps, but then ran all the traps we had out, but had no luck. We picked up one of my sets at the orchard (12.2 mi. S. Sacramento) + Sprinkle reset it nearby. May 10, 1935. Sprinkle was sick last night + unable to skin, so we had to take care of his skins this morning + did not get away from our auto camp in West Sacramento until 11:00 am. We first ran our traps near #58 North Sacramento, + picked them all up. None of mine were disturbed except two; - I took an adult & gopher in the field at the end of Birch Ave., North Sacramento + a young & gopher in the road by the garden 0.7 mi. NE American River. We then headed south + picked up our traps near Elk Grove (1/2 mile S Sacramento) - mine were undisturbed. All in all, we had fair luck at Sacramento, insomuch as gophers were extremely hard to locate. After lunch we headed for Stockton, + finding numerous diggings along US 99, about 2-3 mi. N Stockton we stopped + set out some traps. I had difficulty locating the holes under the mounds + made only 4 sets. The soil is somewhat more sandy, less clayey than near Sacramento, + the burrows much
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Engels 1935 Sweeney Ranch, Herrero Canyon, 22 mi. wsw Los Banos Merced County, California Opposite a tavern called Red Star Inn. Drive about six miles; here is a cross-road & a grove of pepper trees. Turn right (west) & drive for about two miles, where there is a gasoline plant (Shell) on the right. Turn left here, into the foothills. There are several broad roads over the flat hills, running beside & across one another. Several miles on, a barn appears on the left. Just before one reaches the barn the roads swing left. Follow there. A windmill shows up on the right. Not far beyond is a small ranch-house, & a lone oil-well on the hill back of it. This is about 13 mi. from Los Banos. Continue straight on to a cross-road, a mile or so further, where there is a number of abandoned buildings, off to the right. Turn right at the cross-roads, past the abandoned ranch. Coming to a fence inclosing a low wet spot, turn left along the fence, following it past a small house; at the base of a big hill further on is a swinging wooden gate in the fence on the right, turn in here. This is the entrance to Herrero Canyon; the Sweeney Ranch house is a few miles up this road. These hills are alive with ground squirrels, riddled with their burrows & criss-crossed by their well-beaten surface runways. He distinguished smaller redder ones, & larger grayer squirrels. Saw 4 Burrowing Owls & collected one. Saw 2 Brush Rabbits & collected one. Sprinkle collected a Black-tailed Jack Rabbit.