Bulletin

OF THE

Illinois State Laboratory

OF

Natural History

Urbana, Illinois, U. S. A.

Vol. VIII. Article V.

A STUDY OF THE MAMMALS OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

BY

FRANK ELMER WOOD, A.B



ERRATA AND ADDENDA.

Page 58, line 7, for ovalis read ovata.

Page 85, line 8, for longicaiidiis read longicanda, and just above Phaciis plcitro-

nectes read the following paragraph :

—

Phacus longicanda var. torta. n. var.—This variety, for which I propose the

name torta because of the twisted body, is figured by Stein ('78, Taf. 20, Fig. 3). It

occurred sparingly in midsummer from July to September, rarely in October, in

1896 and 1897.

Page 91, line 18, after T. caudata Ehrb. read T. lagenella Stein.

Pages 153, line 3 from bottom, 168, line 16, and 178, line 14, iov'98 read '.9Sa.

Pages 156, line 11, 159, line 16, and 161, line 5 from bottom, for '93 read '98a.

Pages 175, line 5, 186, line 3, and 208, line 17, for Bimcerium read Dimcerium.

Page 288, line, 3 for Lampsilus read Lampsilis.

Page 292, line 13, for gracilis read gracile.

Page 471, line 3 under heading beetles, for pennsylvanicus read pennsylvanica



M mile J

Map of Champaign County, Illinois.



CONTENTS.

PAGE
Topography and Mammalian Habitats and Associations 501

Till Plains 503

Moraine Ridges 507

Wooded Bluffs 508

G-roves 509

Permanent Pastures 510

Flood-plains 511

Discussion of Species 513

Pouched Animals 513

Opossum 513

Hoofed Animals 515

American Elk 515

Virginian White-tailed Deer 516

Bison ; American Buffalo 516

Gnawing Animals 517

Fox-squirrel 517

Gray Squirrel 519

Northern Gray Squirrel 519

Red Squirrel; Chickaree 521

Chipmunk 521

Striped Gopher; Thirteen-striped Spermojihile 524

Gray Gopher; Franklin's Spermophile 528

Woodchuck; Ground-hog 532

Flying Squirrel 533

Beaver 536

Black Rat 536

Brown Rat; Norway Rat 536

House-mouse 538

White-footed Wood-mouse 539

White-footed Prairie-mouse 544

Southern Golden Mouse 549

Florida Wood-rat 550

Pennsylvania Meadow-inouse 551

Prairie Meadow-mouse; Prairie-vole 551

Mole Meadow-mouse; Mole-like Vole 556

Muskrat; Musquash 556

Cooper's Lemming; Cooper's Lemming-vole 559

Pocket-gopher 560

Jumping Mouse; Hudson Bay Jumping Mouse 563

Swamp-rabbit ; Swamp-hare 564



IV

Gnawing Animals

—

continued. page

Common Rabbit; Cottontail 564

American Rabbit; Varying Hare; White Rabbit 568

Flesh-eating Animals 569

Panther; Puma 569

Canada Lynx 569

Wildcat 569

Timber-wolf 570

Prairie-wolf; Coyote . 571

Red Fox 571

Gray Fox . 572

Black Bear 572

Raccoon; Coon 573

Badger 574

Skunk 574

American Marten; Hudson Bay Sable 577

Fisher 5 77

Mink ; 577

Weasel 579

Otter 581

Insect-eating Animals 581

Cooper's Shrew; Long-tailed Shrew 581

Bachman's Shrew 582

Short-tailed Shrew 583

Carolina vShrew 587

Smaller Shrew 588

Star-nosed Mole 588

Common Mole; Shrew-mole 589

Bats 593

Say's Bat 593

Little Brown Bat 594

Silver-haired Bat 594

Georgian Bat 595

Brown Bat -. 596

Red Bat 597

Hoary Bat 599

Rafinesque's Bat
. . . . 600

The Ecological Succession of Mammals in Champaign County 601

Note. Preparation of Poisoned Bait for Small Mammals 605

Bibliography 606



Article V.—.4 Study of the Mammals of Champaign County,

Illinois. By Frank Elmer Wood.

Topography and Mammalian Habitats and Associations.

Champaign county lies in the east-central part of the State of

Illinois. It is rectangular in shape, extending thirty-six miles

north and south and about twenty-eight miles east and west, its

area being almost exactly 1000 square miles. Urbana, the county
seat and the seat of the University of Illinois, is near the center of

the county. The geographical location of the university observa-

tory is 40° 6' 20" north latitude and 88° 13' 28" west longitude.

The general topography of the county is that characteristic of

the prairie region of the Mississippi Valley. It is essentially a level

or gently rolling plain very moderately diversified by moraine
ridges and shallow river valleys. The highest elevation recorded

for the county is 830 feet above sea-level and the lowest is 610

—

giving an extreme variation of 220 feet in the thousand square
miles of territory.

The county lies entirely within the limits of the glacial de-

posits of the Wisconsin epoch. Two morainic systems of the

Wisconsin drift cross the county. The outer crest of the Bloom-
ington moraine crosses the northeast corner. The ridge is two
to five miles broad, and rises to an average of about 50 feet

above the plain to the southwest. While the ridge is well defined

in places, for a large part within the county it is represented only

by low knolls and winding ridges. Between these are broad
shallow basins and sags that are often difficult to drain. The
Champaign moraine crosses the county from northwest to south-

east a little south of the center. At its entrance into the county on
the western border the system ^consists of a single ridge, but near

Champaign divides into three distinct ridges which continue, sepa-

rately, in easterly, southeasterly, and southerly directions across

the county.

The depth of the glacial deposit southwest of the Champaign
moraine is 100 feet or less. North of this it is considerably more,

and Leverett estimates the average depth for the county as about

501



502

200 feet. There are no natural outcrops of the underlying rock

within the county limits.

A glance at a map representing the rivers of the state will show
that a number of important rivers rise either within the county or

immediately north of it and flow in all directions but a northerly

one. The Sangamon crosses the northwest corner of the county, and
with several prairie streams or tributaries drains that quarter of the

county. The Middle Fork of the Big Vermilion (of the Wabash)
just enters the northeast corner, and the various branches of the

Salt Fork of the same river drain the most of the eastern half of the

county. The southwest quarter is drained by the head waters of

the Kaskaskia and Embarras rivers. These last two streams are in

this section little more than prairie creeks with steep earth banks

and undeveloped treeless valleys. The Sangamon and the larger

tributaries of the Big Vermilion have the same general character-

istics. In the vicinity of the moraines they lie in narrow, well-defined

valleys, which usually rise in steep bluffs on one side, 30 to 70 feet

or more in height. The flood-plain, usually narrow, may reach a

quarter of a mile in width. Beyond the moraines, in the till, the

valleys are lower and not so well defined. All these streams are

subject to heavy floods. In summer, however, their muddy waters

flow between steep earth banks 4 to 8 feet below the flood-plain.

Originally a belt of timber, sometimes narrow, but sometimes

attaining a width of nearly two miles, extended along these larger

streams. It was almost invariably broader on the east and north

sides of a stream than on the west and south sides, a possible ex-

planation being that woods on the south and west would be more
exposed to prairie fires driven by the prevailing southwest winds.

It is needless to say that this primitive condition has been greatly

modified since the settlement of the country. The steep bluffs

along the rivers are in general still covered with timber, though it is

usually of small size and recent growth, and dense thickets andwoods
with heavy undergrowth still occur along the river valleys and on

the flood-plains; but, for the most part, the broad belt of forest that

formerly encroached on the prairies along the streams is represented

only by scattered groves of second growth, and these are usually

much thinned out, and the underbrush is kept down by grazing.

These river-belt areas still furnish the chief cover and highway for

the migration of many of the larger mammals left within our area.



503

In these areas there is still considerable pasture or fallow land.

There is even an occasional remnant of a rail fence, while thickets

in the fence corners, brush along the fences, and other forms of

agricultural untidiness are a protection to wild animal life in general.

Outside these river valleys there were a few scattered groves,

from 20 to 160 acres in extent, which served as landmarks and were
known by special names for many miles around. With the excep-
tion of the moraines and the narrow belts along the larger streams
the country was naturally a very gently rolling prairie. It bore,

too, the character of a country of recent geological age where drain-

age was still undeveloped. The windrows of glacial drift were very
imperfectly cut through, and shut in the surface water in shallow
basins. The encroaching vegetation and vegetable deposits had
changed these basins to what were shallow sloughs or marshy lakes

in a rainy season, but became soggy meadows in time of drought.

Though the main streams had cut deep into the till, the smaller head-
waters had eroded but little. Indeed, along their upper courses

their erosive action must have been zero, and they represented little

more than the course along which the drainage waters seeped their

way, through dense vegetation and matted debris, to a lower level.

For detailed study of the distribution of its mammals, the
county may be divided into

Till plains, Groves,

Moraine ridges, Permanent pastures.

Wooded bluffs and ravines, Flood-plains.

TILL PLAINS.

(Plate XXVI., Fig. 1.)

Under this designation are included the extensive, nearly level

prairie areas lying between the higher, more uneven moraine belts.

These plains are the most characteristic and the most extensive

feature of the topography of the county. They vary little in level,

often less than five feet within a square mile. Portions were origi-

nally wet and swampy, but all are now drained and under thorough
cultivation. vSome of these areas, however, although extensively

underdrained and capable of thorough cultivation in ordinary
years, are nevertheless sometimes covered by a few inches of water
during the early spring, and such areas—usually of small extent

—

(2)



504

are as destitute of permanent mammalian life as though they were

perpetual swamps.
The land is exceedingly fertile, and every square rod that can not

be kept under constant cultivation is a chronic annoyance to its

owner. The fields are large—except in the vicinity of towns

—

running from 40 to 160 acres, or even more. Cultivation is thorough,

and but few waste places along fences, ditches, etc., are permitted.

There are but few hedges, orchards and groves are small and un-

common, and but little land is left in permanent pasturage. Nar-

row strips, barely two feet wide, along the wire fences, and belts

a dozen feet in width each side of the roads—which are regularly

laid out a mile apart—with limited spaces around the dwellings,

are about all the land not turned up by the plough three years out

of four.

Apparently nothing but a veritable desert could be more un-

favorable for mammalian life than these large well-tilled fields.

They contain, however, considerable numbers of mammals at all

times, and, really, an abundance of them at certain seasons. A
common permanent resident of such fields—always present unless

driven out by standing water—is the white-footed prairie-mouse,

Peromysciis maniculatus bairdii. An illustration, based on repeated

experiments, may throw some light on the abundance of this species.

In large corn fields of 80 to 160 acres, when the com was about one

foot in height and was being repeatedly harrowed and kept almost

absolutely free from weeds, I repeatedly set traps near the center of

the field, at every tenth hill along the rows, with no regard to any
indication of the presence of mice. The average result from one

night's setting was a white-footed mouse in about one trap in ten.

Very rarely a specimen of the short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevi-

cauda) was taken. If these traps were set near the edge of the field,

the proportion of traps containing animals was increased; and if

near an old hedge, waste land, or roadside, specimens of the

prairie-vole {Microtus austerus) might be taken, and the average of

successful traps would rise to one in five for a single night. The
same average would hold for traps set at the same distance apart in

stubble or com fields from which the crop had been cut and removed.
My averages of successful traps set in the same way across a com
field, where the com had been husked without cutting, was also

about one in five.



505

When one considers how small a proportion of the animals pres-

ent would be likely to find traps thus set across a field, one is forced

to conclude that the number actually present at all times may be

considerable, even in the middle of the best-cultivated fields. If

traps are set along fences between such fields, at every post, the

number containing animals will rise to one third or even one half of

the traps. The average number of birds found in the corn fields

of this belt was nearly one to the acre, and the number of mam-
mals present, even in the middle of the larger fields, can hardly be

less, while for the whole belt it must be considerably greater. Dur-

ing spring and early summer, as we have said, white-footed mice
constitute the great bulk of the mammalian life in the center of these

large fields. Near the edge the mole, Scalopus aquaticiis, may be

present, sometimes in considerable numbers, but it seldoms pene-

trates more than 50 yards into the field. Shrews, voles, and gophers

are present along the fences and in adjoining fields not too recently

disturbed, and make short incursions into the corn fields at that

time of year. But in fall, if the grain or corn be shocked and allowed

to stand a fortnight or so, traps set by the shocks show quite difter-

ent conditions. The following may serve as a rather extreme illus-

tration. In a corn field on the university farm where the white-

footed mouse had been taken early in the year (1907), after the com
had been cut and shocked for some time fifty traps were set over

night, one by each of as many consecutive shocks. The next morn-
ing thirty-seven of these traps contained specimens—one of them a

single house-mouse, Mus musculus. In 1908, thirty-one traps were

set in the same field under similar conditions except that the corn

had not been shocked so long, and only ten specimens were taken,

nine of which were house-mice and one was a white-foot. At first

the conclusion was drawn that the house-mice had entirely driven

out the prairie-mice. However, when traps were set in an adjoin-

ing part of the same field from which the shocks had been removed,

the usual number of white-footed mice was taken, with the addition

of one specimen of the house-mouse. Evidently the house-mice

invaded the field after the com was cut, and the prairie-mice were

either driven from the shelter of the shocks or disdained it. Proba-

bly the former is the truth, for I have often taken them by recently

cut shocks of corn and grain.



506

Wherever there is a bit of waste ground where grass and weeds

can grow undisturbed the prairie-vole and, more rarely, the Penn-

sylvania meadows-mouse (Microtus pennsylvanicus) are present, and
together with the short-tailed shrew will invade the fields soon after

cultivation ceases. These and the house-mouse are always taken

in fall, unless the ground is quite cleared of standing or shocked corn

or grain. In clover fields, meadow-lands, pastures, and alfalfa

fields, especially when these crops have grown on the same land for

several successive years, the prairie-vole becomes the dominant form,

with the mole a close second, especially around the margin.

Wherever there are piles of rubbish, old ricks, compost heaps,

etc., these serve as homes of house-mice, and, if large, of rats, Mus
norvegicus. From these centers the former spread out into the

adjoining territory. Along the small streams—mere drainage

ditches usually—so long as they contain a trace of water, muskrats

are really abundant. These ditches serve, too, as highways for

minks and weasels. The former especially take refuge in the open
mouths of the tile drains. When the ditches are a little larger and
their banks are bordered by a rank growth of grass and weeds, this

furnishes shelter for rabbits the whole year through. Rabbits are

abundant, too, during fall and early winter, finding a precarious

shelter under clods and fallen stalks during the light winter snows

of this part of the state.

Where the till plains are devoted to pasture, or where they border

the moraines, the striped gopher, Citellus tridecemlineatus, and the

gray gopher, C. franklinii, are present, and enter corn and grain

fields during summer and fall. The latter, so far as my own obser-

vations go, seems to spread out farther into fields of alfalfa and
clover, while the striped gopher often takes up its residence in corn

fields immediately after planting—to the exasperation of the farmer.

Under usual conditions, the white-footed wood-mouse, Peromys-
cus leucopus, is not found in this type of locality. If, however, there

be present anywhere a small grove, a neglected thicket, or an old

hedge, one is almost sure to find this mouse. It is surprising how
little of such shelter suffices for it, and yet it is almost never found
without any shelter at all.

Skunks are occasionally seen in the fields in these plains, but

they are not common.



507

MORAINE RIDGES.

(Map.)

To one accustomed to a hilly or mountainous country only, these

elevations would seem too insignificant for consideration either as

features of the topography or as factors in the distribution of animal

life. They seldom stand more than eighty feet above the plains, and
their rise is usually distributed over a mile in extent. But to

those long accustomed to a prairie region they are striking objects,

and even have something of quiet grandeur. Except in the vicinity

of rivers, these moraines were destitute of trees, and were

classed, with the till plains, as prairie by early settlers. The species

of plants and animals found on these ridges are largely the same as

those found on the plains, and the difference between the fauna

and flora of the two is due chiefly to the relative abundance of the

species in the two regions. The peculiarities of the moraines are

due to better drainage, to the results of erosion, and to the greater

exposure to the wind. In consequence of the better drainage

aquatic forms are absent except in sags or in depressions. Because

of erosion and leaching the black soil on the ridges is less deep and
perhaps less fertile than that of the plains, and, consequently, under

original conditions the vegetation was less luxuriant on the moraines.

The exposure to wind, which perhaps so far as mammals are con-

cerned is a negligible factor during the summer, becomes a very im-

portant one during the winter.

The conditions of cultivation on the ridges are practically the

same as those on the plains.

These ridges are the favorite habitat of the striped gopher.

Wherever the surface of the ground has been undisturbed long

enough for these gophers to dare to dig their burrows one will be

sure to hear their plaintive, questioning whistle on any bright sum-

mer day. Moles also are more abundant on the slopes of the

moraines than anywhere else in the county. Under certain con-

ditions the white-footed prairie-mouse is also abundant. These

three species are often found together, and, certain spots containing

a few acres inhabited by them have the densest mammalian life

that I have seen in the county. Their burrows are so close together

and all three animals are so abundant, that I believe they do not

interfere with each other in any way.



508

The gray gopher also is not uncommon along the edge of the mo-

raines, but is apparently more apt to wander into the lower land

than the striped gopher is. House-mice and rats are as abundant

here as anywhere if the proper shelter is present. The prairie-vole

is sometimes abundant, especially in meadows that have been for

some years in grass or clover.

The sags in the moraines are usually occupied by a drainage

ditch or natural watercourse, with a narrow border of w^aste land

covered with rank vegetation. These belts are hiding-places for

rabbits and hunting-grounds for weasels. Muskrats and minks

follow the watercourses to their very sources.

WOODED BLUFFS.

As we have said, the principal streams were originally bordered

on each side by a strip of timber of varying width. Under wooded
bluffs we include such portions of this timber as are in the immedi-

ate vicinity of the streams or are practically continuous with wood-

land that is so situated. Where the original belt of timber was
broad, certain portions have been isolated in the process of defores-

tation, and these isolated areas are much modified as regards both

fauna and flora, and have been classed as groves.

In the early days the woods formed an almost unbroken highw^ay

for large animals from the extensive forests of the south and east.

Along them, bears, wildcats, timber-wolves, and possibly pumas,
entered the county. Later the last deer found refuge there. Al-

though these wooded belts have been greatly nan-owed and much
thinned, thc}^ are still practically continuous for many miles, and so

furnish a large range of woodland, and are the chief retreat of nearly

all the larger mammals still found in the county. Wolves have
been found along the Sangamon River up to a recent date, and
probably a few still exist there. Whatever foxes, red or gray, may
yet be in the county must den in these woods. They are the chief

habitat of coons and opossums, although the latter have of late

3^ears taken to w^andering long distances into the prairie. Skunks
also are abundant in such localities, hunting extensively over the

adjoining fields, but retreating to the bluff regions to dig their bur-

rows. Kennicott stated in 1856, that the gray squirrel was re-

stricted to the dense woods along the rivers. If there are any .within

the county limits, still in a state of nature, they are to be looked for



509

in such localities. Fox-squirrels are in general most abundant in

these sections—probably because of better protection rather than
from choice. Where they have the protection of groves they soon
become quite numerous. The chipmunk is also practically limited

to this region and its immediate vicinity. Bats are most abundant
here, and the only records I have of flying squirrels within the
county were also from this situation.

In summer the white-footed wood-mouse may be found in the
margins of the woods or under shelter in the fields immediately ad-
joining, although nearly a hundred traps set in the middle of dense
woods at that season failed to catch a single specimen. Late in fall

and in winter, however, they were abundant in such localities. In
fact, the middle of the larger, denser woods is surprisingly destitute

of all animal life during the summer. Late in autumn the animals
have returned, or at least appear again. The larger mammals are

probably no more rare then than ever, but the smaller species seem
to be lacking. At any rate, my trapping, persisted in for some time,

was a complete failure then, though yielding an abundance of

specimens in early winter. This fact supports the belief of most
careful observers that w^ood-mice, voles, and shrews make a yearly

migration to the cultivated fields in the spring, returning to the

shelter of the woods in winter. I am inclined to believe that it is

quite late in the year before all are back in winter quarters.

GROVES.

By groves we mean the small patches of woodland surrounded

by treeless territory and not immediately connected by woodland
with the woods of the river bluffs. In a few cases they have been

planted, and a few are the remains of groves that were standing

isolated in the prairie when the country was settled. It is possible

that a few are self-sown extensions of the original woods and have

grown up since white men came; but by far the most of them are

portions of the old wooded tracts along the streams, and so are con-

nected in origin with the woods of the bluffs. But whatever the

origin, so far as the mammalian fauna is concerned the conditions

are similar in all. The species of trees composing them are the same
as those given for the bluffs, with walnut, the hickories, and occasion-

ally green ash also, conspicuous. In general the trees are of medium
size, and the woods are open. These wood-lots are usually closely



510

pastured, and underbrush is lacking, clusters of pokebeiTy and

clumps of hawthorn being about the only thicket growth to be seen.

To a certain degree the fauna, too, is distinguished from that of the

wooded bluffs by what it lacks rather than by what it comprises.

Foxes and coons, with the larger mammals, are lacking, and the

opossum is generally only a visitor in these groves. The gray

squirrel is not found in them except in a semi-domesticated state in

towns, and the chipmunk is seen in them only in the vicinity of the

wooded bluffs. On the other hand, some wood-mice, shrews, voles,

and perhaps house-mice may be found at any season, and are

abundant there in winter. The fox-squirrels soon take possession

of groves in considerable numbers if they are not disturbed, but

more often they have been exterminated in such places. The open

portions of the wood-lots are usually undermined by a close mesh of

mole-runs, and cultivated fields near by are sure to be infested by
these animals.

Bats are not uncommon, and find roosting places in the hollow

trees, and skunks and w^oodchucks may dig their dens under old

stumps or other shelter.

These groves, in winter especially, are a favorite hiding-place for

rabbits. After the first snow falls in early winter the hunters are sure

to find them under nearly every brush-heap, fallen tree, or similar

hiding-place.

PERMANENT PASTURES.
(Plate XXVI., Fig. 2.)

As we have seen, but little of the original prairie is used per-

manently for grazing, and the permanent pastures of the county are

for the most part portions of the country from which the timber has

been removed. In general, stumps, old half-decayed logs, thickets,

and scattered trees remain as relics of the original condition of the

land. The pasturing is usually rather close, but the waste growth of

weeds and coarse grasses in swampy places and around thickets

furnishes shelter for birds, reptiles, and small mammals.
These pastures are the favorite resort of the white-footed wood-

mouse, and it is as characteristic of them as the prairie white-foot

is of the corn fields of the prairie. Every large old stump, decayed
log, brush-heap, or similar shelter is pretty sure to be the home of one.

Next in real abundance, though even more conspicuous, are the

striped gopher and the mole. Both of these, however, prefer the



511

richer fallow lands of the prairie, and in spite of persecution are more
abundant there. Voles are sometimes abundant where the dense
shelter of grass they require is present, and shrews are often taken.

In the northern part of the county, where woodchucks are
found, their burrows are most common in the pasture-lands. Prob-
ably this would not be the case, however, if the farmers on the mo-
raines were accustomed to keep their fields in clover for several

successive seasons.

The other mammals found in the pasture-lands are transient

visitors rather than permanent residents. The pastures are favorite

hunting-grounds of the skunk, and it occasionally digs its burrow
in the edge of a lot. In the vicinity of woodland, rail fences, or other
continuous shelter, chipmunks may occasionally venture into the
fields, and rabbits visit them and, rarely, make their nests in a
thicket there.

The fact that these permanent pastures are in general much
poorer in smaller mammalian life than the moraines of the prairie

is not evident at first, but careful examination will make it apparent.
The reason is plain. On the moraine belts there is abundant food
and a comparative scarcity of larger Carmvora and birds of prey.

The permanent pastures furnish less food, and are for the most part
in the vicinity of woodlands that are the habitat of skunks, weasels,

coons, and foxes, and afford nesting places for hawks and owls.

It is another illustration of how little the direct persecution of man
affects these smaller animals compared with the injury inflicted on
them by their natural enemies.

FLOOD-PLAINS.

The portions of the river valleys subject to overflow for a longer

or shorter period each year, though forming but a small part of the

county, furnish a habitat of peculiar interest. For the most part

these flooded tracts are from four to six feet above the summer level

of the water, though unusual floods may rise much higher than that.

For example, the high-water mark reached by the Sangamon in the

spring of 1908, was fourteen feet above the water-level in Septem-
ber. These bottoms are usually sparingly wooded. The streams
are often fringed with willows, the lower bottoms are treeless or bear

a scattered growth of sycamore, elm, ash, and button-bush, while

along the edge of the flood-plain, oak, water-maple, honey-locust.



512

and hawthorn may be found. Unless the timber is heavy and con-

nected with a tract of wooded bluff it seems to make little or no

difference in the mammals found. Among those found at present

in the county, only the muskrat and the mink can be truly at home
in these flood-plains at all times ; but a number of small animals are

abundant in these localities during the summer. White-footed

wood-mice and short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda) are found

wherever the ground is dry and shelter, in the form of driftwood,

stumps, etc., is present. Prairie-voles are common down to the

zone of the sedges, but seldom in that zone or below it. Weasels

hunt over the bottoms, and rabbits hide there. The more heavily

timbered portions are a favorite resort of coons.

As the river-bottoms were in general the last portions of the coun-

try from which, at a certain stage in the development of this part

of the country, the original heavy timber was removed, they fur-

nished a last retreat for deer and other large game.

What becomes of the smaller mammals when these plains are

under water? During the spring floods I have found voles clinging

to the stumps that rose above the water. When approached they

plunged into the water and swam oft', or escaped by diving. I am
told that in high water on the Illinois River, many white-footed

wood-mice are seen on the trees above the water. Probably the

mice and shrews both escape in a similar way in this locality during

floods. The runways of moles are common along the edge of the

flood-plain, but almost never occur at any great distance below
high-water mark. In fact, their presence serines as a reliable guide

to the limit of ordinary high water.

In spite of the fact that these small mammals swim so easily,

the time of flood must be one of great mortality among them. The
flood-plains are often forty rods or more across, and these animals

are not strong enough swimmers to breast a moderate current, nor
is it likely that they can live in the water a long time. Moreover,
the time of high water is quite often the breeding season of these

animals, and the very young must all perish. In the case of the

comparatively small bottom-lands in this county it might be sup-

posed that the mammalian population was kept up by immigration
each summer from the surrounding higher ground, but that can
hardly be true for the extensive tracts submerged each year along
the Illinois and other large rivers.



DISCUSSION OF SPECIES.

POUCHED ANIMALS.

MARSUPIALIA.

OPOSSUM.

Didelphys virginiana Kerr.

(Animal Kingdom, 1792, p. 193.)

Under natural conditions the opossum was an animal of the

woods and not of the prairie section, being especially abundant in

the belts of heavy timber along the rivers; but as with advancing
civilization these woods have been thinned out, and, on the other

hand, as more shelter is furnished by groves, orchards, hedges, etc.,

it is possible that, though fewer in number, opossums have become
more generally spread over the country than under original condi-

tions. Although it can hardly be said of them in our vicinity that

they are "equally at home in the lumber piles and hen-roosts of the

town or among the untrodden haunts of the wilderness," they are

nevertheless occasional visitors to farmyards and hen-roosts in the

vicinity of our towns.

In their diet they are well nigh omnivorous, showing a decided

preference, however, for eggs, young birds, and certain wild fruits,

as persimmons and papaws. They also eat nuts, insects, and small

animals, and, when pressed by hunger, they may feed on carrion.

The range of the opossum is throughout the eastern half of the

United States north to the Great Lakes. It has been taken in

New York at Schoharie, in Cayuga county, and near Rochester;

near Erie in Pennsylvania, Ann Arbor in Michigan, and in the

southern tier of counties in Wisconsin. It is common in eastern

Kansas, and has been taken in Texas at Mason, San Antonio, and

near Matagorda Bay. It is also found on Long Island, and has been

introduced in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Its range to the

northeast has apparently increased during recent times, it having

entered New York from the south and spread to the Hmits men-

tioned above.

51.3



514

The species shows a tendency to become smaller and darker

toward the south, becoming the subspecies pigra of Bangs, which is

found in Georgia, Florida, and the Gulf states.

Gestation in the opossum lasts about seventeen days. From six

to as many as sixteen, or more, may be produced in a litter, and
available evidence goes to show that there may be three litters

during the year—all between January and the last of June. The
female is often found accompanied by the young of more than one

litter. At parturition the female lies on one side, curling up so as to

bring the vulva near the opening of the marsupial sac. The young
as brought forth are pushed into the sac and attach themselves

to the teats, remaining continuously attached for four weeks, and
for much of the time during the three weeks following. They are

only a quarter of an inch long and weigh but four grains at birth.

They are hairless, and their eyes and ears are closed. The mouth
is a minute opening just able to receive the slender teats of the

mother. Growth is very rapid. The young leave the pouch when
about two months old, weighing then 400 to 450 grains. Even at

the first, however, they exercise all the functions of other young
animals, breathing, eating, digesting, defecating, etc., and are b}^ no
means the unformed egg or embryonic mass they were once sup-

posed to be. The tail is prehensile, and the very young are able to

support themselves by one twentieth of its length.

In general the adults live separately, but pair a short time during

the rutting season. At this time the males are exceedingly pug-

nacious and jealous of each other. They hide in hollow trees, logs,

etc., but are said to be of a wandering habit, not remaining long in

one locality.

Owing to peculiarities of anatomical structure, the movements
of the opossum, if not graceful, are at least unusually free and
varied. The thumb and hallux are both opposable, and Coues
asserts that the opossum is functionally as truly four-handed as are

most of the monkeys. The movements of the feet as a whole are

nearly as free as those of the human hand. The body is easily

curled into a ball, and lateral movements are unusually free. The
tail itself serves as a fifth hand, and possesses so much flexibility

and strength that the animal can easily support itself by a small

portion of the tip. It is capable not only of flexion in a single plane,

but also of a twisting motion by which it can be wrapped in a spiral



515

around a slender support, even when that support is nearly parallel

with the axis of the tail itself. When not in use it is carried

bent under at the tip in the shape of an interrogation-point.

The agility and serpent-like flexibility of the opossum is illus-

trated by the process of regaining a support to which it is at-

tached by its tail. It is thus described by Coues: "It bends the
neck and shoulders strongly forward, reaches upward with its fore

paws until it can catch hold of the loosely hanging hind feet ; further

action of all four extremities carries the paws to the root of the tail,

which is firmly grasped, when the animal climbs up its tail 'hand
over hand' until the point of support is laid hold of, after which by
a peculiar squirming motion of the whole body the desired altitude

is attained."

The opossum's habit of feigning death when attacked is well

known, and "pla3ang possum" has become a proverbial expression.

Though this peculiarity has been often studied, there seems to be as

yet no uniformity of belief among scientists as to how far the act is

a conscious and deliberate one and how far an involuntary cataleptic

or hypnotic trance due to fear. Certain it is that however advan-
tageous the peculiarity may sometimes be, at other times it is as

surely a disadvantage.

In captivity the opossum is an uninteresting pet, sleeping during

the day and feeding mostly at night. When disturbed it shows its

resentment by a hiss and a lazy, grin-like baring of the teeth.

HOOFED ANIMALS.

UNGULATA.

AMERICAN ELK.

Cervus canadensis (Erxleben).

Cerviis claphus canadensis ErxL, Syst. Regn. Anim., I., 1777, p. 305.

Elaphit-s canadensis Ray, Kennicott, in Trans. 111. State Agr. Soc, I., 1853-54,

p. 580.

Kennicott says that several elks were shot in Cook county and
that an elk was killed near Mt. Carmel in 1830. I have not been

able to obtain any proof that one was ever seen by the settlers in

this countv. Elks have been long extinct throughout the state.
^ft



516

VIRGINIAN WHITE-TAILED DEER.

Odocoileus americanus (Erxleben)

.

Cervits dama americanus Erxl., Syst. Regn. Anim., I., 1777, p. 312.

Odocoileus speleus Raf., Atlantic Journ., I., 1832, Xo. 3, p. 109.

This is the common deer of the eastern United States, and was

originally found almost everywhere from New York to Florida and

west to the Missouri River. It is still found throughout this range

wherever not exterminated, and in any of the wilder portions, if

protected, soon becomes common. The first settlers found deer very

abundant in this part of the country. As the wolves were killed

or driven off, the deer became more plentiful, reaching their greatest

abundance between 1845 and 1855. They were common in the parts

of the county bordering the larger rivers till 1865, and it seems cer-

tain that they still bred within the county limits several years after

that date. One was seen near Homer as late as 1880. They are

still seen occasionally in the southern part of the state near the

Mississippi River. The hunters there believe that they cross the

river from Missouri. I have no evidence that they still breed

within this state.

BISON; AMERICAN BUFFALO.

Bison bison (Linnaeus).

Bos bison Linn., Syst. Nat., I., 1758, p. 72.

The earliest explorers of Illinois all speak of the great herds of

buffalo seen. It seems impossible to fix with any degree of accuracy

the date of their disappearance from this locality, but it seems

probable that it was before 1815. Certainly they were gone before

the first settlers came. There were several deeply worn trails

crossing the county in various directions, and these were used as

roads by the early settlers. Mud-holes in which they had wallowed

—called buff'alo-wallows by the frontiersmen—were also common,
and easily recognized till the land was cultivated. In Vermilion

county—adjoining Champaign county on the east—there was a

salt-lick toward which several buffalo-trails converged.
fc.^



517

GNAWING ANIMALS.

RODENTIA.

FOX-SQUIRREL.

Sciurus niger ritfiventer (Geoffroy).

Sciurns riifiventer Geoff., Cat. Mamm. Mus. d'Hist. Nat. Paris, 1803, p. 176.

Sciurus ludovicianus Custis, Barton's Med. and Phys. Journ., II., Pt II 1806
p-47.

This species is found throughout the state where conditions are

favorable. It is the commonest squirrel in the county, being
apparently the only one now in a real state of nature. Its habitat
includes all natural woodland where it is not persecuted, and it may
be found in artificial groves and park areas if these are not occupied
by the gray squirrel. It is said to prefer the open woods and edges
of dense forests, while the deeper woods, the recesses of the swamps,
and the heavily timbered river-bottoms are occupied by the gray
squirrel. Beyond the state the fox-squirrel ranges from northern
Louisiana to southern Wisconsin, and over the greater part of the

Mississippi Valley, while the whole group included by Osgood under
the specific name niger, is found from northern Florida to southern

New York, its range on the south and west extending to central

Texas and northeastern Mexico.

The length of such specimens from this state as are available in-

dicates an average length of about 21 inches (530 mm.) with a tail

of about 9.5 inches (240 mm.). This is somewhat less than the

measurements usually given for the species. The series examined
is too small, however, to determine local variations.

The dentition of the species is one incisor, one premolar, and
three molars on each side above and below. This will serve to dis-

tinguish this species from carolinensis, in which there are two pre-

molars on each side above in the adult.

But little has been added to our knowledge of the natural history

of our squirrels since the observations of Kennicott, and the most
that we can say is derived from his account.

They are inclined to be solitary in their habits, more than two
adults being seldom found living together, and a pair remaining

together only during winter and spring. The young are from two
to four in number. Kennicott says that probably two litters are

bom each year, but it is difficult to reconcile this statement with



518

others he makes. Probably a single litter in March or April is all

that is produced. The young are "ugly unsymmetrical little

things at first, with monstrous heads and closed eyes; and it is some

time before they acquire the elegant proportions and agile move-

ments of their parents."

Squirrels are very fond of com, especially when it is green or

newly ripened. In com fields near extensive woodlands one often

finds traces of their work. The ears of com are either partly eaten

on the stalk or carried to a neighboring fence or log and eaten. In

early days, when their numbers were much greater than at present,

squirrels became a veritable pest at times ; but now their numbers are

so reduced that there is little to fear from them. Both this species

and the gray squirrel are great destroyers of birds' nests, and thus

indirectly do considerable harm. Woodpeckers and other birds

nesting in hollow trees seem especially liable to suffer from them.

The fox-squirrel is used for food, and probably the most of this

species and the gray squirrel which are killed are so utilized. In

early times they were sold in large quantities in the city markets of

the state, arid after the disappearance of the deer furnished an im-

portant part of the fresh meat eaten by the settlers, being per-

haps even better appreciated than they are now.
The winter nests and permanent homes of the fox-squirrel are in

hollow trees, and the same nest is said to be occupied by a pair for

several successive seasons. Temporary nests are built of leaves and
twigs in trees. These are apparently used for only a short time, and
although usually at considerable height, I have seen them at an

elevation of not more than twenty feet. Food for winter is stored

up in large quantities in one place, but nuts, acorns, etc., are buried

singly and dug up as needed Apparently they do not truly hiber-

nate, but are active all winter.

Squirrels are protected by the game laws of the state from
November 1 5 to June 1 , but undoubtedly many are killed during the

closed season. It is especially to be regretted that they should be

shot in the spring during the breeding season, when the helpless

young must perish also. Within the county limits it is doubtful

if there is any enemy to compare with man in their destruction,
_

though a few are killed by the larger hawks and owls.

I fail to find any record of extensive migrations of this species]

such as have been so often observed in the case of the gray squirrel.



519

There must be, however, considerable movements of individuals

and couples from place to place. Any place suitable for them they
are sure to occupy in a short time if they are not molested.

The fox-squirrel is said not to make so engaging a pet as the

gray squirrel, nor does it take so readily to living in the immediate
vicinity of man.

GRAY SQUIRREL.

Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin.

(Syst. Nat., I., 1788. p. 148.)

NORTHERN GRAY SQUIRREL.

Sciurus carolinensis leucotis (Gapper).

Schirus leucotis Gapper, Zool. Journ., V., 1830, p. 206.

The gray and the northern gray squirrels are probably both pres-

ent in the state. They are closely related and have often been con-

fused. Probably intermediate forms occur in this part of the coun-

try.

Both these gray squirrels are smaller than the fox-squirrel, have
less of the rufous color, and are also distinguished from it by the

dentition. While the fox-squirrels have but five teeth on each side

in the upper jaw, the adult gray squirrels have in addition another

small premolar, making six teeth on each side above. The average

length of the gray squirrel is about 18 inches (450 mm.) and that of

the northern gray squirrel is about 20 inches (500 mm.). The color

of the northern subspecies is given as silvery gray above with under
parts white, sometimes rusty on neck or chest. The gray squirrel

is dark yellowish, rusty above, the under parts being white.

The habits of the two species are essentially alike, and the fol-

lowing account will apply to both.

The various subspecies of the gray squirrel are distributed

throughout the United States east of the great plains, and are found

as far north as southern Canada. The southern limit of the sub-

species leucotis may be indicated by a line extending from the Cats-

kills south of Pennsylvania in the Alleghany Mountains, and thence

west through northern Indiana and Illinois.

Under natural conditions this species chooses wooded swamps
and river-bottoms, with heavy timber, rather than the edges of the

(3)



520

wooded bluffs and the groves—which are the commonest habitat of

the fox-squirrel. Nevertheless, it is the gray rather than the fox-

squirrel that is most often semi-domesticated in the parks of cities

and the shady streets of towns. A general opinion of both squirrel

hunters and other observers of more scientific pretensions seems to

be that the gray squirrel, though smaller than the fox-squirrel, drives

that species away from such territory as it chooses to occupy itself.

Originally this species, like the fox-squirrel, was exceedingly abun-

dant, and at times inflicted great injury on the crops of the farmer.

At present, in this part of the country gray squirrels in a truly wild

state are very uncommon. In fact, I have no record of one's being

seen in the county for a number of years, though there are a few in

the adjoining counties. This can hardly be due alone to the thin-

ning of the thick woods. It seems more likely that their gregarious

habit has been with them, as with so many other animals, a reason

for their rapid destruction by man. The gray squirrel is said to be

more prolific than the fox-squirrel, four to six being brought forth in

one litter, and at least two litters being produced in a year. I have

no proof of more than a single litter.

The most interesting characteristic of these squirrels is the

readiness with which they become wonted to parks and the shaded

streets of villages where they are not molested. They soon become
exceedingly tame, often so much so as to feed from the hand of a

stranger, and to enter houses by open windows, even venturing

into rooms occupied by persons. They store up, under these cir-

cumstances at least, a supply of nuts or other food. Considerable

quantities are often found hidden by them in garrets and outbuild-

ings; but they also hide single nuts, etc., under leaves or in the

ground, and during the winter may be seen looking for them.

Although they may be seen at any time during the winter if the

weather is fine, yet in continued severe weather the}" do not appear,

and presumably are partly torpid and fasting.

The early observers nearly all speak of the extensive migrations

of the species in various sections of the country. These migrations

usually occurred in the fall. Large numbers would congregate in a

locality and then move off in one direction—not indeed in a con-

tinuous flock, but rather as individuals, stopping to feed or loiter

for some time in 'a place, but yet moving soon, and always in the one

general direction. In these migrations they seemed to be possessed

I



521

by the same abnormal disregard of impediments as the lemmings.
Though usually averse to taking to water, they would not at such
times stop at rivers even though as large as the Ohio or Niagara,

and vast numbers were drowned in their efforts to swim across.

Although no such migrations of the species have been noticed of late

years—owing probably to its diminished numbers—nevertheless

the abundance of these squirrels in a given locality at different sea-

sons has been observed to be extremely variable, and it is more than
likely that such mass movements do take place though they are not

so easily observed as formerly.

The economic status of the gray squirrel is in general the same
in all respects as that of the fox-squirrel. Owing to its scarcity

in this vicinity it is even more worthy of consideration when in a

wild state. In cities and towns, however, when exceedingly numer-
ous, its destruction of birds' nests may call for repressive measures.

In such cases a due balance of nature may easily be regained, for the

squirrels are easily killed, and there are many who are too glad to do
it.

RED SQUIRREL; CHICKAREE.

Sciuriis hudsonicus loquax ^axigs.

(Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., X., 1896, p. 161.)

The red squirrel, or chickaree, is not found within the limits of

Champaign county. It is said to occur at Onarga, in Iroquois

county. It was probably introduced there, but is native in the

northern part of the state. Kennicott says that it is found spar-

ingly in heavy timber in Illinois but not in the southern part. We
have no data by which to determine the southern limit of its range.

CHIPMUNK.

Tamias striatus lysteri (R.ichardson).

Scinrus {Tamias) lysteri Rich., Faun. Bor. Amer., Mamm., I., 1829, p. 181, PI. 15.

The striped chipmunk {Tamias striatus) is found north to New
Brunswick and Ontario, west to southern Michigan and Wiscon-

sin, and south to Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, but it is not

found on the Atlantic coast plains. It occurs as far west as Kansas,

Missouri, and Minnesota. Over this area it is divided into several

subspecies.



522

The average size of the chipmunk is about as follows: Total

length, 9.75 in. (250 mm.) ; length of tail, 4 in. (100 mm.) ; hind foot,

1.4 in. (36 mm.).

The color of specimens taken in Champaign county is as follows

:

Hair on chin, throat, belly, and inside of legs creamy white, faintly

flushed with buff near the borders. In a small spot behind the ears

the hair is dirty white throughout its length. A streak below the

eye and one above are buff to the base. The hairs on the under

side of the tail are entirely chestnut. On all the other parts the

hairs are all plumbeous at base. Over the side of the body the dark

base of the hairs is followed by a broad band of buff with usually a

minute tip of black, a few of the hairs having broad black tips. Over
the rump, the outside of the hind legs, the top of the head, the front of

the ears, and in a stripe back of the eye the buff is largely replaced

by chestnut or bay. On each side of the body there is a light

stripe extending from shoulder to rump. Here few of the hairs

have black tips, but, instead, very light buff or creamy white ones.

Each side of the light line is a dark one, all the hairs of which are

black-tipped. These dark lines are each obscurely banded with a

slender line of hairs tipped with chestnut. There is a vertebral line

of black-tipped hairs bordered with chestnut-tipped ones, these

being continued forward as a faint line which is lost in the chestnut

of the top of the head. In the space between the vertebral line and
the series of light and dark lines on each side, the hairs are annulated

with black and white or light buff, the general effect being a dark

gray. The hairs on the upper surface of the tail are banded with

plumbeous, chestnut, and black, with a tip of light buff, the general

effect being a brownish gray.

The incisor teeth are pale chestnut. The palms are naked and
white. The soles of the hind feet are hairy and dark gray.

Chipmunks are not found in the open prairie and are but seldom
seen in closely pastured woodland or in prairie groves. The wooded
bluffs, and the bottoms down to the usual high-water mark, are their

common habitat. They are not often found in the deeper woods,
but rather along the edge of the bluff woods, where the trees have
been thinned out but where there is still an abundance of old logs,

bushes, and brush -heaps. Where the proper conditions exist they
are quite numerous, but over a large part of the county they are rare

or entirely wanting.



523

The chipmunk of this part of the country differs strikingly from
the New England representative in two respects. In the first place

it is far more independent of any such shelter as logs, stones, fences,

etc., in choosing a place for its burrow. This is often found in an
open spot so near the border of the woods that its owner is a near
neighbor to the striped gopher. Then, too, our chipmunk takes to a

tree more readily and climbs far more daringly than the eastern one
does. Though I have never seen one attempt a leap from branch to

branch, it climbs readily to a height of thirty or forty feet, and seems
quite at home on the trunk and larger branches, showing none of that

uneasiness which Merriam attributes to the chipmunk of the Ad-
irondacks when treed.

I have seen chipmunks pass in and out of holes in hollow trees

at a considerable elevation, but have no proof that such cavities

were used either for nests or storehouses. The nests are usually at

the end of burrows six or ten feet in length, running diagonally down
to a depth of two or three feet. If the nest is under a log, stump,

or other shelter, the depth may be less. At first the burrows are

quite simple, but, later, accessory runways are dug leading to vari-

ous chambers used as storehouses. Chipmunks are social, a number
living together in the same nest.

The food of the chipmunk is largely nuts, acorns, and various

small seeds—including corn and grain. It also eats fungi, and is

exceedingly fond of berries and other juicy fruits. I find no record

of its eating insects or other animal food, but it is a remarkable ex-

ception to the other squirrels if it does not do so. It stores up food

for winter in underground cavities, and often in surprisingly large

quantities. Kennicott took over half a bushel of hickory-nuts and

acorns from one such storehouse. It has also been observed to bury

stores in a manner similar to that of the other squirrels.

In spite of abundant supplies chipmunks have been found in a

semi-torpid condition during the winter. On the other hand, they

have been seen abroad by various observers even in severe weather,

when there was snow on the ground. Probably the winter sleep is

never so deep and so long continued as is the case with the wood-

chuck or other truly hibernating animals.

Chipmunks, although not rare, are by no means so plentiful in

the county as in rougher portions of the country. Undoubtedly the

lack of protection afforded by rocks, stone walls, rail fences, etc.,



524

has something to do with their scarcity. Their enemies are many.

Ahhough not used as food they are nevertheless victims of the boy

or the bumpkin with a gun. Many are taken by the larger hawks,

and cats, weasels, and snakes all help to keep the number down.

Being largely day-feeders, it is not likely that night-prowlers catch

manv of them, though their remains have been found within the

stomach of the common screech-owl.

The chipmunk's actions show the result of many generations of

constant peril ; and if Burroughs 's statement that he is never more

than a jump from home be a poetic hyperbole, it is true that he is

seldom more than one jump from some kind of shelter. In collect-

ing his food or in his play, he moves by fits and starts from one post

of observation to another. His curiosity is quite equal to his

timiditv, however, and though he scampers into his hole at the least

sound or sign of a suspicious object, he is pretty sure to peep out in a

moment, and the boy with a stone or gun knows that he has only

to wait a minute for a chance to throw or shoot.

In the vicinity of cultivated fields a considerable part of the food

consists of corn and small grain, with occasional meals of berries or

larger fruit ; but the real loss sustained by the farmer is very little,

for the grain taken is almost entirely waste, gleaned by the industri-

ous little fellow. If chipmunks should become so numerous as to be

a pest they are easily trapped, poisoned, or shot. There seems, how-
ever, little danger of that in this county, and it seems a pity the}''

might not be left unmolested.
^fc.'

STRIPED GpPHER; THIRTEEN-STRIPED SPERMOPHILE.

Citellus tridecemlineatus (Mitchill).

Sciiirus tridecemlineatus {sic) Mitch., London Med. Repos., N. S., 1821, p. 248.

Spcrmophilus tridecemlineatus of Kennicott and various authors.

This little animal is often called the striped prairie-squirrel, and
scientists usually prefer the term striped spermophile, since the word
"gopher" has been applied to quite a different animal; but the name
striped gopher is most generally used and best understood. The
term thirteen-striped designates the most striking feature of its

appearance. The stripes are made up of six narrow lines of

dirty yellowish white alternating with seven broader dark ones,

clove-brown in color. These dark stripes are marked by a row of



525

light spots in the middle. Sometimes—especially in the two outer-

most dark bands—these light spots run together, dividing the

broad dark stripe into two narrow ones. The striped gopher is often

confused with the chipmunk, but the slightest attention to these

markings is sufficient to distinguish them.

The average size of specimens from Champaign county is as fol-

lows: Length, 10.9 in. (277 mm.); tail, 3.62 in. (92 mm.); hind foot,

1.5 in. (38 mm.). This is larger than the measurements usually

given. The series measured, however, is a small one.

The gophers are all animals of the open country, avoiding tim-

ber, not climbing trees, but seeking refuge in burrows. The range

of the striped gopher, under various subspecific names, corresponds

in general with the prairie region of North America. In Michigan,

Wisconsin, and Minnesota the clearing of the land has brought about

prairie conditions, and the species has pushed north beyond the

original prairie. The same is true, to some extent, of other di-

rections.

The habitat of this species is always the open. Practically it is

never found in woodland, and but rarely in fresh pasture or recently

cleared land. On the other hand, it is, within the county, not partial

to the extreme prairie type or the till plains, but is far more abun-

dant along the moraine ridges and the portions of the bluff areas

that have been long cleared and in pasture. Undoubtedly the area

of favorable habitat within the county has greatly increased since

its settlement. The species is found in the till plains, especially in

localities not under continuous cultivation. Such areas, however,

are chiefly limited to borders of fields and a few small pasture-lots.

It soon enters a field left down in grass, and also the margins of com
and grain fields. It is rarely found in the middle of such fields.

It is found in the cleared pasture also, especially near cultivated

fields, but is most abundant in pasture-lots along the crests of the

moraines. Here it may be found any summer day so long as the

siin is shining.

Like most other non-combative animals living in the open, the

striped gopher is exceedingly nervous and timid. The whole exist-

ence of these animals above ground seems to be passed in deadly

fear of enemies that soar in the air above or lurk in the grass around

them. As they creep through the grass they pause every few feet

and sit up to look and listen; they crouch low at every passing



526

shadow, and jump suddenly sidewise, backward, or forwards, as the

case may seem to require, from the sHghtest rusthng near them.

Of course in reahty these actions are for the most part unconscious

reactions, their existence requiring, after all, no more watchfulness

and dodging than a man must exercise or do in the crow^ded streets

of a great city.

The curiosity of the animal is quite as characteristic as its

timidity. Sitting bolt upright at the mouth of its burrow, it will

watch an intruder till some noise or motion sets off its unstable re-

flexes, when it dives into its hole with what seems a half shriek, half

chatter of terror. But in a moment it emerges to investigate, and

perhaps to repeat the performance. Boys take advantage of this

habit of the striped gopher to catch it with a slip-noose. The noose

is laid over the mouth of the burrow into which a gopher has just

been driven, and with the cord bearing the slip-knot in his hand the

boy lies down a few feet away, usually not having to wait long be-

fore the gopher puts its head through the noose and is caught.

The young are born about the first of June. The period of gesta-

tion is about one month. Lee found the number of embryos in

129 pregnant females varying from 5 to 13, the average being 8.5.

The number in a single horn of the uterus varied from to 9. The
young are bom in an undeveloped condition, and are hairless for

about three weeks.

In spite of the remarkable fertility of this species, it does not

increase to any great extent in this locality. Its enemies are many.
Probably in this county the most important ones are the hawks.

Skunks and weasels also kill them, and the fox undoubtedly takes

them when nothing more acceptable offers.

I have never been able to detect a striped gopher abroad during

the night, though I have spent many hours watching for them. A
specimen kept in captivity in a living room could be heard at night

stirring in its cage and eatmg. It may perhaps take a lunch at

night in its hole, but I think it does not come out during the middle
of the night.

The species is undoubtedly quite dormant during the winter.

A specimen kept in a cage in a rather overheated room all winter

remained in a sleepy, stupid condition from about the first of Novem-
ber till the last of February. Apparently it partook of food spar-

ingly—only two or three times during that period. For a month



527

at least before and after these dates it was very stupid, stirring but
little. At no time during the winter was it perfectly indifferent to

touching, shaking, etc., but responded only by half opening its eyes

and making a complaining or angry cry. It appeared to be half

asleep, and, left alone, immediately fell into a dormant condition

again. The temperature of the room was probably never below 60°,

and often about 80°, all winter. Specimens dug out of the ground in

midwinter are always fully dormant. In this latitude they remain
holed in from October to March inclusive, and are seen but little for

some weeks before and after that period.

The exact relation of the striped gopher to the farmer, whether
on the whole it does more good or evil, seems to be by no means
certain. Although its burrows are abundant at times, they are so

small, and, being without accumulations of dirt around the mouth,

so inconspicuous that they can do but little harm. Its food, as

that of rodents in general, is chiefly of vegetable origin—seeds, buds,

grains, and parts of plants of all kinds. The grain that it eats in

the fall is probably largely gleanings and represents but little loss

to the farmer, being more than compensated for by the seeds of

weeds destroyed. A more serious accusation, however, brought

against it is that of taking the newly planted com in the spring.

It sometimes follows along the rows of corn just as it is sprouting,

eating the kernels and thus destroying the crop. Although a por-

tion of this damage sometimes attributed to the gophers is in reality

done by grackles and crows, nevertheless the gophers do considerable

injury in that way. On the university farm I have found by actual

count about twenty per cent, of the first two or three rows of com
along the side of a field taken by them. This field was next to a

piece of land that had been in pasture for some time, and which con-

tained many gophers.

But the gopher, like most of the rodents, is more or less carjiiv-

orous, or at least insectivorous. Gillette found as the result of an

examination of twenty-two stomachs of gophers taken from April

19 to August 2 that forty-six per cent, of the contents was of insect

origin. Some of these insects were predaceous beetles, and their

destmction was a loss to the farmer ; but there were a larger number

of sod worms {Crambus larv^) also found. The writer estimates

that an average of twenty-six worms per day were eaten by each

gopher between the above dates, or a total of 2730 worms for the



528

season. Besides these a large number of grasshoppers, wireworms,

and other injurious insects were destroyed.* Aldrich's reportf on

the examination of fifteen stomachs of gophers taken in South

Dakota, although not quite so favorable still makes a good showing

for the gophers in regard to the number of insects destroyed. I have

repeatedly observed them hunting and eating insects. One that I

watched, was sitting up eating a big fat grub, biting deep into the

juicy, dripping, wriggling dainty, and licking his paws with true

epicurean satisfaction when it was finished. There can be little

doubt that in this immediate vicinity the good that they do, quite

compensates for the damage they may cause. 4
Hoy found that specimens in captivity were carnivorous, and

|
ate "meadow-mice, flying squirrels, and even their own young."

This was undoubtedly due in part to abnormal conditions. White-

footed mice and meadow-mice are usually associated with the

gopher. I have found the prairie white-footed mouse and the

gopher living together in such abundance that it is not easy to con-

ceive of the gophers as habitually feeding on the mice.

If owing to their overabundance, or to other local conditions, the

gophers become a pest, no animal is more easily gotten rid of. The

readiest and cheapest way to exterminate them over a considerable

area is to poison them. If the poison is put into the hole and

reasonable care is taken, this may be done with but very little danger

of poisoning other animals. They may also be killed by fumes of

carbon bisulphid, and in the immediate vicinity of dwellings and

barns this may be the most desirable way. They are easily trapped.

Often their burrows are shallow, and they are easily drowned out by

pouring water into their holes. Finally, the boy with a gun easily

decimates them if given a chance.

GRAY GOPHER; FRANKLIN'S SPERMOPHILE.

Citellus franklinii {Sahine).

Arctomys franklinii Sabine, Trans. Linn. Soc, 1822, p. 587, PL 27.

Spermophilus franklinii of Kennicott and various authors.

This species, often called the prairie gray squirrel, is found

through the northern two-thirds of Illinois, northern Missouri, and

* Bull. Iowa Agr. Exper. Station, No. 6 (1888), p. 244.

t Bull. S. Dak. Agr. Exper. Station, No. 30, pp. 8-11.



529

eastern Kansas. Thence its range extends north through the valley

of the Red River of the North and the Saskatchewan. It is also

found in Indiana near the western boundary.

The gray gopher bears a superficial resemblance to the gray

squirrel, but the habits of the two are totally different. The tail of

the gopher is short, and the hair is sparse and coarse, with no soft

under-fur.

The color of the young is as follows : Over the back the hairs

are banded buff and black, the banding and arrangement giving

the effect of light spots on a dark background; or the spots may
be so large and so arranged as almost to form irregular transverse

bars of light and dark. Over the head and neck many of the

hairs are tipped with pure white, and the general effect is gray.

Over the sides the general color is more rusty than on the back.

The chin and throat are dirty white. On the belly and inside of

the legs the color is dirty buff. The tip of the ear is black within.

The inside of the ear and a strip around the eye are ochraceous. The
whiskers are black; the claws, horn-color. The hairs of the tail

have long, light tips, which are ochraceous at base and whitish

near tip. In the older specimens the barring becomes more

obscure, and the lighter colors become more rusty and more exten-

sive. The last two-thirds of the tail is gray with a slight flush of

ocher.

The total length is about 15.16 in. (385 mm.), the tail is 5.12 in.

(130 mm.) long, and the hind foot 2.13 in. (54 mm.).

Early writers describe this gopher as inhabiting the edge of the

woods or tracts dotted with low bushes, etc., rather than the open

prairie. At present a necessary condition for their habitation seems

to be the presence of some shelter, such as may be furnished by tall

grass, or a field of clover, alfalfa, or grain. Others have noticed that

when the crop on such a field is cut the gophers leave, at least for

a while, and my own observations coincide with theirs, though I have

known the gophers to return to the same spot after the second crop

of alfalfa had started. They avoid closely cropped pastures, well-

kept cemeteries, lawns, and similar places where the striped gopher

is especially abundant, yet even in such localities I have found them

congregated under a heap of compost. In fact such a shelter seems

to have special attractions for them, as noted by Bailey. Kennicott

says that they are less shy and less disturbed by cultivation of the



530

land than the striped gopher. My own experience is that while they are

perhaps more apt to take up their quarters in the immediate vicinity

of bams and farmhouses, they are at the same time far more diffi-

cult to approach in the open. They are almost sure to move if the

grass or other shelter over their burrows is cut, or if the ground is

disturbed by cultivation. They are hence continually shifting their

location, often returning to the same place after an absence of some

weeks.

There is a common opinion in this vicinity that this species is

driven off by the striped gopher. I have never seen the two species

together, though very frequently colonies of each may be found

within a few rods. I know of no proof as to which can drive off the

other.

The species is decidedly gregarious, nearly always being found in

colonies. As their burrows each have several openings and these

are conspicuously marked by the dirt thrown out, a colony becomes a

great nuisance in a hay or grain field. The conspicuousness of these

burrows and of the animals themselves has aroused the animosity of

the farmers and hastened the destruction of the gophers.

My own data are too incomplete for absolute proof, but I am in-

clined to believe that a census of the gray gophers in the county

would show their abundance in the different habitats to be in the

following descending order: moraine bluff, till plain, and cleared

pasture. I have never seen them elsewhere, though I presume that

they may be found in the borders of w^oodlands.

The food is largely vegetable, consisting of grain, seeds, and
other vegetable matter. The exact nature of this part of the

food will of course vary with the habitat, but may be quite largely

grain. Bailey, as the result of an examination of twenty-nine
stomachs, found that over thirty per cent, of the food was animal

matter—largely insects. They are known to kill birds, young
chickens, and small mammals, and even gray gopher hair has been

found in the stomach.*
They store up grain and seeds for winter, as much as half a peck

of oats having been found in a burrow under a shock in September.

It seems certain, however, that they hibernate during the middle of

winter. They are seldom seen here after October or earlier than

* The Prairie Ground-Squirrels, or Spermophiles, of the Mississippi Valley.
Bull. Xo. 4, Div. Orn. and Mamm., U. S. Dept. Agr., pp. 56, 57.



531

April. A specimen kept in captivity by Baird did not hibernate,

but many other observers have found them quite dormant in winter.
Probably the depth and duration of the winter sleep varies with
locality and circumstances. They have been known to ascend
trees, but such feats are very rare.

Early writers speak of these gophers as being not at all shy.

Possibly persecution has made them cautious. They are certainly

not easily approached in this vicinity. They are said, however, to

be easily tamed in captivity.

Exact and numerous records of the number of young, time of

birth, and period of pregnancy are wanting, but so far as available

observations go, they indicate that there is one litter a year and that

this is smaller than in the case of the striped gopher, containing

about four to eight young. They are bom in early spring, and re-

main with the parents during the summer and probably till the next
year.

Specimens taken August 9 had reached a total length of 10.5 in.

(268 mm.).

In this county the species is seldom abundant enough to consti-

tute a serious economic problem. Compared with the striped

gopher it does more damage by eating grain and by covering grain,

clover, etc., with the dirt from its burrows. Its burrows, being

larger, constitute a disfigurement, and are an annoyance to horses,

whose feet may catch in them. There is also a small amiount of

poultry and eggs charged to their account ; but these losses seldom

amount to much, while considerable benefit must result from their

destruction of insects, especially grasshoppers. In general we be-

lieve that the good they do quite balances the harm.

In case they should become a pest they are easily gotten rid of

by poisoning, or by any of the other methods applicable to the

striped gopher.

Their natural enemies are the larger species of hawks, and skunks

and weasels. Cats kill some of them, and a few are killed by man.
Like so many other rodents their number in any locality is apt to

vary greatly from year to year. This is apparently due to migra-

tions rather than to uneven mortality.

There seems no reason except prejudice why the flesh of this

gopher should not be used for food as well as that of the various

tree- squirrels. Its food is as clean and its habits are as neat.



532

WOODCHUCK; GROUND-HOG.

Marmota monax (Linnasus).

Mus monax Linn., Syst. Nat., I., 1758, p. 60.

Arctomys monax of Kennicott and many authors.

The woodchuck is found from Georgia, Alabama, and Kansas

north to Hudson Bay and westward to the Rocky Mountains in the

northern part of its range, but is not usually at all common in a

prairie country. It is rare in this county except in the extreme

northern part, where it is said to be not uncommon.
The woodchuck is a thick-set, clumsy animal, with legs so short

that the gait resembles that of a fat pig. It is about 22 in. (560 mm.)
long, the tail, which is sparingly bushy, being approximately 4 in.

(100 mm.) in length. The ears are short. The usual color of the

back is grizzly brown, with head, tail, and feet darker; the belly is

rusty reddish. Individuals vary greatly, however, some being

nearly black, while the light-tipped hair of others gives the animal a

light grayish yellow color.

The woodchuck loves a rolling country with a light soil and
an abundance of clover, grass, and grain. Given these, woodchucks
will more than hold their own with civilization. Through many
parts of New England and the Middle States they are probably

more abundant now than when the country was first settled. Ken-
nicott, writing of northern Illinois in 1856, says that the woodchuck
"was exceedingly rare ten years ago but is now becoming quite com-
mon. It is an inhabitant of the woods. I am not aware that it ever

lives in the prairie". I found it abundant in McHenry county, and
it is said to be equally so in the adjoining counties. It is not now,
however, so much an "inhabitant of the woods" as of the cultivated

fields where woods stood w^hen Kennicott wrote this. Woodchucks
seem never to have been abundant in Champaign county, and at

present there are only a few here, these occurring along the bor-

ders of the wooded bluffs.

These animals are believed to be strictly vegetarian in their diet.

Their burrows are extensive, and always conspicuous on account
of the large quantities of earth thrown out. They do not hesitate

to swim across bodies of water, and they do it easily. They have
been known to climb low or slanting trees, but this is not usual.

Their young are bom in one litter of four to six, in spring.

Their winter sleep is profound, and lasts in New England from about



533

the middle of September to the middle of March. It is probably of

somewhat shorter duration here. Like the striped and gray gophers,

they sit erect when watching for enemies, and whistle shrilly when
alarmed.

The woodchuck is often kept in confinement, but it is a rather

stupid and uninteresting pet.

I do not know of any way in which a live woodchuck can be of

service to man. The flesh is often eaten by those who like coarse

game, and the skin makes a tough leather of limited use. Where
woodchucks are abundant they are a serious pest in meadows and
grain fields. They beat down the crops, thus rendering harvesting

difficult, and the earth they throw out injures the mower or reaper.

Their burrows may be stepped into by horses or cattle, and for this

reason may be counted dangerous. However, woodchucks are

readily gotten rid of. They may be taken in a steel trap set in the

mouth of their burrows, or they may be easily poisoned with carbon

bisulphid. Moreover, they furnish an excellent mark for practice in

rifle-shooting.

FLYING SQUIRREL.

Sciuropterus volans (Linnaeus).

Mus volans Linn., Syst. \at., I., 1758, p. 63.

Pteromys volucella of Kennicott and various authors.

The general range of the flying squirrel is from northern New
York south to Florida and west to the plains.

The size of Illinois specimens is about as follows: Total length,

7.8 in. (200 mm.); length of tail, 3.25 in. (83 mm.); length of hind

foot, L2 in. (30 mm.).

The color above is drab shaded with russet, the base of the hairs

being plumbeous; the tail is slightly darker above, beneath buffy

gray; the hands, above, are grayish white; and the feet are drab.

There is an orbital ring of brownish black and a broad band of the

same at the edge of the wing-membrane. The under parts are white,

washed with yellow or buff.

The tail is densely clothed with soft hairs, the whole being

smoothly flattened, though the vertebrae are of normal form. The

eyes are dark and large; the ears, nearly naked and rather large and

rounded.



534

It "flies," in long sailing leaps, by means of an extension]

of a fold of skin along each side of the body and the neck.

There are two parts to this parachute. The larger part extends be-

tween the fore and hind limbs, and is held taut by a cartilaginous

rod extending from the wrist backward, between the folds of skin,

and also by specially developed dermal muscles. The other mem-
brane fills the triangular space between the fore limb and the neck

and side of the head. This is held taut by muscles, the chief one of

which arises from the zymotic arch and is attached to the rudimen-

tary thumb.
The flying squirrel can not be mistaken for anything else. Of

all the mammals found in the county, none is more beautiful or

interesting, and yet, considering its abundance, none is perhaps so

little known. This is due chiefly to the fact that it is among the

most strictly nocturnal of animals—quite as much so as bats or

owls—and is, moreover, so quiet and inconspicuous in its move-
ments that it is seldom seen. A nest may remain undiscovered by
the passers-by even in a much frequented locality. On the other

hand, as there are usually a number of animals in the same nest, the

ordinary observer who finds a colony by accident is quite sure to

have an exaggerated idea of their abundance. For this reason little

reliance is to be placed on popular report of their numbers. I

have obtained but few reports and observations concerning the

presence of the species in the county; nevertheless, considering how
nearly the individuals I have observed escaped detection, I am of

the opinion that flying squirrels may be said to be fairly abundant
even in the neighborhood of Urbana and Champaign.

Kennicott and the majority of early observers mention deep

woods or large groves as the habitat of this species. I have never

known of their being found in the groves scattered over the prairie,

but they occur in the large woods and in the little clumps of trees

that represent the ragged fringing remnant of the wooded-bluft"

region. Here they are found, several together, nesting in hollow

trees.* In other parts of the country they build nests of leaves

lined with softer material; or, more rarely, they build them entirely

of such softer substances as grass, fine bark, etc. I have no record,

however, of such nests within Champaign county, or even within

* I have run as many as fifty out of one den.— Dr. J. Schneck, 1886, Mt.
Carmel, 111.



the state. They also enter houses, dove-cots, etc., and build their

nests there.

The food of the flying squirrel includes the usual wide variety

of substances eaten by other squirrels—seeds, nuts, buds, etc., and,

at least in captivity, beetles and raw flesh. Probably birds and
nestlings are sometimes eaten bv it.

This species is the most exclusively arboreal mammal we have,

never straying far from trees, seldom touching the ground, and
never, so far as observation goes, making long runs on the ground
or even following fences for any considerable distance. During the

winter it keeps to the nest and is more or less torpid. It lays up
stores, hawever, and in captivity is somewhat active during the

winter, though it is said to be dull and stupid, lacking entirely the

vivacity that characterizes it in summer.
The females are said to produce a single annual litter in April in

the northern part of their range, but as many as three litters a year

in the South. Data on this point for this county are too meager to

be of value. The number in a litter is from three to six.

These squirrels may be said to be gregarious but not social.

The family remains together for a considerable time, and possibly

others join it. At least quite large colonies are found living in the

same tree. They are not quarrelsome, but in their work and their

play they exhibit a remarkable indifference to each others' presence,

each sporting by himself without regard to the others. The mothers,

however, show remarkable devotion to their young.

Nothing can be more elusive than the flight of this squirrel when
first seen. Even if the eye is fortunate enough to note the start, as

the squirrel leaps from a tree in a long, swift, silent glide, the quick

upward turn is sure to bewilder and make one lose sight of the ani-

mal. There is a striking resemblance between this quiet gliding

downward of the squirrel and the floating of a leaf. There is said to

be a slight tremulous motion of the fore limbs during the glide, but it

is difficult to see what function this may have in the movement of

the animal.

The flying squirrel has three quite diverse calls or cries. It

utters the usual "chuck-chuck" of squirrels, the usual quick, sharp

squeak when scolding, and also, more rarely, a clear musical note,

commonly melodious and pleasant, but occasionally shrill. This

(4)



536

resembles the chirp of a bird, and may be kept up for ten minutes

at a time.

This squirrel is one of the most easily tamed of all our wild ani-

mals, none of which are more gentle and interesting. The captive

may usually be trusted to run about the room without making any
effort to escape. However, if given too much liberty, according to

my experience, some day, with no apparent reason and when least ex-

pected, there is a dash for liberty, and the squirrel is gone for good.

The playfulness of these little animals, their gentle, graceful beauty,

and their wonderful vivacity make them most delightful pets.

BEAVER.

Castor canadensis Kuhl.

(Beit. Zool., 1820, p. 64.)

The beaver seems to have been practically exterminated in this

part of the state before the first permanent settlers came. There
was an extensive dam on the South Fork a few miles above Urbana,
and several others, less generally known, on the lower part of the

Salt Fork. There is probably not a wild beaver in the state at the

present time.

BLACK RAT.

Mus rattiis Linnaeus.

(Syst. Nat., I., 17SS, p. 61.)

The black rat is mentioned by early travelers as existing in the

river towns in the southern part of the state. It is extinct at pres-

ent so far as known.

BROWN RAT; NORWAY RAT.

Mus norvegicus Erxleben.

(Syst. Regn. Anim., I., 1777, p. 381.)

Mvis decumanus Pallas, Nov. Sp. Quad. Glir., 1778, p. 91.

This is the only species of rat found in the county, and probably
the only one now in the state. Like the house-mouse, it has become
cosmopolitan. I have never myself seen the animals or identified

their burrows in open fields, borders of woods, etc., except in the im-



537

mediate vicinity of some extensive artificial shelter, such as a com-
post heap, straw stack, or the Hke. Undoubtedly there are individ-

uals leading a wildlife, but they can not be abundant. There have been
instances of rats' becoming so abundant in the fields as to be a decided
pest . For example, in the summer of 1 903 immense numbers appeared
in several counties of western Illinois, especially in Mercer and Rock
Island counties, and were a veritable plague during that and the

following year.* I have never heard of a similar visitation in this

county. It is pretty well established, however, that the appearance
of vast numbers in a locality where they have not been known to be
excessively abundant before is due to continued conditions favor-

able to the increase of the species, and is therefore liable to occur in

any locality where the species is fairly abundant.

Rats are exceedingly fertile. They breed three to five times a

year, and a litter varies in numbers from six to twenty. The period

of gestation is twenty-one days. A female rat can breed when less

than three months old. The young are brought forth in a very

undeveloped condition, being hairless, with eyes closed and the

outer ears glued down over the orifice.

The rate of reproduction varies with the climate and the food

supply, a moderate temperature and an abundance of food increasing

both the number of litters a year and their size. Extensive investi-

gations made in connection with the United States Biological Sur-

vey indicate that the average for well-fed individuals in this latitude

can not be less than ten to a litter. At this rate, supposing there

were only three litters a year, if a single pair and their progeny

should breed uninterruptedly for three years, and no deaths occur,

the total number resulting would be something over 20,000,000

individuals.

There is no mammal in the state against which so much that is

injurious can be proven, and for which so little of good can be

claimed; and the whole economic problem so far as the rat is con-

cerned, reduces itself to determining how to exterminate it most
rapidly and satisfactorily. Since, in spite of their great fertility,

rats are not increasing rapidly, it is evident that there must be many
agents naturally tending to their destruction, for very few of them,

comparatively, are killed by man under ordinary circumstances.

* Lantz, D. E. "The Brown Rat in the United States." Bull. No. 33, Biol.

Surv. U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 17.



538

Of all these natural enemies the weasel is probably the most de-

structive. This little carnivore seems to have taken upon itself the

regulation of overproduction among all the Rodentia. Skunks and
foxes also make way with many of them. The larger owls kill many
rats, and are probably responsible for killing more of them than any

other animal except the weasel. The larger hawks also catch them
occasionally, and are undoubtedly an important factor in checking

any overabundance of rats in the fields.

Although comparatively rare in the fields, the damage done

within the county by rats in the immediate vicinity of man's abode

must amount to many thousand dollars each year. The heaviest

loss is probably in granaries, elevators, and various other storehouses

for grain or for flour or vegetables. They are very destructive to

young poultry. Probably no small part of the loss of this kind com-

monly attributed to weasels and skunks is due to rats. They are

also great thieves of eggs.

Of late, attention has been called to the fact that destruction of

property by rats is the least important of their evil deeds. Far

more serious is their agency in the spreading of infectious disease.

The bubonic plague is spread entirely by means of the rat flea. Tri-

chinosis among swine is perpetuated, so far as is known, entirely by
rats. Trichinae can only occur in hogs as a result of their eating the

flesh of some infected animal, and the rat is the only other animal

with which the hog comes in contact that is so infected. As they

frequent in turn sewers, outhouses, granaries, storehouses, and
pantries, they may also disseminate such diseases as typhoid, dys-

entery, and tuberculosis.

HOUSE-MOUSE.

Mus muscuius Linnaeus.

(Syst. Nat., I., 1758, p. 62.)

The common house-mouse has followed the European races of

man into all parts of the globe. So far back as the time of Kennicott's

papers on the mammals of Illinois (1856-1857) it had become fre-

quent in the fields, digging burrows and laying up stores in them.

It is very abundant in harvest fields in late summer and fall, often

far outnumbering all the other species of small mammals taken to-

gether. At that time traps set inside shocks of grain or com will



539

often catch but little else. There seems to be an irruption of these

mice into the field after the crop is cut. Traps set under shocks
just put up will catch none of the mice, except perhaps near a
barn or other shelter, but later the mice may be taken under
shocks farther and farther out in the field, and within a fortnight

they may be found in the center of an eighty-acre lot. As noted
on page 505, they apparently drive the white-footed prairie-mouse

away from the shocks. During most of the year house-mice are

not commonly found in the woods or open fields except under
some sort of artificial shelter. It is curious to note how a refuse

dump, a compost heap, a pile of old boards, a haystack— what-

ever is the work of man's hands or the remains or refuse of his

habitations—attracts these mice. In the middle of an extensive

sand area in Mason county a few bits of boards and a bushel or two
of old tin cans and broken pottery gave shelter to a colony of house-

mice, though a full half mile from anything else that could have

protected them. Bailey reports finding them in Texas on a de-

serted ranch a hundred miles from the nearest railroad town.*

There is considerable variation in color in this species within the

county. The general mouse-gra}^ is usually modified to a greater

or less degree by a flush of orange-yellow—"varying through smoke-

gray and drab-buff to near orange-buff." One gets all these varia-

tions in a single locality and among specimens taken on the same

date. I have not been able to correlate these variations with any

ecological factor.
*

WHITE-FOOTED WOOD-MOUSE.

Peroniyscus leucopus noveboracensis (Fischer).

(Osgood, N. Am. Fauna, No. 28, 1909, p. 117.)

Mils sylvaticns noveboracensis Fischer, Synop. Manim., 1829, p. .318.

Mus leucopus (Raf.), Kennicott.

The range of this subspecies is from Nova Scotia to central Min-

nesota, thence south through the humid parts of eastern Nebraska

and Kansas, and eastward to the Atlantic coast.

There is considerable variation in size, as shown by the following

table.

* N. Am. Fauna, No. 2 5, p. 92.



540



541

This species is very similar to the white-footed prairie-mouse, but
is larger, the feet pure white, no black hairs occurring on them, and
the tail is longer than that of the prairie white-foot. The length of

the tail vertebrae divided by the length from the tip of the nose to the

base of the tail gives a ratio that will serve to distinguish the two
species. This ratio is .7, or over (usually .75 to .9), for the woodland
white-foot, and under .7 (usually .6 to .65) for the white-footed

mouse of the prairie.

The common name of this mouse is especially appropriate, as the

habitat of the species is practically coextensive with the woodland
areas of the state, present or past. I have taken it in a clump of

bushes, hardly three rods square, standing alone in the prairie some
miles from any timber, but I do not often find it following fences or

hedges unless these are near areas recently wooded, and it does not

usually make its nests or burrows where there is no shelter.

I give below the per cent, of specimens taken in the different

habitats in this part of the state.

Till plains, 5 per cent. Flood-plain, 35 per cent.

Moraines, 4 per cent. Groves, 33 per cent.

Bluffs, 13 per cent. Cleared pasture, 10 per cent.

These figures indicate in a general w^a}^ the relative abundance
of the species in the different situations. As much more trapping

was done on till plains and moraines than in the other localities, the

percentages given for those two are too high to denote relative

abundance. In the fall and winter I find this species in the deepest

woods still standing in the county. I have also found it in heavy
timber of beech, maple, and oak on the hills in the southern part of

the state. During summer these mice leave the thick woods and are

found along the borders of woodlands; in pastures where there are

stumps, brush, or other shelter; and especially along the margins

of brooks and on flood-plains. They are not found on till plains or

moraines except in the neighborhood of timber or where there is a

clump of bushes or similar shelter. Shocks of corn or grain near

groves or other woodland may be occupied by them.

This species and the prairie white-foot, though often found with-

in a short distance of each other, do not mingle. I have taken the

house-mouse and woodland white-foot under the same pile of boards

;

and the house-mouse and the white-footed prairie-mouse under the



542

same com shock ; but I have never found the prairie-mouse and the

woodland one Hving together in such manner.

This mouse usually builds its nest under stumps, logs, or similar

cover. Its burrows are little more than passageways under such

cover, lying, at most, but a few inches under ground. I have never

found a burrow of this species in the open without protection.

Occasionally the nest is made in a wood-pile, or in an old stub or tree

some feet from the ground. I saw one in a decaying apple-tree four

feet above the ground. Hoy reports having seen nests at a height

of eight to ten feet in the branches of thorn-trees (CratcBgus) in

southern Wisconsin. The nests are made of leaves, fine grass, etc.

The food of this species is vegetable matter—seeds, nuts, grasses,

and herbage. In captivity, according to Merriam, it will eat flesh

and catch flies and eat them. Other observers have failed to induce

them to eat any flesh. They may store up food for winter, as nuts,

grains, seed, etc., have been found in their storehouses, sometimes

in considerable quantities. They do not hibernate, but are active

all winter, and their tracks are often seen in the snow.

The following table shows the result of an examination of fifty-

five females.

Date



543

Date



544

An examination of the table shows that young are born at all

times of the year from January to October inclusive. It would seem

likelv that the same individual might produce three litters a year.

The number in a litter is rather small, varying from two to five,

with an average of a little less than four.

Apparently the sexes are separated during a good part of the

year. At any rate the specimens caught during a night in a limited

area almost invariably show a great preponderance of one or the

other sex.

Although these mice are supposed to be nocturnal in their

habits, Fisher has shown that a number of them are taken by hawks.*

Many are caught by owls, which, with weasels, skunks, and snakes,

are probably their chief enemies in this vicinity.

Although these mice are undoubtedly the most nume];ous mam-
mals in the county, from an economic standpoint they are probably

of little importance. They enter grain and corn fields and nest

under the shocks, but the grain or corn eaten at first is usually waste.

If, however, corn is allowed to remain in the shock till late in the

winter, considerable damage ma}^ be done to it by these mice. They
are said to enter barns and granaries in winter. A few such in-

stances in this state have come to my notice.

WHITE-FOOTED PRAIRIE-MOUSE.

Peromyscus maniculatus hairdii (Hov and Kennicott).

M\is bairdii Hoy and Kennicott, Kennicott, Agr. Rep. Comm. Patents, 1856, pp.
92-95, PL XI.

Peromyscus michiganensis of authors, not of Audubon and Bachman.

According to the recent arrangement of the genus by Osgood the

maniculatus group, containing some 30 forms, is scattered over vari-

ous parts of North America from the arctic plains on the north to

the central part of Mexico on the south. The form hairdii, of which
the type locality is Bloomington, McLean county, Illinois, is said

to have the following range: "Prairie region of the upper Mississippi

Valley in southern Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, eastern
Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, and the eastern or humid parts of

* "The Hawks and Owls of the United States," Bull. No. 3, Div. Ornith. and
Mamm., U. S. Dept. Agr.



545

Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota; north to

southern Manitoba."*

The following table gives the measurements of specimens from
various localities.



546

area around its base. The belly, chin, throat, inner side of legs,

under side of tail, and usually the toes, are white. The white of the

feet is modified to a greater or less degree by black hairs, producing

a grayish color. The ears are sparingly covered with short dusky

hairs. About one half the whiskers are white.

In older specimens the color of the upper part is warmed with a

burnt-umber shade; the cheeks, back of the ears, and a line along

the side and around the base of the tail become fawn-color; and the

whole back is warmed to a greater or less degree, often quite equal-

ing the average P. leucopus in liveliness of color.

Close examination will show that the base of the hairs is in

general dark plumbeous, the only exception being the hairs of the

toes, chin, and under side of tail, which may be white to the base.

The tips of the hairs over all the under parts are white. Over the

upper parts there are long hairs tipped with black or dusky, and
shorter hairs which may acquire more or less of fawn or umber at

their tips. The colored tips of those nearest the middle line are

commonly paler and shorter than those of the side, while the black

hairs are more abundant along the middle of the back. The upper

surface of the tail may remain dusky or acquire a slightly umber
tone. The feet usually become more nearly pure white with age.

Within the county this species is practically limited to the till

plains and the highly cultivated areas of the moraines. It is em-
phatically an inhabitant of the open fields, differing from the pre-

ceding species far more noticeably in its habits than in its structure.

It is the most characteristic mammal, and the most abundant one,

of the great fields of the till plains. During late winter, spring, and
early summer it is nearly the only mammal resident in the center of

the great com and grain fields of the county. Other species fre-

quent the edges of the fields or enter them in fall when the grain

is ripe, but this species is apparently present in the very center of the

largest fields, even during those months when, owing to vigorous
cultivation, the conditions seem most unfavorable.

The following table illustrates the local distribution of the

species according to habitat.



547



548

hence over 50 per cent, of the bulk of the food was probably the

fruit of that plant. Many similar illustrations could be given.

Kennicott says that white-footed prairie-mice injure young

fruit-trees by gnawing at the roots. It is possible that when young

trees are set out on the prairie this might happen, though even then

I should be inclined to suspect that a meadow-mouse was the cul-

prit till it was proven otherwise. In any case this species does not

seek nurseries, small-fruit patches, etc. Even in a cemetery in

which they were very abundant in open places, I have never taken

them in the neighborhood of shrubbery.

An examination of 24 females made to determine time of breed-

ing, number in litter, etc., gave the following result.



549

This would seem to indicate that there are three broods a year

at about equal intervals of four months; viz., in the latter part of

February, in June, and in October.

The number in a litter varies from four to nine. This agrees in

general with such records as have been made by other observers.

The young adhere to the teats with considerable tenacity, and
have often been seen clinging to the dam when the nests were dis-

turbed. The smallest specimen found pregnant was 129 mm. in

total length. The average length of all my specimens being 134

mm., I am inclined to believe that they breed first when about one

year old.

The enemies of this species, as of the white-footed wood-mouse,

must be the nocturnal Carnivora found in the open fields, viz.,

skunks, weasels, and owls. Very few have been found in the

stomachs of hawks.

Economically their importance seems to be small, for good or

ill. I have no record of their injuring growing crops in this locality,

and the grain taken, while perhaps considerable in total amount, is

chiefly waste. The species does not habitually feed on grain in

shocks, and so far as an}^ available record goes it never enters barns

or granaries.

Owing to the clearing of woodland and the drainage of waste

tracts, the area of its habitat within the county has undoubtedly

greatly increased since the settlement of the country, and, consider-

ing its advantageous adaptation to the present state of cultivation,

it seems quite certain that there are more individuals within our

limits now than when the country was unsettled, and that its num-

bers are not diminishing at present.

SOUTHERN GOLDEN MOUSE.

Peromyscus nuttalli aureolus (Audubon and Bachman).

Mns {Calomys) aureolus Aud. and Bachm., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., I., 1841,

pp. 98-99.

A few specimens of a golden mouse identified by Osgood as

probably of this form, were taken near Olive Branch, Alexander

county, in the extreme southern part of the state. They were

quite abundant in the low woods of oak bordering the cypress

swamps. Kennicott reported it from Murphysboro, in Jackson



550

county, and from Salem, in Marion county. The latter locality is

probably near the northern limit of its range.

The golden mouse is easily recognized by its color, which is a

rich tawny-ochraceous above and creamy white below. Nothing

seems to be known of the habits of this most beautiful animal. I

found it living with the white-footed wood-mouse, both being taken

imder the same log; but while the wood-mouse was taken also on

the wooded hills in the vicinity, the golden mouse seemed to be

limited to the low woods bordering the swamps. Kennicott says

that the golden mouse takes to a tree readily when pursued, and

that in the vicinity of Salem it often built nests in the branches of

low trees. Its nests "were like birds' nests, but covered at top,

w4th a small opening on the side."

FLORIDA WOOD-RAT.

Neotoma floridana (Ord).

Mus floridana Ord, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris, 1818, p. 181.

There is a single specimen of this species in our collection, taken

by A. Hempel at the Quiver Cut-off, at Havana, 111., July 17, 1895.

It was found in a log on shore.

This wood-rat closely resembles the common brown rat in ap-

pearance, but the color on the back and sides is rufous, and the feet

are pure white. In the southern part of the United States it is said

to be common along streams. According to Knox,* "They build

nests by piling up sticks and pieces of bark, to the height of two or

three feet, often about the base of a tree or stump. In the middle
of these piles they have a nest of dried grass and leaves."

Kennicott published a plate of the wood-rat t but gave no in-

formation in regard to it. I find no record of its occurrence within

the state.

*"Kansas Mammalia," Trans. Kan. Acad. Sci., Vol. IV., p. 21.

tTrans. 111. State Agr. Soc, Vol. II., PL XIV.



551

PENNSYLVANIA MEADOW-MOUSE.

Microtus pennsyivanicus (Ord).

Mus pcnnsylvanica Ord, Guthrie's Geogr., 2d Am. ed., II., 1815, p. 292.

Arvicola riparins Kennicott, Trans. 111. State Agr. Soc, II., (1856-57), p. 677.

This species was called the long-haired meadow-mouse by Kenni-

cott. It has not yet been found in Champaign county. There are

several specimens in the collections of this Laboratory that were

taken near Normal, in McLean county, and I took two specimens

in a tamarack swamp in McHenry county.

Like the prairie meadow-mouse, this species rarely leaves the

shelter of dense low-growing vegetation. It is found in wet mead-
ows, in waste corners of cultivated fields,

and in woodlands and wooded swamps. Its

nests are said not to be in burrows but under

stumps, logs, etc. In winter it is sometimes

found on the surface of the ground, with no

cover but the deep snow. In such situations pig i Moiar enamel pat-

the heat of the animal forms a large dome Zlst''TB^&"'"
""^''°"''

beneath the snow, and from this many run-

ways extend in all directions. When the snow thaws, these nests

are deserted. The underground burrows of this mouse are shallow

and simple, often not extending beyond the log or other cover

under which they are dug.

The species is said to breed from March to November inclusive.

There are probably three litters of five to eight in a year.

The economic relations of this species are similar to those of the

prairie meadow-mouse, but the species is so rare, in this part of

the state at least, that it has practically no economic importance.

PRAIRIE MEADOW- MOUSE; PRAIRIE -VOLE.

Microtus austerus (Le Conte).

Arvicola austerus Le Conte, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., VI.. 1853, pp. 405-406.

The range of this species, according to Bailey*, is the central

part of the Mississippi Valley, from southern Wisconsin to southern

Missouri and Fort Reno, Oklahoma, and west into eastern Nebraska

and Kansas.

* "Revision of American Voles of the Genus Microtus," N. Am. Fauna, No. 17,

p. 73.

(5)



552

The average measurements for 29 specimens, most of them from

this county, are as follows: Total length, 5.47 in. (139 mm.);

tail, 1.22 in. (31 mm.); hind foot, .75 in. (19 mm.). There is con-

siderable variation in the length of the tail, our specimens ranging

in this respect from 1.02 in. (26 mm.) to 1.58 in. (40 mm.).

The upper parts are dark gray, with a peppery appearance due

to the mixture of black and pale fulvous tips of long hairs, the black-

tipped ones predominating. The sides are paler , the belly is washed

with pale cinnamon, and the tail is bicolor. The base of the hairs

is everywhere plumbeous.

Kennicott regards this species as the most abundant native

mammal on the prairie of northern Illinois. In this county I think

that it is outnumbered on both till plains

and moraines by the white-footed prairie-

mouse, andr in many localities, during the

autumn, by the common house-mouse. It

is, however, very difficult to estimate the

number of these mice present in any area.

praf;fe meadtJ-moTsS^BaUeV) They sccm to posscss the samc migratory

instinct as their near relatives, the lem-

mings, frequently moving from place to place. At any rate, in

common with other observers, I have often taken them in com-

parative abundance in a locality where the year before or the year

after not a specimen could be obtained by prolonged trapping.

There is also a temporary shifting to grain and corn fields in fall and
late summer, and a return to the shelter of fences, edges of woods,

etc., in winter. Kennicott describes the species as being most
decidedly an inhabitant of the prairie, and declares that he has never

found it in the woods ; while observers in other localities report it as

having a most decided preference for the edge of woodlands or open
groves. So far as my own observation goes, it is the ground-

cover which determines the habitat of these meadow-mice. They
are not found in closely grazed pastures nor in well-cultivated fields

of corn, vegetables, etc., but they may occur wherever there is a

close growth of grass or other low vegetation. Where this condi-

tion prevails I have taken them in groves and in fairly dense and
extensive woods, though their favorite situations are the waste
places along fences, in the corners of fields, and in permanent
pastures. They are also abundant at times in alfalfa and clover



553

fields. When grain or corn is shocked they soon take up their

residence under the shocks.

While not more than a single family is found in a nest, they are

usually so associated that they may be abundant in one lirnited

locality though entirely wanting in a similar one near by.

They are found on the margins of the flood-plains down to the

border of the sedge zone, but they do not enter that zone as a usual

thing. Although always more numerous on high ground, they are

also found in considerable abundance along the borders of the flood-

plains, and are often driven out of their burrows there by the spring

floods. At such times I have found them clinging to stumps and

other objects that rose above the water. On my approach they

would take to the water, swimming easily, and diving and escaping

if pursued.

The habits of this species were studied and well described by

Kennicott in northern Illinois forty-five years ago, and we can do

little more than confirm his observations. The presence of these

mice is always indicated by their runways through the grass. They

seldom move by leaping, but creep close to the ground, keeping

under cover whenever possible. Similar runways are sometimes

made by the white-footed mice and shrews, but theirs are much
the longer and more extensive, as those species do not object to

running out in the open. The runways are about one and a half

to two inches in diameter, and it is said that the mice make them by

biting ofi" and beating down the grass. The runways communicate

with burrows four to eight inches below the surface, which may form

an intricate network. The nests may be built above ground or

below. They are globular in shape, about six inches in diameter,

and are entered from below. They are constructed of soft grass.

Those which are built below the surface are for winter use, though

under haycocks and similar shelter the mice are found in winter

occupying nests above ground. Often a nest so located, with its

associated runways, is in close connection with a subterranean nest,

which is also connected with a mesh of subterranean runways lying

below those on the surface.

These meadow-mice do not hibernate, though they store up con-

siderable supplies of food. This consists of grass and various roots.

Kennicott found in their burrows roots of Liatris, Hclianthtis,

Silphiiiw, wild onion, and grasses.



554

In many localities this species undoubtedly does the most damage
of any of our smaller mammals. An extensive investigation by the

U. S. Department of Agriculture showed that immense damage was
done at times, in various localities, by field-mice of this and closely

related species. They destroy shocked grain and corn; they eat

roots when stored in heaps, or even when growing; and they

destroy clover, alfalfa, and grass in meadows. But perhaps the

most common and grievous complaint made against them is that

they girdle young trees, especially in orchards and nurseries. They
have been charged in this county with all these classes of injury.

However, conditions here are not such as to render the farmer

liable to extensive damage by these pests. Com is not often

shocked, grain is usually threshed very shortly after cutting, and
as meadows are seldom kept in grass for many consecutive years

the mice do not get well entrenched in them. Again, but little

attention is paid to fruit-raising, and so there is no great damage
to fruit-trees. Perhaps, in this county, truck-farmers and grow-

ers of small fruit suffer more loss from this mouse than any other

class. In an adjoining county I have seen fields that had been kept

in clover for two or three years abundantly infested by these mice,

considerable damage to the crop resulting. They are hardly

numerous enough with us at present to be denominated a pest, but

their record in other localities shows how easily, under favorable

circumstances, their numbers may so increase as to render them a

serious menace to the farmer.

So far as I know^ no claim can be urged in their favor except the

rather dubious one, put forth by Rhoads, that they furnish food for

hawks, owls, and carnivorous mammals. It is true that their

favorite resorts are usually the waste places neglected by the farmer,

that the green food they eat would not be utilized otherwise, and
that a large part of the grain they destroy is waste; but, neverthe-
less, to the grower of garden-truck and fruits their presence is al-

ways a menace, and any signs of their unusual abundance should be
regarded as a call for prompt action.

The field-mice demand a close cover of soft, low-growing herbage
for their nests and runways. Where there is a heavy snowfall

which lies undisturbed for weeks, they venture out under it into

fields bare of vegetation, but such conditions are rare in this countv.



555

The most favorable place for trapping meadow-mice is a broad
strip of unkept sod along a fence between two corn or grain fields.

Waste spots in permanent pastures next to cultivated fields are also

favorite localities; but where weeds and grass are kept down by
pasturage or tillage, meadow-mice are rare or lacking. Thorough
cultivation and frequent rotation of crops will prevent these ani-

mals from becoming a pest.

As is the case with all the small mammals, climatic conditions

have a great influence, directly and indirectly, on the abundance of

these mice. It has been observed that, in general, open winters

followed by wet summers are most favorable for their increase.

If an abundance of grain or other food is present also, marked
increase in their numbers is sure to be noticed. Such conditions

increase the number of litters and the number in a litter, and prob-

ably shorten the time required for attaining maturity.

The enemies of meadow-mice include practically all the carniv-

orous mammals, the birds of prey, and the majority of our snakes.

Among the mammals of this county, weasels and skunks are the

most important agents in the repression of these mice and other

small rodents. Weasels especially, being fairly abundant, destroy

large numbers of mice, and thus probably repay in the fields.what
they cost in the poultry-yard. Hawks and owls are also great

destroyers of field-mice of all kinds. This species, not being strictly

nocturnal, more often falls a prey to the hawks than do some of the

other species. To the nurseryman or gardener a nest of hawks or

owls in the vicinity is worth many dollars. Other birds also, as

herons, crows, cuckoos, shrikes, and bitterns, destroy these mice.

If only a limited area is to be cleared of meadow-mice they may
be trapped. The small, single spring traps used for house-mice are

the most satisfactory. They may be baited with oatmeal and placed

near the runs. Some are successful with an unbaited trap put

across the runway. Over a larger area they may be cleared out by

poisoning. The poisoned bait is prepared as described in the note

following this paper. It should be so placed that neither birds nor

domestic animals may get it. It is best to place it in the vicinity

of their nests under boards slightly raised, or in pieces of small-

sized tiling, old cans, or the like. One must bear in mind, however,

that in using poison one always runs some risk of doing damage.



556

In the case of- this species it is probably always easier, by thor-

ough tillage, to prevent its becoming a pest than to destroy it after it

has become abundant.

MOLE MEADOW-MOUSE; MOLE-LIKE VOLE.

Microtus pinetorimi scalopsoides (Audubon and Bachman).

Arvicola scalopsoides Aud. and Bachm., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., I., 1841, p. 97.

I have never identified an individual of this species among our

specimens, and I doubt if it is found in this county. Kennicott

reports it as common in the northern part of the state. He says

that it is readily distinguished from the other meadow-mice "by
its smaller size, glossy fur, large muzzle,

small ^yes, and very short tail." In

technical works the distinction is based

on the number of mammae and the form

of the teeth. The mammae in this

species are four in number, while there

moir^eidow-mousT""(Bafie")™
°' arc eight iu the othcr species of Microtus

found in the state. In this species (Fig.

3), the enamel pattern of the third molar forms two triangles, while

in the other species it forms three (Fig. 1 and 2).

This meadow-mouse inhabits woods rather than open fields, and
was called the wood meadow-mouse by Kennicott. Otherwise, so far

as known, its habits are in general similar to those of the other

meadow-mice.

MUSKRAT; MUSQUASH.

Fiber zihethiciis (Linnseus).

Castor zibethicus Linn., Syst. Nat., I., 1766, p. 79.

The muskrat, under several subspecies, is found generally through-

out North America from northern Mexico to Hudson Bay. The
range of the typical form which is found in Illinois is given by Elliot

as "Labrador to the Gulf States, excepting possibly the Dismal
Swamp, Virginia, and from the Atlantic Coast to the Rock>' Moun-
tains north of the Gulf States and Arizona, and south of Keewatin,
Canada."



557

Throughout its range, wherever there is quiet water with abun-
dant aquatic or riparian vegetation, the muskrat is sure to be found
unless driven away by persistent persecution. In early days the
sloughs that covered a large part of the prairie were the resort of

thousands of these animals. Here they found plenty of food and
comparative safety from their enemies. As these swampy areas

have been drained, the range of the muskrats has become restricted

to drainage ditches and the natural watercourses. Although this

change in the environment has necessitated a change in habits, the

muskrats, with a strange persistence, still remain, and wherever
in the till plains or in the sags of the moraines there is still open
water enough to wet their feet, traces of their presence may be

found. They will not disappear until the drainage is entirely under
ground.

In this viciiiity the burrows of the muskrat along the banks of

streams and ditches open near the level of moderately low water,

and extend back some yards into the bank. There are usually open-

ings to the surface also, back some distance from the water. Some
of these openings are the work of the muskrats, but many of them
are due to the breaking-through of men or animals into the burrows.

When the country was new the muskrat houses were a promi-

nent feature in the landscape, and they may still be seen occasion-

ally. Observers differ greatly in regard to the conditions under

which muskrats may or may not build houses. Evidently their

habits in this respect differ in different localities. In the lakes and
marshes of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Canada they build houses in

two to four feet of water^ wherever conditions permit. In this

vicinit}^ the houses are found in much shallower water, and in the

southern part of its range the muskrat does not build houses at all.

This has apparently become a matter of individual variation in this

county, for one finds only a small proportion of these animals using

houses where, so far as one can see, conditions are equally favorable

for all to build them if they wished. These houses serve a double

purpose, furnishing both shelter and supplies of food—the interior

part consisting of such food plants as are available in the locality.

The houses are built solid at first, the interior excavation being made

later. While the bottom and interior part are composed of closely

packed food-plants, above and on the exterior dirt is mixed with

them, and, occasionally, drift materials. Where the water is deep,



558

the beginning of the house is often made in the form of a raft of

edible roots. This raft is added to till its weight sinks it to the

bottom. After the solid stack is completed a small cavity is hol-

lowed out in the middle, a little above the water-line, and a run-

way—sometimes more than one—leading from it is dug down to and

under the water. A number of individuals occupy the same house.

The great bulk of the food of the muskrat is vegetable matter

—

chiefly roots of aquatic and riparian plants. When corn, grain,

vegetables, or apples are convenient, the muskrat helps itself to

them, and may go a few rods from the water to visit a field or store-

house containing them. At times muskrats feed extensively on

fresh-water mussels*. Observations indicate that the more delicate

species are taken out on the bank and opened at once with the

teeth, while the heavier and stouter species are not opened till they

are weakened by lying there. That muskrats eat dead or living fish

at times is vouched for by a number of good observers t-

From three or four to at least as many as nine young are pro-

duced in a litter. The northern trappers believe that the female

produces two broods the first year and three for several years after.

The young are hairless and quite helpless when born.

Considerable damage is done by muskrats in fields of corn and
grain, though it is seldom serious in any particular locality. Wher-
ever a corn field touches the banks of a stream or ditch, muskrat
trails running from the water into the edge of the crop are common.
Growing corn is usually cleared off systematically over a small

area and carried to the water and eaten. Comparatively little is

wasted, stalk and all being eaten. Grain fields in proximity to

water are also entered and the grain is cut down, the heads being

either eaten on the spot or carried to the edge of the field or into the

water. Grain is also carried off after it is harvested and in the

shock. Muskrats also damage root-crops when these are grown
near their resorts.

* I am indebted to Mr. James Zetek, of "the State Laboratory, for the identi-
fication of the following species which had been opened by muskrats on a sand-bar
of the Sangamon River, near White Heath. The pile of empty shells included 7

shells of Symphynota, 41 of Quadrula undnlata, 4 of Q. ptistulosa and 1 of Q.
coccinea, 7 of Lampsilis luteolus and 1 of L. ventricosus, 3 of Tritogonia tiibercidaia,
3 of Alasmodonta complanata, and 1 of Anodonta grandis.

tBull. U. S. Fish Comm., Vol. IV., pp. 297-298.



559

Great injury to dams, or other walls of earth used for confining
water, may result from the burrowing of muskrats, since their
excavations are the beginnings of breaks that may become exten-
sive and entail enormous loss. In this part of the state the loss is

chiefly restricted to the banks and immediate vicinity of water-
courses. The burrows run back for a considerable distance, and,
being near the surface of the ground, cause the banks to cave in and
obstruct the stream. Horses and cattle also break through into

the burrows, making holes that are both unsightly and dangerous.
In spite of the fact that muskrats are both prolific and locally

abundant, they can hardly be regarded as a serious pest. They are

easily trapped, and it is seldom that they occasion more loss in a
locality than their hides are worth. Traps may be set in the en-

trance of their burrows or where their runways enter the water; or

they may be set near their feeding grounds and baited with a bit of

parsnip, carrot, or sweet apple. The bait should be supported over

the trap on a stick. If possible the trap should be so placed that

the animal may get into deep water when captured ; otherwise it is

very apt to amputate the limb that is caught and escape.

The skins of muskrats form an imoortant item of the fur trade.
J.

From three to four million skins are used yearly, and three fourths

of these are from the United States. Their price has varied con-

siderably. At one time they sold for as much as fifty cents apiece,

and then were worth more than mink skins.

COOPER'S LEMMING; COOPER'S LEMMING-VOLE.

Synaptomys cooperi Baird.

(N. Am. Mamm., 1857, p. 558.)

The range of this species is from eastern Massachusetts to Minne-

sota, and south to North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, and Iowa.

In color and form this lemming resembles a meadow-mouse, but

it is easily recognized at once by the grooves along the front of the

broad incisors. It is really a form connecting the meadow-mice,

or voles, and the true lemmings; the name "lemming-vole" is there-

fore the most appropriate one, though too awkward for common use.

Everywhere within its range this species seems to be the rarest

of the small mammals—or, at least, the one most seldom trapped.

The only two specimens in our collection were found together in the



560

vicinity of Urbana. They were both dead, and the head of one had

been eaten off. Persistent trapping in the same vicinity failed to

give us any others. Collectors throughout all its range agree in

regard to its remarkable scarcity. The only place where it seems

to have been even moderately abundant is in the vicinity of Brook-

ville, Indiana, and about the only observations we have on its habits

were made by Quick and Butler* at that place. They found it

most numerous on hillsides in high, dry blue-grass pastures, where

stones are irregularly scattered over the surface. Our specimens

were found on a low bluff overlooking a creek, in pasture-land where

there were stumps and scattered trees. However, the dead animals

may have been merely brought there. Other collectors have taken

them from swamps—wet or dried-up—and from spruce woods,

Sphagnum bogs, etc.

Quick and Butler say that these animals breed from February

to December, and that the nests, made of soft dry grass, are always

under cover, often in hollow logs or stumps.

The food of Cooper's lemming is entirely vegetable so far as

known, consisting of stems and roots of grass and other plants. The

form of its incisors would seem to prevent it from eating nuts or

hard-shelled seeds. It stores up various kinds of roots for winter.

Its numbers are said to vary greatly at Brookville from year to

year.

POCKET-GOPHER.

Geomys bursarius (Shaw).

Mus bursarius Shaw, Trans. Linn. Soc, V., 1800, pp. 227-228, PI. 8.

This animal derives its name from the pockets in its cheeks.

They are lined with fur and open on the outside. Its total length

is about 10.85 in. (275 mm.). The tail is 3.34 in. (85 mm.) long.

The color is nearly chestnut above and below, but paler on the belly.

The feet are whitish.

The pocket-gopher is found in the prairie region of Illinois, in the

southern half of Wisconsin, in Minnesota very nearly up to the

Canadian border, in the eastern part of the Dakotas and Nebraska,

and in northeastern Kansas and Missouri. It is strictly an inhabit-

ant of the prairie throughout this range.

* Am. Naturalist, Vol. XIX., pp. 113, 114, 115, 116, 118.



561

We have no specimens from this county, nor have I actual proof
of its being found here. Several times the presence of its burrows
in the county has been reported, but each time investigation has
shown that the burrows observed were the work of moles. I have
taken it in Mason county, and it is reported to be common in the
western part of the state.

This animal leads a life so largely subterranean and nocturnal
that it is seldom seen. We have taken specimens within a few rods

of the house of a farmer who had never seen the animal before

though he had lived in that locality over twenty-five years. Its

presence is plainly indicated, however, by small mounds of earth

thrown up from its burrows. These mounds usually vary in diam-
eter from a few inches to two feet, and are eight or ten inches

high. On the prairies in the West, or wherever they are undis-

turbed for a long time, they may be of much larger dimensions. No
opening is evident in these mounds, the earth of which they are

composed being pushed out ahead of the animal, and the last load

left to block the entrance. The extensive burrows are from one
to two feet below the surface, and their general location is indicated

by the dirt-piles, and never by ridges on the surface as are those of

moles. They also differ from mole-runs in being deeper and larger,

and in the fact that the dirt from them is brought to the surface

—

not simply pushed aside, as is so often done by the mole. In dig-

ging its burrow, this gopher pulls the earth back under it with its

fore feet, then kicks it still farther back with its hind feet, and
finally, when a considerable quantity has accumulated, it turns in

its burrow, brings its fore feet together with the palms vertical and
at right angles to the body, and with its hind legs pushes itself and
the dirt out of the burrow. Merriam says that it can run as fast

backward as forward, and that in carrying food it usually docs so,

reminding one of the motion of a shuttle.

Very rarely solitary specimens are seen above ground, evidently

prospecting for a change of locality. They apparently live in soli-

tude except for a short time while mating. The eyes are small and

the animals appear intolerant of bright light, carefully closing all

openings into their burrows. They are extremely silent creatures,

the only noise they ordinarily make being a hiss that appears to be

merely a forcible inspiration and expiration of air. Under rare cir-

cumstances they utter a feeble squeak. It is doubtful if the sense



562

of hearing plays any very important part in their Hfe. Merriam

suggests that the naked tail may serve as an organ of touch to guide

the animal when running backward through its burrow.

The food of this gopher consists largely of such vegetable matter

as can be obtained under ground, that is, roots, tubers, and rhizomes

of various plants. They use practically everything of this kind that

they meet with. Even trees so large as six inches in diameter have

the roots cut off and eaten by them. They also come out of their

burrows at night under cover of vegetation and eat and carry away

seeds and vegetative parts of plants. These are stored in their

pouches and carried to underground storehouses connected with

their runways.

The pocket-gopher is not known to hibernate. Where the

ground does not freeze severely it may continue burrowing all winter,

storing the dirt from its excavations under the snow.

Pocket-gophers are not fertile when compared with most other

mammals, and their abundance in certain localities is due rather to

their ability to escape their enemies than to their fertility. Avail-

able data indicate that while two to six ma}^ be produced in a litter

the average number is about three, and that there is but one litter

a year. The young are born in spring, about the end of April. By
the middle of June they may be half grown and starting their own
burrows.

As these gophers appear so rarely above ground, they suffer com-

paratively little from natural enemies. A few are killed by hawks,

still more are caught by owls, and probably all the larger Carnivora

sometimes surprise and capture them; but once safe in their burrows,

even the fox and the badger can not easily get them. Probably

their chief enemies in this state are the weasel and some species of

snakes. The former is able to follow the gopher into its burrow and
kill it, and it is known that some of the larger snakes do the same.

In this part of the state, pocket-gophers are too rare to be of any
importance economically, but in other sections of the country they

are often a serious pest. In nurseries and forest plantations they

do great damage by gnawing off the roots of small trees. When
they attack a tree their habit is to gnaw off all the roots at the base,

thus leaving the tree without any means of support. Trees of con-

siderable size are destroyed in this way. These gophers do great

damage to root-crops also, potatoes being sometimes so badly in-



563

jured that those remaining are not worth harvesting. Grain, either

from the standing crop or from the shock, is hkewise taken down
into their burrows.

The piles of earth thrown up from their runways disfigure the
fields, cover the crops more or less, and are in the way of the har-

vester or mowing-machine.

It has been urged in favor of the pocket-gopher that it benefits

the soil by working it over; by burying vegetable matter, which
decays and increases fertility ; and by bringing the deeper layers of

the soil under the influence of the atmosphere. However this may
be, when the gopher prosecutes this system of cultivation in the

midst of a meadow or an alfalfa field his cft'orts are not appreciated,

and he must go.

There are but few pests more easily gotten rid of. The simplest

and safest way under ordinary circumstances is to trap them. The
most satisfactory trap is the ordinary No. steel one. To set it,

dig down to the burrow, choosing a place one or two feet from a

recently cast-up dirt pile. Be careful to remove all dirt dropped into

the runway. Excavate a slight hollow and set the trap so that it

will be nearly on a level with the bottom of the run, and sprinkle

it over with fine dirt, nearly covering it. Cover the opening loosely

with a bit of board or sod, not excluding quite all the light.

This gopher may be poisoned by introducing poisoned grain (see

final note) into the burrow through a small hole. The use of poison

always involves some risk, but it can seldom be more safely used

than for the pocket-gopher.

JUMPING MOUSE; HUDSON BAY JUMPING MOUSE.

Zapus hudsoniiis (Zimmermann).

Dipus lindsoniiis Zimm., Geogr. Gesch. d. Menschen u. vierfuss Thicre, II., 1780,

p. 35.

This is a northern species, ranging from the southern shores of

Hudson Bay south to New Jersey and, in the mountains, to North

Carolina, west to Iowa and Missouri, and northwest to Alaska.

It seems to be nowhere abundant. Kennicott reported it from

the northern part of the state, but we have no Illinois specimens.

It may be recognized by its long hind legs and its long jumps when
escaping pursuit. Its color somewhat resembles that of the white-



\

564

footed wood-mouse, but is rather more ochraceous over the upper

parts. Its habits, also, so far as known, resemble the habits of that

species. It was found hibernating, however, by Hoy.

It is extremely desirable that specimens of the species found in

the state should be reported. It is apparently much rarer here

than formerly, and may be on the verge of extinction.

SWAMP-RABBIT; SWAMP-HARE.

Sylvilagus aquaticus Bachman.

(Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1837, p. 319.)

This species is found in the cypress swamps in the southern part

of the state as far north as Cape Girardeau, Mo. Its range south

extends to the Gulf.

It is much larger than the common rabbit. A specimen taken
December 28 near Olive Branch, Alexander county, gave the fol-

lowing measurements: Length, 19.8 in. (503 mm.); tail, 2.17 in.

(55 mm.) ; hind foot, 4.33 in. (110 mm.) ; ear, 3.7 in. (94 mm.).
The general color scheme is similar to that of the cottontail.'

The cheeks, sides of head, and the nape are gray; the sides of the

body are gray with a faint wash of ochraceous; and the top of the

head and the back are pale ochraceous much mottled with a rich

black. There is a well-defined spot of rust}^ cinnamon on the

shoulder, and the upper part of the feet is tawny ochraceous. The
under parts are pure white but for an ill-defined color of faint ocher
under the throat.

This species keeps to the deep swamps in this state. It swims
readily, and w^hen pursued takes to the water, and may even dive to

escape. It is said that even on dry land it rests on logs or stones

rather than in forms. Evidently this is a habit that has grown out
of its living in swamps.

Young are produced at least twice a year, and in litters of four
to six.

COMMON RABBIT; COTTONTAIL.

Sylvilagus floridanus niearnsi (Allen).

Lepus sylvaticus mcarnsi Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. N. Y., 1894, p. 171.

E. W. Nelson, in his recent monograph of the Rabbits of North
America (N. Am. Fauna, No. 29) refers the rabbits of this section to



565

this form. The range as given by that author is as follows: "West
of Alleghany Mountains from Lake Simcoe, Toronto, Canada, cen-

tral New York, central Pennsylvania, western West Virginia, and
eastern Kentucky, and eastern Tennessee, west through southern
Michigan and Wisconsin to southeastern Minnesota, and south
through Iowa to Trego county, Kansas, northern Missouri and
Illinois, with all of Indiana and Ohio."

The following description is based on the examination of forty-

seven specimens, all shot December 5, 1908, in the same locality.

The records of all the specimens shot of which a complete record

could be given are included. Probably a good proportion of the

specimens were bom that season.

The average measurements are given below.



566

The hair is ever3'nvhere plumbeous at base, and the following

description applies only to the outer portion of the hairs.

On the chin, on the lower edge of the upper lip, on the belly and

breast, and on the most of the inside of the thighs and on the under

side of the tail the hair is white. On the upper parts in general, the

finer, shorter hairs are tipped with a pale chestnut. The longer hairs

usuallv have a band of black followed by one of cinnamon, and,

finally, a black tip (often lacking), the general effect produced being

a mottled black and cinnamon. This is characteristic of the top of

the head, the side of the shoulders, and the back. On side of head,

cheek, and over rump and upper part of outside of thigh the cinna-

mon band is lacking, being replaced by a soiled creamy white, and

the general color is gray. The hairs on the nape, and backward over

the shoulder are cinnamon-color, varying to vinous cinnamon. The

outside of the front leg, a spot just in front of the groin, and the back

part of the thigh are also cinnamon. From the spot in front of the

groin an ill-defined band of pale vinaceous cinnamon extends along

inside of the thigh to the heel. The front edge and tip of the ears

outside are black, the rest being cinnamon-gray. The inside of the

ear is white at the tip. The margin is also white except the lower

outer portion, which is gray. Above the eye is a grayish spot. In

some specimens the neck is encircled by a broad grayish cinnamon

collar, which is quite clearly defined, especially below, by the white

of the breast.

The chief variations from the description are as follows: (1)

The collar just mentioned may be very obscure. (2) In about half

of the specimens there is a trace of a white spot between the eyes,

and this, when present, may be quite conspicuous, or it may be

represented by half a dozen white hairs. (3) The inside of the

thighs is sometimes flushed with buft~; and (4) the rump and upper

part of tail at the base may be more or less cinnamon.

Estimated by bulk or weight, rabbits undoubtedly represent

more mammalian life than any other wild animal in the county,

and they are found in every part of it—prairie or wooded bluff or

flood-plain. They are now the chief reliance of our sportsmen in

the fall, and many hundreds of them are killed within a few miles of

Champaign and Urbana. Their persistence in spite of furious per-

secution is really remarkable. They are found within these city

limits at all times of the year, but appear especially abundant in the



567

earlv winter after the first falls of snow. On mornings following:

a snow storm in early winter the hunters are especially numerous
in the country, and even in the vicinity of these cities one may hear

an almost continuous fusillade. At such times the rabbits appear
to come in through the "firing line," and take refuge in the cities.

Fortunately they are not hunted to any great extent except during

a few weeks in the year, and the larger carnivores and birds of prey

which are their natural enemies are nearly extinct in the county.

While rabbits are perhaps more abundant in the vicinity of

groves or the edges of woods, they are found wherever there is

sufficient vegetation to conceal them. On the prairie, during the

spring, before vegetation appears, they are hard pressed for shelter,

but hedges, the waste ground along fences, ditches, and roads serve,

with their unremitting vigilance, to tide them over till the jiew

growth furnishes them abundant cover. Later, they are found in

the com fields, where they often remain all winter, making nests

under some except ionall}^ large clod or under fallen stalks of com.
After a heavy snowfall they are easily taken in these places, being

loth to leave them, and appearing stift" and stupid when driven out.

They also winter in the woods, and probably the larger number of

those in the vicinity of timber take to brush-heaps, thickets, etc.,

for shelter during the winter. Many, however, are true inhabitants

of the prairie, remaining there the whole winter through.

In general the rabbit is decidedly non-resistant, but at times,

the mother may defend her young by kicking with her hind feet, and

a blow from a rabbit's foot, with its heavy nails, is not to be despised.

But fighting is always a last resort with rabbits, and flight is their

usual recourse for safety, and all the peculiar adaptations of the ani-

mal seem made to that end. Their senses of hearing and of sight

are remarkably acute, and the flexibility of the ears and the position

of the eyes make it possible to use both through a wide angle. It

would seem that the sense of smell is also acute, though not so

much relied on. Though the necessities of their existence in a well-

cultivated district like this, demand that rabbits be constantly alert,

they are essentially crepuscular or nocturnal, feeding chiefly from

sunset to sunrise.

Under natural conditions, their food, so far as known, is entirely

vegetable. In confinement the female may eat her young, and the

male is given to destroying them. It is probable, however, that

(6)



568

this occurs but rarely in nature. While grain and roots may be

eagerly eaten by these animals when they can be had, ordinarily by

far the larger part of the food is the vegetative part of plants, in-

cluding leaves, stems, twigs, and bark. Of these a wide variety is

used. Much of their food is furnished by plants not useful to man.
The rabbit is proverbially prolific, though not more so than

many other rodents. There are usually four to six in a litter, and

in this latitude probably at least three litters a year. Rabbits are

polygamous. The young are bom in shallow nests lined with grass,

on which the mother lays hair from her own body. She occupies a

separate nest near her young. They become mature at an early age,

and may bear young—possibly t^^o litters—before they are a year old.

Rabbits destroy small quantities of small grain, com, and

vegetables, but this loss within the county can not be very con-

siderable. Possibly their chief injury here is done by barking and
gnawing young trees. In other localities at least, this loss becomes

a serious matter to the nurseryman and fruit-grower, though it is

not apt to occur except where considerable snowfalls cover other

sources of food. This has not often happened with us in recent

years, and as fruit-growing is a very subordinate business in this

county I doubt if the damage to fruit-trees by rabbits amounts to

very much.
As they furnish about the only game throughout most of the

county, hunters are well able and more than willing to keep them in

check gratis. If they were to be entirely protected for a few years

over any considerable territory there is no doubt that they would
become a pest.

AMERICAN RABBIT; VARYING HARE; WHITE RABBIT.

Lepiis americaniis Erxleben.

(Sj^st. Regn. Anim., I., 1777, p. 330.)

According to Kennicott,"^ several individuals of this species were
shot on the present site of Chicago in the winter of 1824. It is

probably extinct in the state at present.

The species is much larger than the common cottontail, and its

fur turns white in winter.

It is a northern species, its range extending nearly to the Arctic

Ocean.

* Rep. Comm. Patents, 1857, p. 84.



569

FLESH-EATING ANIMALS.

CARNIVORA.

PANTHER; PUMA.

Felis concolor Linnaeus.

(Mantissa, 1771, p. 522.)

Kennicott reports a single individual in Cook county. Individ-

uals must often have followed up the larger rivers in the state in

early times. Among the earliest settlers of this county I find a
general impression that panthers were sometimes seen here, but I

have been unable to obtain any definite data.

CANADA LYNX.

Felis canadensis (Kerr).

Lynx canadensis Kerr, Ar.im. Kingd., 1792, pp. 32, 157.

This species is listed by Kennicott as found in Cook county,

and two species of lynx, or wildcat, are recorded as being in the st£ite

by various early writers. Owing to the common confusion of the

two species it is perhaps impossible to tell now to what extent, if at

all, this species was present within the state. It is not likely that

it was ever seen by a white man within this county.

WILDCAT.

Felis ruffa Giildenstaedt.

(Nov. Comm. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersburg, XX., 1776, p. 484.)

Wildcats were formerly found throughout the state wherever

there was extensive heavy timber, and they are still not uncommon
in the heavily wooded portions in the south. I obtained the skull

of a specimen at Olive Branch, Alexander county, in 1908. A
number of them had been killed in that vicinity. Merriam says

that in the Adirondacks they nest in hollow trees, making a soft

bed of moss. From two to four young are produced in a litter.

In thinly settled sections the wildcat often destroys the farmer's

lambs, small pigs, and poultry. Their regular food in a wild state

consists of rabbits, squirrels, and other small mammals, together



570

with such birds as they can get. The early settlers of the county

declare that wildcats were found in the county between 183 5. and

1840, but I can get no proof of their being found later.

TIMBER-WOLF.

Canis occidentalis (Richardson).

Canis lupus occidentalis Richard., Fauna Bor. Amer., Mamm., I., 1829, p. 60.

The timber-wolf ranged originally over all the timbered portions

of the United States and the adjoining portions of Mexico and
Canada. Whether all the forms found in this territory should be

classified as belonging to one or more species has not been well

settled. They were formerly abundant along the wooded bluffs

and the forest areas everywhere throughout Illinois, and are still

found in the state occasionally in various localities.

The species varies so greatly in both size and color that no exact

description of it can be given. Judging from the scanty material

available, perhaps the average specimens met with in this state

might be described as follows:

Length, 4 feet (1220 mm.); tail, 15 inches (380 mm.).
Young pups with soft woolly hair, buff to ochraceous in color,

lighter below. Ears tipped with tawny ochraceous bordered with

black.

General color of adult gray, with more or less ochraceous. Color

lighter below, the feet sometimes becoming nearly white.

In the wilderness wolves live chiefly on rabbits and deer. The
number of deer killed by them is enormous. In more civilized sec-

tions of the country they take up with whatever animals they can
catch and kill. Their liking for sheep is proverbial, and a bounty
on wolf scalps is still offered in most parts of the state. During the

years 1883 to 1905 inclusive, bounties were paid on 159 wolves
killed in Champaign county. Wolves have been reported within
the county since that date, and it is not at all unlikely that a few
still exist in the heavy timber along the Sangamon River and
the Vermilion.

They den in such shelter as is furnished by caves, upturned
trees, etc. There are six to ten pups in a litter. Judging from the
list of bounties paid in this county, the number in a litter here is

from four to nine.



571

PRAIRIE-WOLF; COYOTE.

Cams latrans Say.

(Long's Exped. Rocky Mts., L, 1823, p. 168.)

Prairie-wolves were formerly abundant throughout the prairie

and plains region of the United States and Canada to the Saskatch-
ewan. A wolf reported to be of this species was killed in Winne-
bago county, Illinois, during the winter of 1908-09, but we have not
been able to verify the identification. The early settlers declare

that prairie-wolves were still common in this county about 1850,

and that they were seen ten years later.

RED FOX.

Vulpes fulva (Desmarest).

Canis fiilviis Desm., Mamm., I., 1820, p. 203.

The red fox is found from the Canadian boundary south to

Georgia and west to the great plains.

This fox is too well known to need description. It is one of the

few medium-sized mammals that by their adaptability and cunning

manage to exist in a well-settled country. Twenty or thirty years

ago it was very abundant in this county, and is now by no means
rare. It is an inhabitant of the bluffs, though it makes excursions

for some distances into the adjoining country.

Foxes prey on every living thing that they can catch and over-

come. Thev do not disdain carrion, and when hard pressed by
hunger have been known to turn vegetarians and eat apples, grapes,

and strawberries.

They produce four to nine pups in a litter, rather early in spring.

In a wild and rough country foxes make their dens at times in

caves, under ledges of rock, and even in hollow stumps and logs.

In this vicinity they are probably always in burrows.

When captured young, the red fox is easily tamed and makes an

interesting pet. It is exceedingly playful, and comes to enjoy

human society, but unless much and wisely handled is apt to be-

come treacherous as it gets older. A young fox in captivity at

Mahomet, in this county, enjoys being taken to the fields and

allowed to hunt grasshoppers, and is quite clever in catching them.



572 ^
Except by destroying game, foxes do very little damage in the

county at present. Poultry-yards are so well guarded and easity

accessible food so abundant that foxes are not tempted to make a

raid on the farmers' hens. On the other hand, they destroy mice

and moles, and thus make some compensation for the game they

kill.

GRAY FOX.

Urocyon cinereoargenteus (Mtiller).

Canis cinereoargentens Miill., Natur. Suppl., 1776, p. 29.

The gray foxes, including several subspecies, are found in tim-

bered regions in all parts of- the United States and Mexico. The
type species occurs from Georgia north to New England and west

through the timbered portions of the Mississippi Valley.

The gray fox is about the size of the red fox. The general color

of the upper parts is a mixture of gray and black. The outside and
base of the ears, the side of the neck, the edges of the belly, and
more or less of the outer side of the limbs are ochraceous to cinna-

mon-brown. There is a band of black across the muzzle. The lower

half of the head, chin, and sides of muzzle are white. The under
parts are ferruginous. V

The gray fox was originally fairly abundant in this county, but f
is now quite rare. Its general scarcity as compared with the red

fox is probably due to a difference in habit. It is not a burrowing
animal, and is more dependent than the red fox on heavy timber and
an unsettled country for dens and shelter. It is therefore far more
intolerant of civilization than the red fox, and is replaced by that

species as the country becomes thickly settled.

BLACK BEAR.

Ursus americanus Pallas.

(Spicileg. Zool., Fasc. XIV., 1780, p. 5.)

The black bear is found in the eastern part of North America
wherever forests are found, except in Labrador, Florida, and
Louisiana. Closely related species continue the range to the
Pacific and south to Texas.

I have not been able to find any one among the early settlers who
could vouch for a bear's being seen in the county. They were com-



573

mon in the river bottoms in the southern part of the state, and it is

more than Hkely that they sometimes followed up the rivers to the
borders of this county. They are probably extinct now in Illinois.

RACCOON; COON.

Procyon lotor (Linnaeus).

Ursm lotor Linn., Syst. Nat., I., 1758, p. 48.

The common raccoon, under various forms, is found throughout
the United States and Mexico, and north into southern Canada.
It occurs throughout Illinois, and is not rare in this county.

Raccoons haunt wooded bluffs and the timbered flood-plains,

and are seldom found far from them. They may make raids into

corn fields and chicken-houses at some distance during the night,

but they spend the daytime in some big hollow tree in the w^oods,

and when pursued always seek shelter in a tree. They have been
known in severe winter weather to live around haystacks and out-

houses, but this is very unusual.

The raccoon is an omnivorous carnivore, as the rat is an omniv-

orous rodent, and its food, like the rat's, varies with the time and
place, being largely a matter of what it can get. It is fond of berries

and other fruits, and will eat most garden vegetables, though it

prefers those that have a sweetish flavor. Its liking for young corn

is well known. It eats crayfish, and has been accused of catching

minnows and trout. It is exceedingly fond of eggs, as well as of

birds and poultry, if it can get them. It also eats, with apparent

relish, grubs and various insects which it picks out of holes and

crevices, and it is said to kill and eat small mammals at times. The
specific name lotor—meaning washer—was applied to the coon

because of its well-known habit of washing its food before eating it.

The instinct is a curious one, and I know of no satisfactory explana-

tion of it. The animal is very fond of paddling in the water, and a

pair of tame raccoons kept by Godman would indulge in this sport

even in the coldest weather, when the ice had to be broken in order

to let them get to the water.

In this latitude the raccoon breeds in March or April, but the

breeding season is a month later in the Northwest Territories of

Canada. The usual litter contains from four to seven young.



574

In the extreme northern part of its range the raccoon hibernates

during the most severe weather, but in this latitude, though less

active and disposed to take long naps during the cold weather, it is

doubtful if it ever falls into a profound winter sleep. In captivity

it shows a remarkable indifference to cold or inclement weather.

As a pet, none of our mammals is a greater favorite. Though it

is always mischievous and destructive if opportunity occurs, its

interesting and affectionate ways keep it in favor.

Raccoons do a certain unknown amount of good by destroying

insects injurious to forest-trees. They also destroy crayfish and
small mammals, and possibly in that way benefit man at times. The
mischief they do in corn fields, in chicken roosts, and to useful birds

is well known. Whether the balance is in favor of or against the

coon depends on circumstances; but, in any case, in a portion of the

state so poorly provided with objects of sport as this the raccoon

merits more sympathy and protection than it receives.

BADGER.

Taxidea taxus (Schreber).

Ursustaxns Schreb., Saugth., III., 1778, p. 520.

Kennicott, in his list of the mammals of Cook county, published

in 1854, says the badger was formerly common in that county, and
was still so farther south. It is reported that a specimen was killed

a few miles north of Urbana in 1908. The dead animal was seen by
reliable persons, but I have not been able to verify the identification

by seeing its skin. The badger undoubtedly occurs in the northern
part of the state, though I have no reliable record of one's being
found recently.

SKUNK.

Mephitis mesomelas avia (Bangs)

.

Mephitis avia Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., XII., 1898, p. 32.

The skunks of this locality are referred to the above subspecies,
the type of which came from San Jose, Mason county, Illinois.

There is considerable variation in size, color, etc. The description
given by the author of the subspecies is as follows : "Black all over
except white frontal stripe, nuchal patch, and two lateral stripes



575

extending back from nuchal patch. Tail very short and bushy,
black externally, most of the hairs white at base. Total length
607-675 mm. [24-26.5 in.]. Tail vertebrae, 177-190 mm. [7-^7.5

in.]. Hind foot, 65 mm. [2.56 in.]."

Skunks are found in all situations in the county, being most
common about the pastures and bluffs, but are nowhere very
abundant. As they are the least shy of all our larger mammals and
make their presence known in a variety of ways, they are not apt to

be overlooked in any locality.

Skunks w^alk on the soles of the feet, with the body somewhat
arched and the tail more or less elevated. When disturbed they
erect the long hair on the back and tail, displaying to the fullest the

contrasting black and white as a warning. The tail is waved
vigorously, giving rise to the impression that the offensive liquid

which the animal secretes is flung on its enemies by that means. As
a matter of fact, it is ejected in slender jets from glands near the

anus. The secretion is a straw-colored fluid lighter than water,

containing a number of organic substances called mercaptans. In-

haled in large quantities, the vapor acts as an aneesthetic, produ-

cing unconsciousness, heavy breathing, and coldness of extremities.

It would undoubtedly prove fatal if inhaled too long.

This -secretion seems to be an extreme development of what is

common to other animals, especially minks and weasels, which are

the skunk's nearest relatives. What in them is probably a second-

ary sexual character, by which the sexes detect or allure each

other, has become in the skunk, by further development, its most

potent defense, on which it depends almost entirely for its safety.

It is clumsy in its movements, can neither climb nor swim well, and
yet no other mammal in the state is so independent and shows such

indifference to its enemies.

The dens of skunks are chiefly burrows, but it is said that nests

are sometimes made by these animals in stumps, hollow trees, etc.

They occasionally take refuge under barns or even beneath houses.

They are said to be gregarious, a large number—not all of the same

family—being found in one den. They are chiefly nocturnal in their

habits, though their indifference to danger allows them to remain

abroad till davlight.

Skunks probably make use of all kinds of animal food that they

can get. They are preeminently insect eaters, destroying enor-



576

mous numbers of the largest insects, both adult and larval. They

catch frogs, salamanders, mice, and other small mammals, and they

eat the eggs and nestlings of such birds as nest low, sometimes, no

doubt, getting the birds themselves. Unfortunately for its reputa-

tion the skunk does not hesitate to take the farmer's eggs and

poultry when they come in its way, and when once it discovers

where they may be found it shows considerable persistence and cun-

ning in getting them. Eggs are eaten on the spot. Fowls are

killed by a bite on the neck, and are usually carried- away.

The young, six to ten in number, are produced in spring.

The skunk does not hibernate except in very severe weather

—

probably not at all in this locality.

Under present conditions in the county, there is probably no

mammal more unjustly persecuted than the skunk. Its offensive

odor is only used in self-defense, and it is easy to guard against its

raids on poultry-yards. A less defensible damage is that caused by

its destruction of the eggs and nestlings of ground-nesting birds;

but whatever damage ma}^ be done in this way is undoubtedly more

than compensated by its destruction of enormous quantities of

grubs, grasshoppers, large beetles, etc., and by the large numbers of

mice and voles which it destroys. Merriam says on this subject:

"I do not hesitate to assert that a single skunk nets the farmer more
in dollars and cents each year than he loses from their depredations

during his entire lifetime." ^
The skin of the skunk forms an important article of the fur trade,

its value depending largely on the color, as well as on its size and
condition. In general, the more nearly black a skin is, the more
valuable it is.

The flesh of the skunk is said to be white and tender and of de-

licious flavor. It is needless to say that the scent-glands should be

carefully removed before cooking.

Those who have had the temerity to try it, assert that the skunk,

if taken young, makes an inoffensive and delightful pet, becoming
gentle and playful, and showing no inclination to use its battery.

Skunks are easily trapped, their self-confidence making them
exceedingly careless.



577

AMERICAN MARTEN; HUDSON BAY SABLE.

Mustela americana Turton.

Miistela amcricanns Turton, Linn. vSyst. Nat., L, 1806, p. 60.

Mustela martcs, Auct.

Recorded by Kennicott from Cook county, Illinois. Long ex-
tinct within the state. No record of its occurrence in this county.

FISHER.

Mustela canadensis Schreber.

(Saugth., IIL, Text, p. 492, 1777, PI. CXXIV,, 1776.)

Kennicott says that "the fisher used frequently to be seen in the

heavy timber along Lake Michigan." It is now extinct throughout
the state so far as known. There is no positive proof that it was
ever taken in this county.

MINK.

Putorius vison (Schreber)

.

Mustela vison Schreb., Saugth., IIL, 1777, p. 463.

The mink is found, under suitable conditions, throughout the

United States and British America to Hudson Bay and northern

Alaska.

The length of the common mink is from 15 to 18 inches (381 mm.
-450 mm.), and the length of the tail is 6 to 8 inches (152 mm.-203
mm. ).

Its color varies from a dull yellowish-brown—near russet of

Ridgway—to a deep chocolate or seal-brown, but slightly, if at all,

paler below. The tail is darker—blackish. The chin, and usually a

patch on the breast and several spots between the fore legs are

white. The tip of the tail also is sometimes white.

Though never abundant in this state, the mink is found along

all our watercourses. Next to the otter it is the most expert in

aquatic life of any of our mammals. Nevertheless, it is sometimes

found quite remote from any water, and readily makes its way over

long distances when streams or ponds are frozen or dried up. A
goodly number are taken in this county each winter, many of them
being caught in the mouths of tile-drains along drainage ditches in

the open country. Wherever there is a farmhouse near a stream



578

there is prett)^ sure to be complaints of loss of poultry by minks.

In some cases the trespasser has been caught in the act, but ,,

probably a weasel or a rat is sometimes the true culprit. «
The mink swims swiftly, with the whole body, except the nose, '

submerged, and dives so skillfully that it can follow and catch ^

trout and other active fish. While not an expert climber, it can ,

ascend surfaces that furnish a nail-hold, but its active life on land is

spent chiefly near the ground, creeping through brush and weeds,

stalking its prey. Observers are not agreed as to whether it digs its

own burrow or not. Certainly it sometimes takes possession of a

muskrat's hole, ejecting the rightful owner. Minks' nests are also

found in hollow logs, under old stumps, and in similar localities.

They are made of soft grass or leaves, and lined with feathers and
hair.

If circumstances are favorable for the mink in its preferred re-

sorts along streams or other bodies of water, its food will be largely

fish, bugs, crayfish, or mussels, with an occasional muskrat; but it is

apt to forage also, more or less, in the adjoining territory, catching

mice, rats, and rabbits, and stealing birds' eggs. Its reputation for

robbing poultry-yards is well known, though the majority of ob-

servers agree that, unlike the weasel, the mink seldom kills more than
two or three fowls at a time.

The mink produces one litter a year, in April or May. Gestation

lasts 6 weeks, and the young are 6 to 10 in number. When born
they are hairless, "about the size and shape of a little finger," but
in a short time they are covered with a soft, thick, glossy fur. The
young follow the mother till fall. The females are said to develop
in ten months, while the males require 18 months to reach maturity.

Whether the mink is, on the whole, a benefit or injury to man
depends on circumstances. Where mice, voles, rats, and crayfish

are abundant, its good offices may predominate; but where these are

lacking, and game-fish, game-birds, or poultry are within its reach,

the account would surely stand the other way. In either case, so

long as its pelt is so valuable there is little danger of the mink's be-

coming excessively numerous.
Mink fur is short, but thick and very durable, and the skin,

though thin, is exceedingly tough. The price of the fur depends
on its popularity, and consequently varies greatly from year to year.



579

Emmons, writing in 1840*, says: "The fur is of little value on
account of its shortness, though it is quite fine." Later its beauty
and durability began to be appreciated, and the price of mink skins

rapidly rose, till, in 1865, skins of prime quality were quoted at $15
each. Since then the price has declined; but to-day the pelt of the

mink, in proportion to its size, is more valuable than that of any
other aquatic animal except the sea-otter and the best seal.

The mink has often been tamed, and is said to make a gentle and
interesting pet, the only drawback being the exceedingly offensive

odor which it produces at times.

Minks are often taken in this county in traps set in the opening
of tile drains or old muskrat burrows. Traps are sometimes baited

for them with bits of meat, small animals, or fish.

WEASEL.

Putorius noveboracensis Emmons.
(Rep. Quadr. Mass., 1840, p. 45.)

Putorius crminea Coues. Fur-Bearing Animals, pp. 109-136 (in part).

This species occurs from Illinois east to the Atlantic, and from

North Carolina and Tennessee north into Canada, while closely re-

lated species range as far north as the Arctic Ocean. All of these

species were formerly included, with the ermine of Europe, under

the name Putorius erminea.

Male and female weasels differ considerably in size, the average

length of the male being 16.5 in. (407 mm.); tail vertebrae, 5.5 in.

(140 mm.); and hind foot, 1.85 in. (47 mm.). The corresponding

measurements for the female are 12.8 in. (324 mm.), 4.25 in. (108

mm.), and 1.36 in. (34.5 mm.).

In summer, the upper parts, including the feet, are a rich dark

chocolate-brown, often near seal-brown. The under parts, as well

as the upper lip, are white more or less washed with sulphur-yel-

low. In winter, in the southern part of its range, the whole

animal becomes entirely white except the terminal third of the

tail, which is jet-black. In the South the winter pelage is similar to

that of summer, but a trifle paler. No white specimens are in our

collection, but they have been reported within the county by reliable

observers. In the northern part of the state they are common.

* A Report of the Quadrupeds of Massachusetts, p. 44.



580

The body is slender and cylindrical. The neck is remarkably

long, and nearly as large in diameter as the body. The head is

small and triangular in shape, the nose being pointed, and the cheeks

are swollen with the enormous jaw^ muscles.

The weasel is probably found under all physiographic conditions

represented in the county. My own records indicate its greatest

abundance along the border of smaller watercourses in the till

plains and the sags of the moraines. This indication of greater

abundance, however, may be in part due to the fact that weasels

are more conspicuous in such localities. Unlike the mink, they

are not aquatic, and are not known to enter water for food. They
climb readily, and leap from branch to branch like a squirrel. ^

All observers of the weasel have been struck wdth its fearless

inquisitiveness and indomitable ferocity. Audubon says that it^
seems to possess an intuitive propensity to destroy every animal

and bird within its reach, even some which are ten times its own
size. It is, however, preeminently a mouse-catcher, and house-

mice, field-mice, and voles form the bulk of its food in this locality.

To these should be added, however, gophers, rabbits, chipmunks,
birds' eggs, birds, and poultry—the latter an occasional indulgence.

It is a question whether in this county weasels or rats should have
the dubious honor of destroying the greater number of young ^

chickens, but as to the destruction of half-grown or full-grown fowls

undoubtedly the weasel destroys as many as are destroyed by all

other pests together.

The weasel has but one litter a year. In this latitude the 3^oung

are produced in April or May, the number in a litter varying con-

siderably, from two to twelve having been reported.

The nests are found under such shelter as logs or stumps, and,
in hollow trees or in burrows. Some observers declare that they
use the burrows of animals that they have dislodged, while others

imply that they make burrows themselves. Possibly both state-

ments may be true.

It can not be denied that the weasel kills many animals that man
would prefer to kill himself. Besides its raids on the poultry roosts,

it kills many rabbits, quail, and prairie-chickens. In the northern
part of its range a single w^easel has been known to kill as many as

eleven rabbits during one night's raid. These were all dragged ai

short distance and buried in the snow. They had all been killed^



581

by a single bite between the eyes and the ears. Whole coveys of

quail are often killed by weasels, but the marks of their teeth being
very small, may be easily overlooked, and the quail be supposed to
have frozen to death. On the other hand, it should be remembered
that these raids -on useful animals are comparatively rare, while

every night in the year the weasel's unceasing slaughter of mice,

rats, and other vermin goes on. It is probably a fact—hard as

it may be to convince the farmer of it if his chicken-coop has been
visited by weasels—that in the long run he receives more good than
harm from them.

If their burrows are found it is not difficult to so set a trap at

the entrance that they will be caught. Notwithstanding the com-
mon opinion to the contrary, weasels are neither very shy nor very
cunning. I have repeatedly had them crop up within twenty feet

and watch me from the sheltering tmdergrowth or a brush-heap.

OTTER.

Lutra canadensis (Schreber).

Mustcla Ultra canadensis Schreb., Saugth., 1776, PI. CXXVI., B; text, 1778.

The common otter was originally found in favorable localities

throughout the United States, and in British America nearly to the

Arctic Ocean. It is still sparingly scattered over this wide range.

I have not been able to find any proof of the otter's having been

taken in this county, but at least an occasional one must have

wandered along the larger rivers. Otters are still found in the

swamps in the southern part of the state. During the winter of

1907-08 several were taken in the cypress swamps of Alexander

county.

INSECT-EATING ANIMALS.

• INSECTIVORA.

COOPER'S SHREW; LONG-TAILED SHREW.

Sorex personatus I. Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire.

(Mem. du Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, XV., 1827, pp. 122-125.)

Sorcx cooperi Bachm., Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil,, 1837, p. 3SS, PI. XXIV., Fig. 7.

This little mammal is distributed over all the northern part of

North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and south, in the



582

mountains, to Tennessee and South Carolina. Kennicott reports it

as far south in Illinois as Murphysboro, Jackson county. The only

specimens in our collection are from Normal, in McLean county, and
from a tamarack swamp in McHenry county.

This species is easily distinguished-from our other shrews by its

small size and long tail. The measurements for adult specimens are

about as follows: Total length, 4 in. (100 mm.); tail, 1.5 in. (40

mm.); hind foot, .5 in. (12 mm.).

The color above is sepia, and the long hairs are tipped with clove-

brown; below, it is ashy gray. The tail is dark above, whitish below.

We have taken the species only in swamps or low ground, but it

has been taken in almost every possible habitat within its range.

It has not been found in this county so far as I can ascertain, though
it is probably present here in small numbers.

All that we know of its habits indicates that this species, like all

the other shrews, is exceedingly energetic and voracious. Merriam
says "In less than eight hours one of these tiny wild beasts had
attacked, overcome, and ravenously consumed two of its own
species, each as large and as heavy as itself." It does not hibernate,

but is active all winter, even when the temperature is below zero.

The number in a litter, as reported, varies from tw^o to ten.

There are six mammse, and probably they indicate about the

average number of young. Embryos have been found in speci-

mens from June to September at least. This w^ould imply two or

three litters a year.

So far as known this shrew is beneficial to man and worthy of

protection. A closely related European species has been known to

catch young trout, but the habit has never been reported for our
species.

BACHMAN'S SHREW.

Sorex longirostris Bachman.
(Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., III., Part II., 1837, pp. 370-373, PI. XXIII., Fig. 2.)

A single specimen taken November 14, 1907, in a tamarack
swamp near Pistakee Bay, McHenry county, Illinois, is referred to
this species by C. Hart Merriam. The skull was badly smashed by
the trap. When Merriam 's paper on the shrews w^as published, in

1895, the only known specimens of this species w^ere a half dozen
from Raleigh, North Carolina. In regard to our specimen sent to

1



583

him Dr. Merriam writes as follows: "Unfortunately the skull is

broken at the junction of the rostrum with the cranium proper, and
as it has not been removed from the skin I am still in ignorance of

the skull characters. The teeth, however, leave little doubt that

the species is Sorex longirostris, of which we already have specimens
from Indiana. Its occurrence in a tamarack swamp in extreme
northern Illinois, however, is surprising."

The following are my own data on the specimen, taken from my
note-book. Length, 76 mm. (3 in.). Tail, 31 mm. (1.2 in.). Hind
foot, 11 mm. (.4 in.). Color (described after putting in alcohol but,

I think, before any noticeable change had taken place) : The back
is sepia with clove-brown-tipped hairs mingled. These are more
abundant toward the rump. The color is lighter below, varying

through drab to drab-gray, and being still paler on the throat

and chin. The tail is bicolor^ clove-brown above, drab-gray

below. The feet are drab-gray, but the palms and soles are

darker.

I have ventured to call the species Bachman's shrew, rather

than to translate the Latin specific name, longirostris (long-nosed),

since in fact the muzzle of this species is broader and shorter than

in our other species.

SHORT-TAILED SHREW.

Blarina hrevicauda (Say).

Sorex hrevicaudus Say, Long's Exped. Rocky Mts., L, 1823, p. 164.

The typical form of the short-tailed shrew is found from western

Nebraska and Manitoba to the Atlantic. On the south it inter-

grades with the subspecies carolinensis, which is found to the Gulf.

I have referred all my specimens from the northern half of Illinois

to the typical form, though it is possible that some of them are,

rather, transitional forms. A few specimens taken in the southern-

most county of the state, I have regarded as the above subspecies.

The average size for hrevicauda given by Merriam* is about 125

mm. (4.92 in.).

The following table shows the measurements of 44 specimens

from the northern half of the state.

* N. Am. Fauna, No. 10, p. 10.

(7)



584



585

Although shrews are among the most common of the small
mammals on the farm they are often confused with mice or moles.
They may be easily distinguished from all our mice by their long,

pointed nose, by the absence of visible external ears, and by their

short, glossy, velvet-like fur and short tail. They may be distin-

guished from moles by their much smaller size, and by their small
front feet.

The color varies somewhat, but is usually sooty lead above and
a lighter ashy lead below. There is sometimes a rusty flush to the
color when seen in certain lights.

If there are any factors of environment that appeal especially

to this shrew no observer has yet been able to determine what they
are. All places seem alike acceptable to it, and any one who has

trapped for small mammals long will be tempted to believe literally

in the following statement of Rhoads : "Forest and plain, sand and
clay, barren or fruitful field, backwoods and door-yard, heat and
cold, wet and dry, day and night have common charm for this cos-

mopolite."* Our own specimens were taken in practically every

form of habitat where any other small mammal was found—even
in the center of large corn fields in summer, where the white-footed

prairie-mouse w^as the only other resident. They are usually closely

associated with field-mice or house-mice, being almost invariably

taken in the same localities. Very rarely does it happen that any
locality yields shrews alone.

Shrews inhabit burrows and runways very similar to those of

the meadow-mice. To what extent these burrows actually are the

work of the shrews themselves does not seem to be proven. That
shrews do take possession of the burrows of meadow-mice seems

certain, but it is generally supposed that they also make burrows of

their own. Their nests are in burrows, and are made of leaves,

grass, etc. Shull found one nest made entirely of the hair of meadow-
mice.

The food of the shrews is extremely varied. They are known
to feed largely on insects, larval and adult, worms, and snails. They

also eat dead mammals, even of their own kind. In captivity at

least, they attack mice much larger than themselves, and kill and

eat them. Their ferocity is remarkable. I once put a small shrew

into a tin bucket with a house-mouse of twice its own weight. The

* "The Mammals of Penn.sylvania and New Jersey," p. 192.



586

shre\\' immediately attacked the mouse most furiously. The

mouse simply fought in self-defense, but the shrew returned to the

attack again and again. It would approach the mouse with its feet

set far apart, its whole form showing a peculiar tense alertness and

relish of the fray, noted by Kennicott. In less than ten minutes the

shrew had chewed off one ear and bitten oft' the tail of the mouse,

and, finally, by a luck\^ dash, had seized the mouse by the base of the

skull, killed it instantly, and had eaten out the brains. They are

supposed to eat but little vegetable food, but I have taken them in

new traps baited with oatmeal alone, and their mouths were full of

the oatmeal when caught. They have also been known to eat nuts.

There are four to six in a litter, and two or three broods a year.

They may be bom at any time of the year, though less frequent-

h" in winter.

Shrews are provided with large glands, in the vicinity of the

shoulder, that give off an oft'ensive odor, and presumably produce a

taste displeasing to other animals. Cats and dogs seldom eat

shrews, although they may kill them. To what extent these glands

protect shrews against attack by wild mammals is hard to tell, but

as shrews are often found dead and not eaten, it would seem likely

that the larger wild carnivores kill them and leave them. Certainly

these glands do not protect the shrews from hawks and owls, both

of which feed on them extensively.

It is unfortunate, that the shrews should be so generally classed

in the popular mind with mice. The only possible injury that

shrews may do, is to destroy some insects that are beneficial to the

farmer. This is merely a hypothetical injury, and is certainly more

than compensated by the good they do. A. F. Shull,* who made
an elaborate study of this species at Ann Arbor, Michigan, has esti-

mated that a single shrew during one month might kill and use for

food the equivalent of 20 meadow-mice, 30 house-mice, or 450 May-
beetles. In captivity shrews killed and ate all mice confined with

them, and there is no reason to believe that they are less blood-

thirsty when free. Of course the proportion of mice, snails, and
beetles or other insects in their food will vary according to circum-

stances, but in any case the insatiable ferocity of the shrews must
work for man's benefit. Probablv no other mammal, unless it be

the skunk when on its good behavior, is so imiformly beneficial to the

* Am. Nat., Vol. XLI., pp. 495-522.

1



587

farmer. Shrews certainly merit better treatment than they usually
receive at the farmers' hands. Fortunately they are shy animals,
largely nocturnal in their habits, and so are seldom victims of man's
stupidit3^

CAROLINA SHREW.

Blarina hrevicauda carolinensis (Bachman).

Sorex carolinensis Bachm., Joum. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., VII., Part II., 1837, pp.
366-370.

I have referred a few specimens taken in Alexander county, the

most southern county in the state, to this subspecies. The dis-

tinction between it and typical hrevicauda is thus summed up by
Merriam: ''Blarina carolinensis is merely a small edition of B.

hrevicauda, lacking the more accentuated features of the latter in

the way of massiveness and angularity of the skull and lower jaw.

It differs also in the lateral unicuspidate teeth. The}'^ are more
nearly vertical, and the fifth is generally hidden when viewed from
the outside."

The measurements of my specimens are as follows

.



588

SMALLER SHREW.

Blarina parva (Say).

Sorex parvus Say, Long's Exped. Rocky Mts., I., 1823, p. 163.

The geographic range of this species is from Texas and eastern]

Nebraska eastward to the Atlantic.

Measurements are as follows: Length, 2.95-3.15 in. (75-80]

mm.); tail, .63-. 71 in. (16-18 mm.); hind foot, .43 in. (11 mm.).
The color of the upper parts is sepia to dark hair-brown; thej

under parts are ash-gray. The tail is bicolor.

From data at hand one may conclude that the habitat of thisj

shrew is as varied as that of the larger species. My specimens were!

taken in my garden in Urbana, in the barren sand area of Mason
j

county, and in the till plains of Champaign county.

The species seems seldom to be abundant, and its habits have'

been little studied. Presumably they are much like those of the]

larger species.

STAR-NOSED MOLE.

Condylura cristata (Linnaeus).

Sorex cristatus Linn., Syst. Nat., L, 1758, p. 53.

The range of the star-nosed mole is from Hudson Bay to Mani-
toba on the north, and to Minnesota, northern Illinois, and, in the^

mountains, to South Carolina.

So far as known it is nowhere common in Illinois, but is occasion-

ally found in the northern part of the state. Professor Frank
j

Smith, of the Department of Zoolog}^ of the University of Illinois,

found a dead specimen in the vicinity of Urbana, and other reliable

observers have reported it in the county. I have never been able

to take it in Illinois myself, and there are no specimens in our col-

lections. It is easih' distinguished from the common mole by the
fringed disk on the end of the nose.

The color is a dull sooty slate, ^^ithout the glossy sheen of the
common species.

The species is a northern one, and in the southern part of its

range is found chiefly in cold damp localities. Excepting this pref-

erence for a moist habitat we know little difference between the
habits of this species and those of the common mole.

It is too rare to be of importance economically in this state.



589

COMMON MOLE; SHREW-MOLE.

Scalopus aquaticus machrinus (Rafinesque)

.

Talpa macJiriua Raf., Atlantic Journ., I., 1832, p. 61.

The common mole, under various subspecific forms, is found
over most of the eastern half of the United States. The range of

the form called machrinus is given as Wisconsin and Minnesota to

Tennessee and Missouri; and west to eastern Kansas, Nebraska,

and southwestern South Dakota.

Teeth: incisors, 72'. canine, '/(,; premolars, V.!; molars, Vs- The
second and third incisors of the upper jaw are small and often miss-

ing. The molars and premolars have very irregular surfaces, the

projections of the lower jaw fitting into corresponding hollows in

the upper one, and vice versa. This construction of the teeth and
the strictly up and down motion of the jaws are well adapted to the

chopping up of insects or other animal food.

The average size of twenty-seven adult specimens from Cham-
paign county is as follows: Total length, 7.13 in. (181 mm.);

length of tail, 1.34 in. (34 mm.). Specimens from the western part

of the state are somewhat larger. The fore limbs to the wrist, are

concealed under the skin. The fore paws are enormously de-

veloped. The toes, five in number, are webbed their whole length.

The length of the palm is .6 to .8 of an inch (15-20 mm.), but

the width is greater, being from .8 of an inch to an inch (20-25

mm.). This great width is due to a flap of skin on the lower edge,

the rigidity of which is maintained by an extra sickle-shaped bone.

The palm is margined with stiff hairs. The nails are stout, flattened,

semi-cylindrical, and translucent enough to shew the bifid tips of

the last finger-bones within. The tail is squarish, especially at the

base.

The nose is slender and pointed. The snout is prolonged be-

yond the lower jaw about .3 of an inch (8 mm.). It is flattened and

deeply grooved below, and is truncate at the apex. The truncated

surface looks upwards and contains the nostrils. At the tip is a

hard, nail-like body. The thick fur hides the eye and the ear, but

if the hair be cut off close both may be found. The eye appears as a

protuberance, about the size of a pinhead, .8 to 1 inch (20-25 mm.)

from the end of the snout. There is no true pinna, or external ear,

but the external auditory opening is prolonged a short distance

beyond the head by a cartilaginous tube.



590

The mammse are six in number. The posterior pair are in the

usual pelvic position, but the middle pair are so situated that the

teats are near the knees. The front pair also are in an unusual

position, being toward the back, and on the side, back of the fore

leg. It is evident that if the mammae were in the usual place

beneath the body they could not be reached by the young, owing

to the short legs of the dam and the projecting snout of the young
moles.

The fur, except on the snout and extremities, is dense, fine, and
silky, with but very little slope, so that it offers little resistance to

rubbing in any direction. The general color is hair-brown, some-

times grayish, sometimes warmed to bister or sepia, but is always

obscured by a shifting, sheeny luster. The base of the hairs is

plumbeous. The chin, throat, upper surface of fore paws, and the

wrists are much lighter in color, and often suffused with shades

varying from ochraceous to ferruginous or, in spots, even to orange.

The tail is whitish at base, nearly naked, and pinkish at the tip, as

are also the tip of the snout and the toes.

The moles are almost unique among vertebrates in leading a

truly subterranean life in burrows of their own construction, not

only finding a refuge in them, like so many other animals, but also

seeking their food by plowing their way through the ground as a

fish seeks its food in the water. Their burrows are made, for the

most part, by simply pushing the earth aside, and not by loosening

the dirt and bringing it to the surface as is the habit with most
burrowing animals. This necessitates enormous strength in the

fore limbs and shoulders. Moreover there is need that these limbs
be able to work in as small a space as possible. If we estimate the
average diameter of a mole-run as two and a half inches, a simple
computation will show that if the working distance of each fore

limb were increased a quarter of an inch it would add at least 40
per cent, to the energy required for excavating every unit length of

burrow. This ability to economize in working room is secured by
the shortness of the fore limbs and still more by their position.

Instead of being attached, as usual, on the side of the thorax, the
whole pectoral girdle is brought forward around the neck. This is

accomplished in the following manner: the sternum is produced
forward in a separate keel-shaped bone, and the ventral attachment
of the clavicle is to the front end of this.



591

Moles are found in all parts of the county excepting the flood-

plains, but they are not in general very abundant on the bluffs or in

cleared pastures excepting where these border on cultivated lands.

They are fairly abundant in groves, but most so on the till plains and
the moraines where the sod has been left unturned for a few years.

They seem to prefer the neighborhood of cultivated lands, although
they seldom venture far out into large fields under regiilar crop
rotation.

The depth of their burrows below the surface of the ground
varies considerably. In spring, autumn, and in damp seasons or in

damp places in summer the burrows are at a depth of one to three

inches. During summer and early autumn, when the ground is

drier, they are at a depth of from four to eight inches. Others are

still deeper—from eighteen inches to two feet—though these burrows
are somewhat restricted in extent and are apparently found only in

the vicinity of their nests.

The nests of moles are under logs or stumps or situated from six

to eighteen inches—or perhaps deeper—below the surface. Those

I have examined were made of nearly whole leaves and dried grass,

and were all near a stump, tree, or fence. In all cases observed there

were two or more exits, one of which led downwards to a deeper

runway. In case a considerable area is occupied by moles, it will

be found that runways of different moles are evidently connected,

all burrow^s in the locality forming one extensive system, and it

seems certain that many runs are used by several moles in common.
However, in captivity moles are quarrelsome, and one can hardly

imagine anything truly gregarious in their life. The persistence of

the mole in keeping open a burrow once adopted as a main runway

is remarkable. One often finds such runways crossing cow-paths or

roadways, where they must be crushed in nearly every day, yet they

are repaired, for months, as often as injured.

Apparently but few observations have been recorded on the

breeding habits of moles. Our own observations indicate that

there is but one litter a year, produced in April or May, and that

from three to six constitute a litter.

The question as to how far moles may be beneficial or injurious

to the farmer has been investigated by the State Laboratory of

Natural History, and the results will be published in a later issue of

this Bulletin. Only a short resume of the results are called for here.



592

The annoyance and injur}^ caused by the burrowing of moles in

lawns, cemeteries, etc., is well known; but besides this mechanical

and as it were accidental injury, gardeners and farmers have main-

tained that moles did other injury by eating newly planted seeds and

the subterranean parts of garden vegetables. Extensive investiga-

tion in this state and elsewhere has shown conclusively that while

by far the largest part of the food of the mole consists of worms,

grubs, and insects, they do also eat a small amount of vegetable food.

They burrow along the rows of newly planted com and sometimes

certainly eat it. They sometimes eat potatoes also, and possibly

other root crops. On the other hand they undoubtedly do con-

siderable good by destroying harmful insects in the larval or mature

stage. Whether they do more harm than good depends on cir-

cumstances. There are occasions, however, when they become

pests and should be destroyed.

They have few natural enemies. Birds of prey seldom take

them, and the Carnivora that kill them are no longer common.
They may be driven out of small areas by odors which are offensive

to them. They are very sensitive to those of naphthalin, moth-

balls, carbon bisulphid, formalin, and the like, or even kerosene.

These substances put in and around their runs will drive them from

the immediate locality. Our own attempts to poison them have

been of uncertain success, as it has been difficult to determine, even

approximately, the number killed. In captivity they eat bits of

raw beef readily, and it seems probable that they might be poisoned

by putting strychnine or arsenic on bits of meat and scattering them
in the runs. Some claim to have had good success with poisoned

sweet corn.

Trapping seems to be the most practical way of exterminating

them. Of the various types of mole trap on the market, all have
been found equally efficient, the only difference being a matter of

price, convenience in manipulating, conspicuousness, and the like.

It should be remembered that mole-runs are of two kinds : the tem-
porary or exploring runways, which are driven in search of food,

and which may never be entered again ; and the main or permanent
runways traversed every day. These latter are the ones on which
the traps should be set. Whether a run is in use or not may be deter-

mined by crushing in the roof with the heel and watching for repairs.

If in use it will be repaired, and usually within twenty-four hours.



593

BATS.

CHIROPTERA.

SAY'S BAT.

Myotis subtilatiis (Say).

?Vcspertilio siihulatus Say, Long's Exped. Rocky Mts., II., 1823, p. 65.

This species has a general distribution throughout North America
east of the Rocky Mountains.

Dental formula: i, Vsj c, Vi! P"^ Vs! w^, Vs-

The length of Say's bat is about like that of the little brown bat,

3.15-3.55 in. (80-90 mm.), but the fore arm is usually a trifle

shorter— about 1.4 in. (34-37 mm.). The ears

(Fig. 5) are long, reaching beyond the nose when
laid forward. The tragus is very slender, and
gave the bat its specific name, subulatus meaning
awl-shaped.

The color resembles that of the little brown
bat, both species varying considerably in depth

of color.

I have never taken this bat wdthin the state,

but in many localities it can not be uncommon.
There is one specimen without data in our collec- ^at.

tions, and one from East Cairo, Ky . It is apparently

very unevenly distributed. By some reliable observers it is reported

as being uncommon, while others in similar environment report it

as very abundant. It hibernates, and has been found in winter in

hollow trees in immense numbers. The young are produced in

June. Twenty pregnant females examined by Dr. Burt G. Wilder,

each contained two young, as did also each of ten examined by
Dr. A. K. Fisher*. More than this have been reported in a litter,

but two is the usual number.

. Ear of Say's
(Miller.)

*Merriam's "Mammals of the Adirondack Region," p. 195.



594

LITTLE BROWN BAT.

Myotis lucifugus (Le Conte).

Vespertilio lucifugus Le Conte, McMurtrie's Ed. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom, L
App., 1831, p. 431.

The little brown bat is found throughout the whole of North

America north of the southern boundary of the United States and
between the Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains.

Dental formula: i, Vs', c, Vii pw, Vs) w, Vs-

The length is 3.15-3.55 in. (80-90 mm.); fore arm, 1.50-1.54 in.

(36-40 mm.). . The wing-membranes are entirely naked except a

narrow line close to the body. The ears are short for a bat, reach-

ing barely to the tip of the nose when laid forward.

The hairs are everywhere blackish slate at base.

The general color is dull brown, varying from wood-
brown to sepia, with a distinct gloss in certain

lights. The under parts are lighter.

The little brown bat and Say's bat closely re-

semble each other, but may be distinguished by
the ears. The ears of the former (Fig. 6) when
bent forward do not reach the tip of the nose,

while those of Say's bat (Fig. 5) reach beyond the

tip, and its tragus is more slender than that of the

little brown bat, and is also different in shape.

Several bats of this species are preserved in a jar in the

Laboratory collections, evidently having been found together some-
where in the state, but collection data are wanting. The species

has been reported from Cook county and from Cairo, in Alexander
county, and is undoubtedly not uncommon throughout the state.

1

Fig. 6. Ear of
little brown bat.
(Miller.)

SILVER-HAIRED BAT.

Lasionycteris noctivagans (Le Conte).

Vespertilio noctivagans Le Conte, McMurtrie's Ed. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom, I.,

1831, p. 31.

This Species ranges throughout the United States and north to

the Peace River at least.

Dental formula: i, '/,; c, '/,; pm, '/,; m, '/,.

Ears (Fig. 7) short, nearly as broad as long, when laid forward
reaching barely to nostril, basal lobe very large. Tragus short,



595

straight, and bluntly rounded at tip, width much greater than
length of anterior margin. The back of the interfemoral membrane
is furred on the basal half.

The general color over all the body is a dark chocolate or seal-

brown with white-tipped hairs. In general the individual hairs for

the basal two-thirds are a dark seal-brown shading to a narrow
band of richer color and abruptly tipped with white. The difference

in general effect in the different parts of the body is due to the rel-

ative length of the white tips. On the head the white tips are

short, while over the back they are long, giving a grizzled ap-

pearance to that part. The ears are dark clove-brown.

This species is one of

the most common in this

locality. It has often

been taken on the cam-
pus and in the buildings

of the University. It has

been reported from vari-

ous parts of the state,

and is probably common throughout Illinois. Merriam says that the

silver-haired bat in the Adirondacks hunts chiefly over the water-

courses, but in this state it seems to be quite as common in towns

and villages.

The young are produced in July. There are usually two in a

litter.

In the northern part of its range it is said to migrate south in

winter, but it is also found hibernating in hollow trees in New York

State.

Fig. 7. Head and ear of silver-haired bat. (Miller.)

GEORGIAN BAT.

Pipistrellus suhflavus (F. Cuvier).

Vespertilio suhflavus F. Cuvier, Nouv. Ann. Mus. d'Hist. Nat. Paris, 1832, p. 17.

Vesperugo carolinensis H. Allen, Monogr. Bats of N. A., 1893, p. 121. (Not Vesper-

tilio carolinensis Geoflf.)

The general range of this species is from the Atlantic coast west

to Iowa, and south to eastern and southern Texas..

Dental formula: t, Va; c, Vii Z'^^^. "^l-i', ^^. V.v



596

The length of the fore arm of this species is about 1.3 in. (34

mm.). The ear (Fig. 8) is rather long, extending just beyond the

nostril when laid forward. The tragus is about half the length of

the ear, with bluntly roiinded tip.

The color is a light yellowish brown below. On the upper parts

this color is clouded with a darker brown. The individual hairs on

the back are plumbeous at base, yellowish brown to near the tip,

which is dark brown. There

are also longer hairs which are

clear yellowish brown to the

tip.

^^^/%(P^ gorfip-^^^^ff^ The sixty-nine bats of this

Fig. 8. Head and ear of Georgian bat. (Allen.) SpCCicS in the Laboratory

collections are undoubtedly

Illinois specimen's, but are without locality data. Kennicott found

this bat at Cairo, in the extreme southern part of this state, and it

was reported from Wisconsin by Strong, but not by later observers

so far as I know. If it occurs in the northern part of Illinois it

must usually be rare. Either the species is often overlooked or

its distribution is very uneven over the most of its range. It is one

of the species found in caves.

BROWN BAT.

Eptesicus melanops* Rafifiesque.

(Annals of Nature, 1820, p. 2.)

Vespertilio fusciis Beauv., Cat. Peale's Mus. Phil., 1796, p. 14.

Adelonycteris fuscus H. Allen, Monogr. Bats of N. A., 1893, p. 112.

This species is generally distributed over the United States and
the adjoining parts of the British provinces.

Dental formula: i, Vsi c, Vii pm, V2; w, Vs-

This is one of our larger bats, the total length being about 4.4

in. (110-112 mm.), and the length of the fore arm about 1.7 in.

(43-46 mm.). The ears (Fig. 9) barely reach the nostril when laid

forward. The basal third is furred on the outside, and there is a

* See Miller's (Gerrit S., Jr.) "The Families and Genera of Bats," Bull. 57,

U. S. Nat. Mus., pp. 207-210.



597

sprinkling of hairs towards the front margin on the inside. The
front margin is thickened.

The color varies from near cinnamon to clear bister or sepia, al-

ways being paler below. In our specimens it is bister above and
hair-brown below. The base of the fur is dusky throughout.

This species has been reported from various parts of the state,
and from the adjoining states. Two specimens have been taken at
different times in

the chemistry build-

ing of the Univer-

sity. H. Allen be-

lieves this species to

be, on the whole, the

most common bat t?- n ^ , ,rig. 9. Head and ear ot brown bat. (Allen.)

in the United States.

However that may be, the red bat has been taken far more often

in this vicinity.

It is not usually found hanging by its thumbs or feet, but rests

with its folded wings flat upon some rough supporting .surface, its

head being down. In this latitude it is one of the species fre-

quenting caverns and hibernating in them.

RED BAT.

Lasiurus horealis (Miiller).

Vespertilio borealis Miill., Natursyst., Suppl., 1776, p. 21.

Atalapha noveboracensis of Kennicott and various authors.

This species in its various forms is found throughout North
America to the arctic regions. The typical form is found in eastern

North America from Canada to Florida and Texas and west to

Colorado. It is by far the most common bat in this vicinity, or at

least the one most commonly taken.

The two species of Lasiurus, namely the red bat and the hoary

bat, may be distinguished from all the other bats of the state by the

fact that the portion of the flying membrane between the hind legs

is entirely covered with thick fur on the outside. The red bat is the

smaller of the two species. The fore arm is 1 .35-1 .6 in. (38-43 mm.)
in length. The ears (Fig. 10) are very short and rounded for a bat,

and the basal lobe has a notch in front which is lacking in the hoary



598

bat. The border of the ear is Hght brown, and there is no clump of

hair on the back of the fore arm.

On the back, neck, and head, the base of the hairs is reddish

black abruptly changing to pinkish buff, and this in turn shading to

bright chestnut. The tips of the longer hairs are white. The hairs

on the posterior three-fourths of the interfemoral membrane lack the

black at the base, otherwise they resemble those on the back. To-

ward the face the darker

tips of the shorter hairs dis-

f///^^
appear, the general color

being a light buff. There

is a tuft of white hairs at

Fig. 10. Head and ear of red bat. (Allen.)
thc baSC of thc thumb and
along the base of the fourth

finger. At the side of the neck the white tips of the hairs are so

long that they form a white patch. The white tips are also rather

more conspicuous over the throat than over the most of the body.

The breast, the belly, and adjacent parts of the wing-membrane
are a pale fawn-color.

According to Merriam* this species flies earlier in the evening

than other bats do, and has even been seen flying in a cloudy after-

noon. It is often taken here in the early evening within the city

limits, especially in the early summer when encumbered with its

young. It is frequently found attached to twigs of trees and
shrubs, and in that position very closely resembles a dead leaf—an
interesting example of protective mimicry.

The red bat and the hoary bat differ from all other bats in this

vicinity in having four mammas instead of two. The young are

produced in May or June, and are two to four in number. They
are nursed for some time, and are found clinging to the mother when
they are at least half grown. I have never found more than two
that were over one-fourth grown attached at the same time, how-
ever, though a female with a single half-grown one attached is very
common. It is difficult to imagine how the mother could carry her

whole family at once when they reach that size. The mothers show
considerable attachment for their young, and if separated from them
and frightened away are almost sure to return to look for them.
I have kept the young of the red bat in captivity for some weeks

* "The Mammals of the Adirondack Region," p. 181.



599

feeding them on milk, which they learn to lap up. They become
quite tame, and show as much intelligence and affection as most
wild pets do.

HOARY BAT.

Lasiurus cinereus (Beauvois).

Vespertilio linerens Beauv., Cat. Peale's Mus. Phil., 1796, p. 15. (Obvious mis-
print for cinereus.)

Atalapha cinerca of Kennicott and various authors.

This Species, though apparently seldom abundant in the United
States, ranges throughout North America from the Atlantic to the

Pacific, north to Athabasca at least, and south through Mexico
and Central and South America to Chili. It breeds in Canada and
the northern United States, but migrates south in winter.

The general shape

of this bat is like that

of the red bat, but it

may be distinguished

from that species by
characters already des-

ignated; namely, by
its larger size (fore arm Fig. U. Head and ear of hoary bat. (.Allen.)

over 2 in., or 50 mm.,
in adults), by the blackish borders of the ears (Fig. 11) and the ab-

sence of a notch in their lower lobes, and by the distinct patch of fur

near the base of the fore arm.

The color varies considerably, but the following description

applies to the few Illinois specimens that I have seen : The general

color is a mixture of light yellowish brown, deep umber-brown, and
white, the yellowish brown being clear and unmixed on throat, head,

and under side of membranes, the umber-brown predominating on

the back and on the dorsal surface of the interfemoral membrane,

where, however, the hairs are mostly tipped with silvery white, some-

times to so great an extent as nearly to conceal the dark tints

beneath. The lips, chin, and cheeks are sprinkled with short

blackish hairs. On the ventral surface white predominates on the

belly, between which and the yellow of the throat is a band in which

the umber-brown is more conspicuous than elsewhere on the under

parts. There are tufts of light yellowish brown fur at the bases of

(8)



600

the thumb, fifth finger, and fore arm, Uke the fur on the under side

of the wing-membranes. On the middle of the back the individ-

ual hairs are colored as follows: deep plumbeous at base, light^

yellowish brown (shading to umber towards apex) through middle

half, umber-brown near apex, silvery white at tip.

But little has been recorded of the habits of this bat. It is a

strikingly large and handsome species, but seems to be nowhere

abundant. There are probably two to four young, for females with

all four mammae used have been taken. In the northern part of its

range it migrates south in winter.

RAFINESQUE'S BAT.

Nycticeius humeralis (Rafinesque).

Vespertilio hiimcralis Raf., American Monthly Magazine, III., 1818, p. 445.

This bat is found from eastern United States west to Arkansas

and western Texas.

Dental formula: i, V3; c, Vii P'^'^'^, 'Ai ^^^ Vs-

The length of the fore arm is 1.3-1.6,S in. (34-38

mm.). The ears (Fig. 12) are thick and leathery.

The tragus is short, blunt, and broad, and is bent

slightly for^vard.

The fur is everywhere plumbeous at extreme
base. The remainder of the hair varies from burnt

umber to mummy-brown over the back, and from
raw umber to hair-brown below. There are occa-

sionally other variations in color.

This species is not rare in this county. It seems to be somewhat
less likely to be found around towns than some other species of bats.

Fig. 12. Ear of
Rafinesque's bat.
(Miller.)



THE ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION OF MAMMALS IN CHAM-
PAIGN COUNTY.

In the two accompanying charts (PI. XXVII. and XXVIII.) an
attempt has been made to represent graphically the variation in

the abundance of the principal species of mammals in this region

since the advent of white men. The second one is purely chrono-

logical, and applies only to Champaign county. The first one,

however, represents the variations in the abundance of our mam-
mals as related to the degree in which advancing civilization has

modified primitive conditions, and is therefore more general in

character, and should in a good degree be true for other sections

in the prairie region of the Mississippi Valley.

A brief explanation of the nomenclature used in this chart to des-

ignate the progressive stages of civilization follows, the order ob-

served corresponding to their consecutive occurrence.

(1) The period of the explorer and hunter. During this period

the physiographic condition of the country remained unchanged,

but the numbers of certain large animals were greatly diminished.

(2) The period of the squatter and the range. In this period set-

tlements were begun, usually in timber near streams. Only a very

small portion of the country was enclosed by fences or under culti-

vation, the settlers feeding their horses, cattle, and hogs largely on

the natural products of the prairie and the forest. They were

obliged to wage war on the larger carnivores in self-defense, and
they hunted the most valuable fur-bearing animals for gain.

(3) The period of settlement. This is the time during which the

land was practically all taken up by settlers or land speculators.

Pasturage on public domain ceased, and considerable portions of the

land were enclosed. Timber for the construction of buildings and

fences was entirely from the local supply, and considerable areas of

woodland were cleared for cultivation. In consequence of these

inroads into the forests and the settling of the prairie the larger

animals still remaining, such as deer, wolves, and wildcats, were

greatly thinned out, but the extensive wooded-belts along the

rivers still sheltered a few of them.

601



602

(4) The improvement period. This term serves to indicate the

stage in which original prairie was drained and plowed, and wood-

land cleared and plow^ed—or at least so thinned out and pastured as

to be profoundly modified in character. The cultivated ground is

supposed to be either pasturage or land under rotation of crops.

This is the present stage of by far the greatest part of the county.

(5) The market-garden stage. This term represents continuous

and intense cultivation of limited areas of the land.

(6) The village stage. This expression has reference to the

stage 'of advancement in which houses are built separate from each

other and considerable areas devoted to yards and gardens.

(7) The city stage. This period is reached when the buildings

touch each other, and there is practically no open ground for mam-
malian life.

Of course these various stages grade into each other, and in only

a limited portion of the county here and there would there be

simultaneous attainment to any of the later stages. Moreover, it is

evident that the early stages must hold over an area considerably

larger than a single county in order to be characterized by distinc-

tive mam.malian life, while the later stages may prevail over pro-

gressively smaller and smaller areas and still be so characterized.

In the charts the lines represent the presence of the different

animals, the varying size of each line indicating the relative abun-
dance of that single species at different times, or during different

stages of civilization. There is in the charts no comparison of one
animal with another. A species is regarded as present so long as it

seems certain that it bred within the county. Stragglers of deer

and other large animals were seen much later than is indicated.

The data used in making the charts were gotten in various ways.
The reminiscences of early settlers as to variation in the abundance
of the larger animals have been utilized, and though differing in de-

tail they agree very well, on the whole, in regard to the most im-

portant general facts. The early records of travel through the state

also furnished some data ; and, lastly, the study of present distribution

has thrown much light on the conditions favorable to each particular

species. While the charts are not to be taken as exact mathematic-
al representations of the variation in abundance of our mammals,
either chronologically or with reference to the stages of civilization,

it is believed that they may give a tolerably accurate idea of the



603

change that has taken place in the mammahan population since the
coming of the white man.

I can find no definite record of buffalo within the county. The
early settlers often found buffalo skulls and buffalo-wallows, and
buffalo-trails were common,—all showing the earlier abundance of

the animals. Hornaday estimates that they left this part of Illinois

about 1810.* A number of the very earliest settlers think that
buffalo were seen here considerably later than that, but are unable
to give positive facts. At any rate the main herd left about 1810.

The elk also must have left about the same time. It should be
remembered that this part of the state was surrounded by settle-

ments on all sides before it was itself settled, and so the larger game
was frightened oft' earlier than usual in the development of the

country.

Beaver were seen, according to Mr. Parsons, of Homer, so late

as 1860 in the vicinity of Broadlands. There were but few left,

however, in 1835. The bear and the panther must certainly both

have been occasional visitants, but I am unable to fix the date of

their last appearance. They had disappeared by 1840, and the

other large Carnivora had been thinned out. In consequence the

deer were beginning to increase, and all accounts agree that there

was a period of greatest abundance of deer about 1350. In a

similar manner the destruction of the wolves and wildcats was
followed by an increase in the abundance of foxes, raccoons, opos-

sums, and skunks, till these, in turn, were killed off by man.

Following the diminution of the wolves and foxes there is also

a period of greatest abundance of rabbits, and I believe that at

present, each fall before the shooting season opens these animals

are as abundant as they were under the conditions prevailing before

the settlers came. The period of great abundance of squirrels, as

indicated on the chart, was determined by various records. How
far this abundance may have been due to the destruction of the

large carnivores, and how far due to other agencies, I am unable to

tell. All the rodents are subject to periodical fluctuations in

abundance due to a combination of circumstances not fully under-

stood.

In the case of weasels and shrews no variation in abundance is

indicated in the chronological table. While there can be no doubt

* Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus. for year ending June 30, 1887, Map (following p. 548).



604

that certain stages of improvement are especially favorable for

these species, these conditions exist in only a part of the county

at a time, and are balanced by unfavorable ones elsewhere.

In general there has been a uniform diminution of fur-bearing

animals from the first. The exception we note, is that of the musk-

rat. Of late years, owing to the low value of their skins and to the

general prosperity and consequent increased means of earning

money, the muskrats have not been so extensively trapped as

formerly, and I believe that they are at least holding their own in

the county. At present the improved drainage and increased use

of underground drains are the most unfavorable conditions for the

species.

In the case of bats, so far as available data go, the favorable and
unfavorable changes—for example, destruction of birds of prey, on

the one hand, and removal of forests, on the other—about balance

;

and while there must have been some fluctuations in the number of

the bats in the county from year to year, and probably permanent
variations in the relative abundance of the species, on the whole the

number present now does not differ greatly from what it was a

century ago, nor do we know of any great waves of increase or

decrease since the first settlement of the country.

In the case of the smaller rodents—gophers, rats, and mice

—

there has probably been a continued increase from the first perma-
nent coming of white men. The reason is evident. Man has

furnished abundant food for these animals and has destroyed their

worst enemies.

Buffalo and elk were wholly exterminated by hunters, and the

beaver nearly so, before the first settlement in the county. The
squatters and early settlers destroyed the larger Carnivora in self-

defense, and this was followed during the early settlement and
improvement stages by an increase of deer, opossum, and such
smaller carnivores as raccoons, foxes, skunks, and weasels. As these

smaller Carnivora are themselves diminished by man's persecution,

the rabbits and smaller rodents increase, and this increase continues
tU a high degree of cultivation is attained. In the final stages of

village and city all the Mammalia disappear except the bats—^which
remain in little-changed numbers—and the rats and mice, which
are continually increasing.



NOTE.

Preparation of Poisoned Bait for Small Mammals.

The following method of preparmg a poisoned bait for prairie-dogs, gophers,

rats, and mice is recommended by the U. S. Department of Agriculture:

Dissolve one ounce of strychnia sulphate in a pint of boiling water, add a

pint of thick sugar-sirup and stir thoroughly. The above quantity is enough to

poison half a bushel of grain or corn, but smaller proportional quantities of grain

and sirup may be mixed as desired. Wheat, corn, oatmeal, or corn-meal may be

used. If, after thorough mixing, the solution is not sufficient to wet all the grain

used, add a little water. Let the poisoned grain stand over night. If the grain

is too wet, add a little corn-meal to take up the moisture. The oatmeal bait

may be used immediately after mixing.

It should never be forgotten that whatever will poison vermin will poison other

animals also, and too great care can not be used in handling any poisoned bait. The
following poison is less dangerous to larger animals than the above, and is especially

recommended for rats and mice.

Take one part of barium carbonate and four parts of flour or meal, add a little

sweetening, and mix into a dough. Cut into pieces the size of a pea for mice, and

about four times that size for rats.

For destroying carnivorous animals, meat poisoned with arsenic is the usual

bait. We believe, however, that there is very little necessity for the use of such

means of destruction in this state. Hunting or trapping will be quite as effective,

and we believe quite as cheap in the end.

60.5



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609

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612

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pendixes to Rep. Sec. War, Dec, 1858.



Plate XXVI.

_ _
Fig. 1. View in the till plain. Moraine ridge in background. Habitat of white- footed

praine-mou.se.

Fig. 2. A permanent pasture. Habitat of white-footed wood-mouse. Striped gophers and
moles are common.



Plate XXVII.

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Plate XXVIII.

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