Book Description

Excerpt from The Small Mammals of Colorado This bulletin on the small mammals of Colorado omits all mention of the tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, and gophers, which were excellently treated by Mr. Robert Rockwell in his bulletin on those animals. The present paper aims to give some mention of our smaller mammals, though it has been a little difficult at times to tell where to draw the line, and what to include and what to omit. Many of these animals are but little known to the casual observer, largely because of the nocturnal habits of the majority of the species, and the retiring habits of others. When one becomes acquainted with them and their ways he finds them very interesting, and their life histories well worth studying. In fact there is still much to be learned about many of them. Since the writers "The Mammals of Colorado" was published, some ten years ago, a number of the genera of North American mammals have been studied by specialists, with the result that some species and subspecies have been added to and others dropped from our local list, and some of the scientific names have been changed. While not making the latter especially prominent in the text, they have invariably been given, for they are a more positive identification of the species than any English or vernacular names. No detailed descriptions of any of the species are included, only a general idea of the color and size is given. The total length is from the end of the nose to the end of the tail, measured in a straight line when the animal is stretched out, and the tail is measured from the root to the tip. I have omitted all mention of the bats, although a considerable number of species is found in the State. These belong to so many different genera that a general description of the animals would be very unsatisfactory, and a detailed account is somewhat beyond the scope of this paper. For interesting and authoritative accounts of the habits of many of our small mammals I would refer my readers to "The Wild Animals of North America," by E. W. Nelson, Chief of the U. S. Biological Survey, published by the National Geographic Society. Mr. Nelson's opportunities of observing the habits of many of our species have been remarkable, and he has made much use of the work of other naturalists. In giving scientific names, when the name of a genus is repeated it is not given in full but abbreviated to the initial letter; likewise in the case of repetition of specific names. Unless otherwise mentioned, the illustrations are from my own photographs. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18 and 20 were originally published in the "Mammals of Colorado" and are printed from the cuts used in that book. For several of the illustrations which have not hitherto been published, I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Charles Mace, Mr. Clark Blickensderfer, Mr. Albert Haanstad, and the Colorado Agricultural College through Mr. W. L. Burnett. The pictures will doubtless be of as much use as the text in showing what the animals are like. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.