they had nearly disappeared. In the settled parts of western Washington
they were doubtless exterminated at an early date but it is difficult to
account for their disappearance on the Olympic Peninsula. To the best of
my knowledge, two wolves killed on the north fork of the Quinault River
in 1920, or a few years earlier, were the last ones from that peninsula.
Previously they were common and I doubt that man killed them all;
perhaps some introduced disease, such as rabies, brought about their
extinction.
In the Cascade area they probably still exist in small numbers and in
remote places. There are said to be some near Mount Adams. They have
been reported from Mount Rainier as recently as 1920. Trappers state
that there are a few in the northern Cascades, between Lake Chelan and
Mount Baker. There are no recent records for southeastern Washington.
The last wolves killed on the Columbian Plateau were two taken at
Wahluke, Grant County, on September 17, 1917. Only rumors--no authentic
reports--of wolves are available from northeastern Washington in recent
years. The reappearance of the caribou there may attract wolves from
British Columbia.
Any report of wolves, even from experienced trappers, is open to some
question. An unusually large coyote often is mistaken for a wolf. A
large, wild and wolflike dog is even more likely to be mistaken for a
wolf.
The wolf no longer is an important element in the mammalian fauna of
Washington and will probably never be so again. The species, like the
grizzly bear, is nearly extinct in the state.
=Canis familiaris= Linnaeus
Dog
_Canis familiaris_ Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, 1:56, 1766.
_Type locality._--Sweden.
Dogs were present with aboriginal man in Washington, previous to the
arrival of the white man. For greater detail see Bailey (1936), Suckley
and Gibbs (1860) and Allen (1920).
=Felis concolor= Linnaeus
Cougar or mountain lion
[Illustration: FIG. 72. Cougar or mountain lion (_Felis concolor
missoulensis_), skin mounted as a rug; shot on Mill Creek, Pend Oreille
County, Washington, February 13, 1935, by Ralph Johnson. Skin now
measures: snout to tip of tail 252 cm., span between tips of forepaws
157 cm., tail 89 cm.; male. (Fish and Wildlife Service photo by Victor
B. Scheffer, No. 66.)]
_Description._--The cougar is a large cat and has the general
proportions of the house cat. Large cougars measure more than seven feet
in length of which the tail comprises two feet. Large males weigh more
than 150 pounds. Females are smaller and lighter than males. In color
the head, back, tail and outside of the legs are reddish brown. The
throat, underparts and inside of the legs are white. The tip of the
tail, or area near the tip, is black or blackish.
Cougars, often called mountain lions, pumas and panthers, range from
Canada to southern South America.
The cougar feeds extensively upon deer and its habits and habitat are
accordingly specialized. It is active in both winter and summer and
zonally ranges from the Transition through the Canadian to the Hudsonian
life-zones.
[Illustration: FIG. 73. Cougar or mountain lion (_Felis concolor
oregonensis_), adults and young taken by Dewey Schmid in White Salmon
Valley, Washington, about December 1, 1937, and January 1, 1938. Two
bobcats show at extreme right. (Dewey Schmid photo.)]
The number of deer killed by the average cougar is unknown. Some
trappers believe that a cougar kills a deer at least every other day
while others feel that only one a week is taken. Other food is eaten
when available. Because cougars kill deer, they are incessantly warred
upon by hunters and sportsmen. Bounties, often generous, have long been
paid in Washington. Although many cougars are killed each year they are
still numerous in many areas. So many remote areas in the mountains are
not easily accessible to man and dogs that the cougar, as a species,
probably will persist for many years.
A cougar is one of the most secretive animals in the wilds. Rarely are
individuals seen by man. They are difficult to trap, principally because
they are such wide-ranging animals and partly because they prefer to
feed on fresh deer meat and hence are not apt to be attracted to trap
bait. For these same reasons they are difficult to poison. By using
poisoned hamburger, a government agent did poison one near Leavenworth,
Chelan County. The principal method of killing cougar is to hunt them
with packs of especially trained hounds which pursue the cougar until it
takes refuge in a tree or other supposed place of safety, where it is
shot.
A common gait is a swift, smooth trot in which the body is kept low and
the tail droops with the terminal part bent backwards. A wild cougar
seen near Leavenworth, Chelan County, traveled with effortless speed
until fired upon. At the sound of the shot it made two great bounds and
disappeared into the brush fringing a canyon.
[Illustration: FIG. 74. Distribution of the cougar in Washington. A.
_Felis concolor oregonensis._ B. _Felis concolor missoulensis._]
Although the cougar is a large and powerful carnivore it almost never
makes unprovoked attacks upon man. An exception was the cougar that
partially devoured a thirteen-year old boy near Lake Chelan, Chelan
County (Finley, 1925: 197-199).
The hunting range of an individual cougar is many miles in extent. These
ranges are traveled periodically and any particular area may be visited
regularly every few days. The cougars may travel many miles each night
in search of deer. Their ranges must overlap to a certain extent for as
many as 12 have been taken from a single drainage area. Over most of the
year they are solitary but breeding females may attract several males
and hunters occasionally capture a female and several males at one
locality. Breeding occurs in almost any month of the year. The young are
cared for by the female and follow her for perhaps a year. Young
individuals have been taken at the same time and in the same locality as
an adult female and several adult males that supposedly were breeding.
There are from one to three young in a litter. For the first months of
their life cougar kittens are spotted. In this they differ from the
young of the bobcat which are plain or slightly mottled and do not
become spotted until later in life. Cougar kittens differ further from
bobcat kittens in possessing a long tail.
The pelage of the cougar is short and of no value as fur although the
skins often are sold at a good price as trophies when prepared as rugs.
=Felis concolor oregonensis= Rafinesque
_Felix [sic] oregonensis_ Rafinesque, Atlantic Journal, 1:62, 1832.
_Felis hippolestes olympus_ Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
11:220, July 15, 1897 (type from Lake Cushman, Mason County,
Washington).
_Felis oregonensis_ Stone, Science, n. s., 9:35, January 6, 1899.
_Felis oregonensis oregonensis_ Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull.,
128:158, April 29, 1924.
_Felis concolor oregonensis_ Nelson and Goldman, Jour. Mamm.,
10:347, November 11, 1929.
_Type locality._--"Oregon Mountains, or east or west of them."
_Racial characters._--Light, rounded skull, dark color, extensive
black on tip of tail and short, rather coarse fur.
_Distribution._--From the eastern base of the Cascade Mountains
westward to the Pacific. Marginal records are (trappers'
specimens): Ruby, Leavenworth, and Goldendale.
=Felis concolor missoulensis= Goldman
_Felis concolor missoulensis_ Goldman, Jour. Mamm., 24:229, June 8,
1943.
_Type._--Obtained 10 miles southwest of Missoula, Missoula County,
Montana, by R. and C. Thompson, on December 30, 1936; type in
United States National Museum.
_Racial characters._--A large cougar with heavy, wide skull, pale
color and rather long, soft fur.
_Distribution._--Northeastern Washington west at least to Republic
(W.W.D.) and the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington.
_Remarks._--Goldman (1943: 229) states "Between the Rocky
Mountains and the Cascade Range _missoulensis_ intergrades with
_oregonensis_." My own comparison of specimens reveals differences
of considerable magnitude between the cougars of western and
northeastern Washington. I suppose that intergradation takes place
in a limited area in, and west of, the Okanogan River Valley in
Washington.
[Illustration: FIG. 75. Canadian lynx, _Lynx canadensis_, male, taken
February 16, 1939, on Baldy Mountain, northwest Idaho, by Lloyd
Robinson of Sandpoint. (Ross A. Hall photo.)]
=Lynx canadensis canadensis= Kerr
Canadian lynx
_Lynx canadensis_ Kerr, Anim. Kingd., 1: systematic catalogue
inserted between pages 32 and 33 (description, p. 157), 1792.
_Lynx borealis canadensis_ True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 7:611,
1885.
_Lynx canadensis canadensis_ Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull.,
128:160, April 29, 1924.
_Type locality._--Eastern Canada.
_Measurements._--A female from Buttermills Creek, Twisp River,
Okanogan County, measured: total length 900; length of tail 95;
hind foot 205.
_Distribution._--Higher parts of the Cascade Mountains, Blue
Mountains and mountains of northeastern Washington, recorded from
Oroville on the north (W. W. D.) to Mount Adams (Taylor and Shaw,
1929: 13) on the south.
[Illustration: FIG. 76. Canadian lynx (_Lynx canadensis_), catch of
nine, with two coyotes, taken by Lester Fairbrother in hills west of
Oroville, Washington, March, 1938. (Lester Fairbrother photo.)]
_Description._--The Canadian lynx weighs about 20 pounds and is catlike
in general proportions but differs in possessing longer, stouter legs,
much larger feet, a short tail, tufted ears and long, very soft fur. The
pelage of the upper parts is soft gray with a slightly yellowish tone;
the ears and tail are black; and the underparts are gray with indistinct
black spots. The pelage is shorter and more reddish in summer. Bailey
(1936: 271) records a maximum weight of 28 pounds.
[Illustration: FIG. 77. Distribution of the Canadian lynx, _Lynx
canadensis_, in Washington.]
The lynx ranges over the forested parts of North America from the Arctic
south into the northern United States. It has a restricted range in
Washington, occurring in the same areas as does the red fox. Although
the lynx is an important fur bearer in Canada and Alaska, it is
unimportant in Washington because only a few are trapped each winter.
Most of the natural range is in the remote and wilder parts of the
mountains. Here, each of several trappers regularly takes a dozen or
more each year. Mr. Lester Fairbrother of Oroville, Okanogan County,
regularly traps lynxes in the northern Cascades. They are taken in
wooded areas where snowshoe rabbits, their principal food in winter, are
abundant. In the more accessible parts of the animal's range, such as
the Blue Mountains and the mountains of northeastern Washington, lynxes
are rare. As much as sixty dollars each is offered for large skins.
=Lynx rufus= (Schreber)
Bobcat
_Description._--The average male bobcat weighs approximately 20 pounds.
The female is about one-fourth lighter. A bobcat has longer, stouter
legs and larger feet than a house cat and a short tail. The ears are
short, with pointed tufts of hair.
[Illustration: FIG. 78. Bobcat (_Lynx rufus fasciatus_), two-year-old
male captured as a kit near Lyman, Washington, in the spring of 1937,
by Earl Scott; photographed March 9, 1939. (Fish and Wildlife Service
photo by Victor B. Scheffer, No. 588.)]
Bobcats range from southern Canada south to central Mexico. Whereas the
Canadian lynx occupies the boreal region, the bobcat occupies the
temperate region. It is thought to be principally nocturnal but is
occasionally active by day. One that I watched near Lake Samamish, King
County, when it was unaware of my presence, was decidedly uncatlike as
it strolled with a smooth but stiff-legged gait on a forest trail, with
head held up, short tail erect and wagging back and forth with each
step. The general impression was of a large, extremely long-legged
animal. There was nothing stealthy in its movements. Another individual
seen in the same locality on a later date saw me. As it bounded away the
body was kept low and the legs were bent with the forelegs appearing
almost bowlegged.
Like many other carnivores, each bobcat has a home range which varies
with the available food supply. The range may include deep forest, dense
thickets and open grasslands, but country with considerable
edge-environment seems to be preferred to dense cover, and rocky areas
to smooth soil. Perhaps the abundance of mice and wood rats attracts
bobcats to the rocks, but the cover afforded is also a factor.
The bobcat is almost universally regarded as a predator and the state of
Washington now offers a bounty on it. The animals doubtless do kill a
certain amount of game, but kill also other animals which man regards as
pests because they interfere with reforestation and growing of food
crops. One of the best natural checks on these pests is the bobcat
which, in certain areas, does more good than harm. Where doing damage to
game or livestock bobcats may be eliminated by trapping or hunting with
dogs.
Trappers report that bobcats have a poor sense of smell but very keen
sight. They are easily trapped. The fur is soft and handsome but does
not wear well. Fur buyers designate the large, pale bobcats of eastern
Washington as lynx cats and reserve the name bobcat for the more reddish
race of western Washington. Immature and unprime pelts from eastern
Washington also are classed as "bobcat."
The difference between the pale bobcat of eastern Washington and the
dark race of western Washington is greater than that which separates
many subspecies. Dewey Smith of Guler, Klickitat County, showed me skins
of bobcats taken on his trap-line along the White Salmon River, which
drains southward to the Columbia, and over into the watershed of the
Lewis River. Bobcats from the White Salmon River were pale and gray, and
those from along the Lewis River were more reddish. The difference was
striking. A very few intermediate skins indicated that interbreeding
occurs. The geographic variation between the two races is reminiscent of
that in the snowshoe rabbits of the western Cascades.
=Lynx rufus fasciatus= Rafinesque
_Lynx fasciatus_ Rafinesque, Amer. Monthly Mag., 2:46, November,
1817.
_Lynx fasciatus fasciatus_ Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 128:160,
April 29, 1924.
_Lynx rufus fasciatus_ Bailey, N. Amer. Fauna, 55:269, August 29,
1936.
_Type locality._--Near mouth of the Columbia River on "Netul" River
(Lewis and Clark River) near Astoria (Bailey, 1936: 269).
_Racial characters._--Size moderate; fur short; color distinctly
reddish.
_Measurements._--A male from Forks, Clallam County, measured:
total length 890; length of tail 190; hind foot 167; ear 80;
weight 24-1/2 pounds.
_Distribution._--From the Cascade Mountains westward, including
the valleys of rivers draining westward in the Cascades. Marginal
occurrences are: Skykomish (W. W. D.), Mt. Rainier (Taylor and
Shaw, 1927: 60) and headwaters of Lewis River (W. W. D.).
[Illustration: FIG. 79. Distribution of the bobcat in Washington. A.
_Lynx rufus fasciatus._ B. _Lynx rufus pallescens._]
=Lynx rufus pallescens= Merriam
_Lynx fasciatus pallescens_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 16:104,
October 28, 1899.
_Lynx rufus uinta_ Bailey, N. Amer. Fauna, 55:267, August 29,
1936.
_Lynx rufus pallescens_ Bailey, N. Amer. Fauna, 55:268, August 29,
1936.
_Type._--Obtained at Trout Lake, Klickitat County, Washington, by
D. Kaegi on January 10, 1895; type in United States National
Museum.
_Racial characters._--Size large; skull heavy with extensive
crests and ridges; fur long and soft; color pale, more grayish and
less reddish than in _fasciatus_.
_Distribution._--From the Cascade Mountains eastward, including
the valleys of rivers in the Cascades which drain southward and
eastward. Marginal records of occurrences are Oroville (W. W. D.),
Lake Keechelus (Taylor and Shaw, 1929: 15) and Trout Lake (W. W.
D.).
=Zalophus californianus= (Lesson)
California sea lion
_Otaria californiana_ Lesson, Dict. Class Nat. Hist., 13:420, 1828.
_Zalophus californianus_ Allen, Monogr. N. Amer. Pinnipeds, U. S.
Geol. and Geogr. Surv. Terr., Misc. Publ., 12:276, 1880.
_Type locality._--California.
_Distribution._--Rare or casual along the coast of Washington.
_Description._--Adult males are 7 to 8 feet in length and females about
6 feet. Bulls weigh as much as 1,000 pounds, and females up to 600
pounds. Both fore and hind limbs are modified for swimming; they are
flippers directed posteriorly. The body is cylindrical and streamlined,
the neck thick and the head small. Adult males possess a high sagittal
crest resulting in a high forehead. Eyes and ears are small. The reddish
brown pelage is short and coarse. Females are darker than the males.
The California sea lion occurs along the Pacific Coast from Mexico to
northern California and has been recorded from Oregon (Bailey, 1936:
332), Washington and British Columbia (Greenwood, Newcombe, and Fraser,
1918: 1-39). It is of rare or casual occurrence along the coast of
Washington.
=Eumetopias jubata= (Schreber)
Steller sea lion
_Phoca jubata_ Schreber, Säugthiere, 3:300, 1776.
_Eumetopias Stelleri_ True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 7 (1884):607,
1885.
_Eumetopias jubata_ Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 16:113,
March 15, 1902.
_Type locality._--North Pacific Ocean.
_Distribution._--Ocean coast, breeding on small, rocky islets such
as the Quillayute Needles.
_Description._--The Steller sea lion resembles the California sea lion
but is larger. Old bulls are from 10 to 12 feet in length and weigh from
1,200 to 1,500 pounds, perhaps even a ton. Females are 8 to 9 feet in
length and may weigh up to 1000 pounds. The female Steller sea lion is
nearly as large as the male of the California sea lion. The bull Steller
sea lion lacks the high forehead characteristic of the California sea
lion, and the body is heavier and stouter, especially in the neck and
chest. Bulls are distinctly bicolored, the head, neck and chest being
cinnamon and the rest of the body darker. Females are a uniform dark
brown color. The Steller sea lion makes a loud, deep roaring sound.
Steller sea lions occur along the coast of Asia south to Japan and the
coast of North America from the Bering Strait south to central
California. The range thus meets and overlaps that of the California sea
lion.
Steller sea lions are splendid swimmers and spend much of their time in
the surf. They often lie in the water a few yards from where the waves
pound some jagged cliff, retaining their dangerous position without
discernible effort. They are curious and will raise their head and neck
vertically out of the water to observe a passing boat. Much time is
spent beneath the surface, presumably hunting fish. They sometimes leap
up out of the water in an arching dive or may simply lower their heads
beneath the surface and appear several minutes later at another place.
They may come to the surface with a porpoiselike roll, breathe, and
again dive. Many of their actions seem inspired by playfulness--a means
of working off excess energy.
Sea lions haul out on a number of rocky islands along the coast. They
are slow and clumsy on land. Their rear flippers can be directed forward
and so give them some assistance in moving about. When startled they are
able, with much struggling, to move with fair speed to the water. They
can dive from considerable heights.
The studies of Greenwood, Newcombe and Fraser (1918: 1-39) show that the
Steller sea lions eat a great variety of marine fish and other sea life.
Included in their diet are squid, starfish, crabs, clams, mussels,
salmon, herring, flounder, rock cod, sea bass and dogfish. They seem not
to be selective in their food habits but eat the food most easily
available at the time. Unfortunately this is occasionally salmon in nets
or traps and for this reason fishermen usually kill sea lions on sight.
The number of sea lions along the coast of Washington has been greatly
reduced by shooting and dynamiting the animals on their hauling-out
grounds. There is no doubt that sea lions do occasionally eat salmon,
especially in traps or nets. They also become entangled in the nets, and
damage them. On the other hand, investigations of their food habits have
shown that they do not eat any great number of salmon or other important
food fishes. They are a relatively harmless and exceedingly interesting
animal and might well be preserved in numbers exceeding their present
population.
Until relatively recent times the sea lion was an important source of
food to the Indians living along the ocean coast. The bones of sea lions
are often the most numerous vertebrate remains in shell mounds.
The Steller sea lion now breeds only in a few places along the coast of
Washington. They are polygamous and each of the stronger bulls has eight
or ten cows in his harem. Fierce battles between bulls are said to take
place in the breeding season, late in May. A single pup is born after a
gestation period of about one year. Pups are darker in color than
adults.
=Callorhinus ursinus cynocephalus= (Walbaum)
Alaska fur seal
_Siren cynocephalus_ Walbaum, Petri Artedi Sueci Genera Pisc., p.
560, 1792.
_Callorhinus ursinus_ True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 7 (1884):607,
1885.
_Callorhinus alascanus_ Jordan and Clark, Fur Seals and Fur Seal
Islands of the North Pacific, pt. 3, p. 2, November, 1899.
_Callotaria ursina cynocephala_ Stejneger, George Wilhelm Steller,
Harvard Univ. Press, p. 285, 1936.
_Type locality._--Pribilof Islands, Alaska.
_Distribution._--Breeds on the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. Abundant
off the coast of Washington on migration.
_Description._--The difference in the size of male and female fur seals
is great. Males are about 8 feet in length when fully grown but the
females are only about 4 feet long. Males weigh up to 700 pounds but
females only about 100 pounds. In general appearance the fur seal
resembles the sea lion but the fur is longer, denser and softer. Males
are very dark brown in color. Females and young are grayish brown. The
fur seal, like the sea lion, can reverse its hind flippers and use them
to a certain extent in walking.
The Alaskan fur seal breeds on the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. The seals
emerge from the water to certain favored hauling-out places in May and
June. They leave the Islands in November to begin their long migration.
The bulls spend the winter off the coast of Alaska south of the
Aleutians but the females and young travel south to the ocean off
California. In the spring they start north, arriving off the coast of
Washington in February, March and April. Young, rarely adults, are
washed up on the ocean beaches of Washington (Scheffer, 1939: 43).
The United States Government, by international treaty, manages the fur
seal herds on a sustained yield basis and pelagic sealing by independent
hunters is prohibited. Indians are allowed to take the fur seals on
migration but are subject to certain restrictions. Modern boats,
outboard motors and guns are prohibited. Indians living on the coast of
Washington hunt the fur seals from dugout canoes. The weapons are
double-headed harpoons with long cedar shafts. One harpoon head is at
the tip of the shaft and the other is on a short fork that projects
downward and forward at a 30° angle from the main shaft. The harpoon is
thrown with the aid of hand grips at the end of the shaft. The seal is
recovered by rawhide lines connected to the harpoon heads. The hunters
leave shore at dawn and travel ten to twenty miles from land, at which
distance the seal herds are usually encountered. The hunting is
dangerous work and is carried on only by skilled and brave men.
Relatively calm weather is required. The flesh of the seals is eaten
and the skins sold.
Schultz and Rafn (1936: 13-15) examined the stomachs of 41 fur seals
taken within 30 miles of La Push, Washington, in March, April and May,
1930. Food found included squids, shrimps, herring and lampreys.