in the black-tailed deer of Washington. The deer of the San Juan
Islands and the islands of Puget Sound are smaller and darker than
those of the mainland and possess smaller, lighter antlers. The deer
of Whidby Island are sometimes contemptuously referred to by residents
as jackrabbit deer. Fully grown bucks on the Islands weigh in the
neighborhood of 100 pounds, rarely exceeding 150 pounds, whereas bucks
on the mainland commonly weigh more than 150 pounds dressed.
[Illustration: FIG. 136. Mule deer (_Odocoileus hemionus hemionus_),
subadult male from Okanogan County, Washington, raised in captivity;
photographed June 29, 1938, on Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park.
(Fish and Wildlife Service photo by Victor B. Scheffer, No. 99.)]
The dividing line between the ranges of the black-tailed and mule deer
in general is the summit of the Cascade Mountains. In summer the two
races come together and doubtless mingle in the Cascades but as fall
approaches they migrate. The mule deer moves eastward to the yellow-pine
areas on the lower slopes while the blacktails descend westward to the
denser Douglas fir and hemlock forests on the western flanks of the
Cascades. In the breeding season the two races are separated. However,
as shown by Cowan (1936A: 219), in the Pemberton Valley, British
Columbia, the two forms occur together during the breeding season and
intergradation occurs there. Intergradation occurs also in the Lake
Wenatchee area of Chelan County. Observation of hunters' specimens
showed some undoubted intergrades among the more abundant, typical mule
deer.
Both the mule deer and blacktail have a characteristic bounding gait,
unlike the smooth run of the white-tailed deer. The tail is usually held
down, rarely erect. When not frightened they move with dainty steps,
making little noise.
[Illustration: FIG. 137. Black-tailed deer (_Odocoileus hemionus
columbianus_), buck resting at midday, Van Trump Park, Mt. Rainier,
Washington, August, 1931. (Fish and Wildlife Service photo by Victor
B. Scheffer, No. 260.)]
The black-tailed deer in certain areas is more nocturnal than diurnal.
They feed principally in the early morning and evening. In the Olympic
Mountains, on the North Fork of the Quinault River, in July, 1937,
blacktails were watched feeding and playing until midnight. Also in
December, 1939, deer, near the forks of the Skykomish River, were moving
about, browsing as late as 11 p. m. while a light snow was falling. In
the San Juan Islands, in the summer of 1939, deer were observed feeding
at all hours of the day.
The blacktail lives in some of the most dense jungle areas of western
Washington. On Whidby Island and some of the San Juan Islands the brush
and vines grow so densely that a man can scarcely penetrate them. Were
it not for the deer trails, formed by generations of deer, our small
mammal investigations would have been far more difficult. The blacktail
lives also in the dense forests where fir, hemlock and cedars grow to
heights of more than 150 feet. Here lack of light allows only ferns and
moss to form an understory vegetation. These forests often clothe the
steep glacial hills and the trails of the deer on such hills show them
to be adept climbers. Deer trails generally avoid fallen trees and other
obstacles. When startled, however, a stump, fence or log is easily
leaped by a blacktail. Often they are in small bands of 6 to 10
individuals, but almost as often are solitary, or in pairs.
The habitat of the mule deer is generally more open than that of the
blacktail. In the summer, it may occupy rough and rugged country; in the
higher Cascades individuals were found in the rocky and brushy country
and in open glades and meadows. Farther east they were in the open
yellow-pine forests where extensive grassy slopes, free of trees,
existed. In some parts of northeastern Washington they lived in the
larch and lodgepole pine forests almost dense enough to be "blacktail
country." In the Okanogan Valley and on the northwestern corner of the
Columbia Plateau mule deer lived in open prairie country where a few
cottonwoods and willows were the only trees.
The mule deer seem more social than the blacktail. In the late summer
they gather in bands of 10 to 20 or more. In winter, under pressure of
hunger, they gather in herds and raid haystacks and pastures. Farmers in
the Methow Valley, Okanogan County, report herds of 200 to 400 mule deer
about a single haystack.
The mule deer and blacktail are the principal game mammals of the state
of Washington. Thousands of hunters enter the woods each year in search
of a buck. Eastern Washington is the favored hunting grounds for that is
the home of the mule deer, the larger size of which makes it a more
desirable trophy. Also the open country which it inhabits makes hunting
more productive. Sums spent on equipment, gasoline and hunting licenses
are tremendous but the feeling is that the return in recreational value
and venison are worth the cost. A few casualties result each year among
the army of deer hunters.
=Odocoileus hemionus hemionus= (Rafinesque)
_Cervus hemionus_ Rafinesque, Amer. Month. Mag., 1:436, October,
1817.
_Cariacus macrotis_ True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 7:592, 1885.
_Odocoileus hemionus_ Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
12:100, April 30, 1898.
_Odocoileus hemionus macrotis_ Bailey, National Geographic, 20:64,
1932.
_Type locality._--Vicinity of Big Sioux River, South Dakota.
_Racial characters._--Large size, pale color.
_Measurements._--Two adult males from Stay-a-while Spring,
Columbia County, measure respectively: total length 1,751, 1,559;
length of tail 172, 205; hind foot 515, 485; ear 210, 211; length
of metatarsal gland 150, 135.
_Distribution._--Summit of Cascades eastward, in forested areas,
exact limits not certainly known.
=Odocoileus hemionus columbianus= (Richardson)
_Cervus macrotis_ var. _columbiana_ Richardson, Fauna
Boreali-Americana, 1:257, 1829.
_Cariacus columbianus_ True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 7 (1884):592,
1885.
_Cervus columbianus_ Baird, U. S. Pacific R. R. Exp. and Surveys,
p. 659, 1857.
_Eucervus columbianus_ Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 18 (ser.
3):338, 1866.
_Odocoileus columbianus_ Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
12:100, April 30, 1898.
_Odocoileus columbianus columbianus_ Swarth, Univ. California
Publ. Zoöl., 10:85, February 13, 1912.
_Odocoileus hemionus columbianus_ Cowan, California Fish and Game,
22:215, July, 1936.
_Type._--Obtained at Cape Disappointment, Pacific County,
Washington, by Lewis and Clark on November 19, 1805 (Cowan, 1936A:
218).
_Racial characters._--Small size, dark color.
_Distribution._--Summit of Cascades westward, including islands in
Puget Sound and San Juan Islands; exact limits of range uncertain.
=Alce americana shirasi= Nelson
Moose
_Alces americanus shirasi_ Nelson, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
27:72, April 25, 1914.
_Type._--Obtained near the Snake River, Lincoln County, Wyoming, by
J. Shire on December 11, 1913; type in United States National
Museum.
_Distribution._--Casual wanderer into northeastern Washington from
Canada.
_Remarks._--The moose is the largest North American deer. Its large size
and huge, palmate antlers serve to separate it from any other member of
the deer tribe.
Moose range from northern United States to central Canada and Alaska.
The European elk and the American moose are subspecies of the same
species. The moose is of only casual occurrence in Washington. The
latest authentic record for Washington is a bull that wandered southward
and westward from Canada until it was killed on an Indian reservation in
Ferry County. Other moose are reported to have wandered into
northeastern Washington from Canada in past years.
Dice (1919) was told that moose once occurred in the Blue Mountains of
southeastern Washington but there is no confirmation of this report.
=Rangifer arcticus montanus= Seton-Thompson
Caribou
_Rangifer montanus_ Seton-Thompson, Ottawa Naturalist, 13:129-30,
August, 1899.
_Rangifer arcticus montanus_ Jacobi, Erganzungsband, Zoöl. Anz.,
96:92, November, 1931.
_Type._--Obtained near Revelstoke, Selkirk Range, British Columbia.
_Distribution._--Rare or casual along the Canadian boundary in
northeastern Washington.
_Remarks._--The caribou is a rather stout-bodied deer with large hoofs,
short, rounded muzzle and long, erect, flattened antlers.
Caribou and their relatives, the reindeer, range over Arctic Europe,
Asia, Greenland and America. In North America they range from the
Atlantic to the Pacific and from the northern border of the United
States northward into the Arctic. The caribou was, until recent years, a
regular winter resident in small numbers in northeastern Washington near
the Canadian Boundary. Their wintering grounds in Washington were said
to have been destroyed by fire in 1915 and the species has appeared in
the state only casually since then. Two were killed in 1940 by hunters
who thought they were deer. Caribou are protected by law in Washington.
=Bison bison oregonus= Bailey
Bison
_Bison bison bison_ Taylor and Shaw, Occ. Papers Chas. R. Conner
Mus., 2:31, December, 1929.
_Bison bison oregonus_ Bailey, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 45:48,
April 2, 1932.
_Type._--Skull and skeleton picked up at Malheur Lake, Oregon, by
G. M. Benson in November, 1931; type in United States National
Museum.
_Distribution._--Perhaps casual in eastern Washington before
coming of the white man.
_Remarks._--Bison, or buffalo, occurred in southeastern Oregon but
disappeared before white men reached the country (Bailey, 1936: 57).
Gibbs (1860: 138) was told by an Indian hunter in 1853 that a lost bull
had been killed in the Grand Coulee (state of Washington) 25 years
before but that "this was an extraordinary occurrence, perhaps before
unknown." In the days before horses reached the Indian tribes of eastern
Washington and Oregon, wandering bison from herds in Oregon probably
strayed into Washington, in somewhat the manner that the moose today
stray in from Canada.
=Ovis canadensis= Shaw
Mountain sheep
_Description._--The mountain sheep is the size of a small deer. The
horns of the males are massive spirals. Those of the females are
smaller, curve upward and backward, rarely forming a semicircle. The
horns are permanent structures, enlarged each year by growth at the
base. Growth is irregular, probably as the result of seasonal
reproductive activities. As a result the horns are "ringed" with
concentric ridges. The color of the upper parts is dark, grayish brown.
The face is paler, yellowish brown. The outer sides of the legs are dark
brown. The rump, abdomen, and insides of legs are white.
Mountain sheep of the genus _Ovis_ are abundantly represented in Asia.
Two species occur in North America, _Ovis dalli_ in Alaska, and _Ovis
canadensis_ in western North America. They range from Alaska south to
northern Mexico.
In the past the mountain sheep inhabited most of the eastern Cascade
Mountains, the Blue Mountains, Pend Oreille Mountains, and the cliffs of
the Columbia River Valley in eastern Washington. They occurred on the
eastern or Columbian Plateau side of the river and therefore probably
occupied the cliffs of Moses Coulee and the Grand Coulee. Their habitat
seems thus to have included rocky areas from the Upper Sonoran to the
Hudsonian life-zones. At the present time they are extinct over most of
their range. A small band still remains in the extreme northeastern
Cascades near Mount Chopaka.
Little has been published concerning the habits of the mountain sheep in
Washington. In caves along the Columbia River in Grant County, bones of
sheep are found in association with stone arrowheads and other human
artifacts. Presumably the sheep were killed and eaten by the Indians.
The history of the mountain sheep in North America is outlined by Cowan
(1940: 506). The genus is thought to have crossed from Asia to America
by the land bridge now under Bering Strait in the early Pleistocene and
spread southward through the Rockies. The advance of the glacial ice
forced them farther southward and the southern (_canadensis_) sheep were
separated from their relatives farther north. The present differences
between the Rocky Mountain and western sheep seem to have resulted from
separation by glaciers during Wisconsin Time.
=Ovis canadensis canadensis= Shaw
_Ovis canadensis_ Shaw, Nat. Misc., vol. 15, text to pl. 610, about
December, 1803.
_Type._--Obtained in the mountains on Bow River; W. B. Davis (1939:
377) gives Dew River near Exshaw, Alberta.
_Racial characters._--Large size; heavy, closely coiled horns.
_Measurements._--Cowan (1940: 533) gives the measurements of a
fully adult (6-year old) ram from Colorado as: total length 1,953;
length of tail 127; hind foot 394; ear (dry) 63.
_Distribution._--Now extinct in Washington. Cowan (_op. cit._:
535) refers to this race as the sheep that formerly occurred in
the Blue Mountains. This view seems logical but I feel that the
sheep formerly occurring in the Pend Oreille Mountains of extreme
northeastern Washington should, on the basis of geographic
probability, also be referred to _canadensis_.
=Ovis canadensis californiana= Douglas
_Ovis californianus_ Douglas, Zoöl. Jour., 4:332, 1829.
_Ovis californica_ Richardson, Fauna Boreali-Americana, 1:272,
1829.
_Ovis californiana_ Biddulph, Proc. Zoöl. Soc. London, p. 683,
1885.
_Ovis canadensis californiana_ Lydekker, The Sheep and its
Cousins, p. 288, 1912.
_Type._--Obtained from near Mount Adams, Yakima County, Washington,
by D. Douglas on August 27, 1826; type in British Museum.
_Racial characters._--Similar to _canadensis_ but smaller with
more slender, spreading horns and horn tips less blunt.
_Measurements._--Cowan (1940: 545) gives the measurements of a
ram, five years old, from Owens Valley, California, as: total
length, 1,582; length of tail, 110; hind foot, 240.
_Distribution._--Formerly occupied the eastern Cascades, the
valley of the Columbia and possibly the cliffs bordering Moses
Coulee and The Grand Coulee. Now it is found only near Mt. Chopaka
in the extreme northeastern Cascades.
=Oreamnos americanus= (Blainville)
Mountain goat
_Description._--The mountain goat is of deer-size, with a stout body and
a pronounced hump on the shoulders. The legs are short but the hoofs are
large with large dewclaws. The neck is short and thick. The head is
large and goatlike in appearance. The tail is tiny. The horns are slim,
round and curve up and slightly backwards. They are hollow and are
permanent structures, added to each year. The body is snow white,
consisting of long, soft wool, which is longer and coarser on forelegs,
neck and chin than on the body. Males have a distinct beard.
Mountain goats range from Washington and Idaho north to Alaska. Their
nearest relatives are the Old-World antelopes, especially the alpine
species of Europe and Asia.
The mountain goat is an animal of the high mountains. Their habitat is
the bare-rock cliffs and rock-strewn slopes of the Arctic-alpine and
Hudsonian Life-zones. Where extensive, open rocky areas occur they
descend to the Canadian Life-zone. Even in winter they keep to the high
cliffs where steep slopes and strong winds keep the snow from the plants
on which they feed.
Mountain goats are considered a game animal in Canada and Idaho. The
species has been protected in Washington for many years. As a result
they are common, although not present in numbers sufficient to withstand
hunting. The high country which they occupy is unsuited to any of man's
domestic animals and no reason is apparent at present why the mountain
goat should not be protected and conserved for many years.
[Illustration: FIG. 138. Mountain goat (_Oreamnos americanus
americanus_), old female, Lake Chelan, Washington, March 6, 1937.
(Forest Service photo by Oliver T. Edwards, No. 348491.)]
In spite of the protection accorded them, the mountain goat has not
become tame. In driving over Stevens Pass, King County, one can, with
the aid of glasses, usually pick out one or more mountain goats on
nearby mountains. Nevertheless, I have never seen one within 100 yards
of a highway, nor heard of one being killed by cars on a highway.
The mountain goat does not, as a rule, allow close approach by man. At
Goat Basin, Deception Creek, King County, circumstances are particularly
favorable for goats and several are usually to be seen. While studying
them on several occasions, I was never able to get truly close to them.
On the few occasions when I came upon a band unexpectedly, they rapidly
went over the mountain or up the nearest cliff.
[Illustration: FIG. 139. Group of mountain goats (_Oreamnos americanus
americanus_), northern Cascade Mountains, Washington. (Forest Service
photo, No. 348490.)]
When unfrightened, these mountain goats spent much time standing, or
lying with forefeet folded under them, looking into space. For such
large animals they seemed to spend little time feeding. At intervals of
about five minutes they plucked the ferns or other plants that grew in
abundance on ledges or in tiny crevices in the cliffs. Some animals did
browse for several minutes at a time. They seemed rather particular as
to their food, plucking only one or two stems from a clump of
vegetation.
The ordinary movements of the mountain goats are deliberate. They rarely
move more than a few feet at a time. They climb with sure-footed ease
but usually slowly. In climbing, the forelegs are spread and the knees
are bent. The animal moves as if it were climbing steps. The greatest
action is in the knee joints. If surprised in the open they run with a
smoother gait, the legs moving from the shoulder and hip. If near a
cliff they climb rapidly, jumping when necessary, and rarely stop while
in sight. Evidence of the presence of mountain goats is usually seen in
the form of tufts and strands of wool. Their wool becomes caught in
bushes and rough rocks and seemingly pulls out easily.
The range of the mountain goat in Washington includes the entire Cascade
range from Mt. Adams and Mt. Saint Helens north to the Canadian
boundary. They extend west to Mt. Baker, Mt. Higgins and Mt. Index and
east to Lake Chelan and, in the Wenatchee Range, east of Mt. Stuart,
perhaps almost to the Columbia River.
Dice (1919: 21) was told that mountain goats once occurred in the Blue
Mountains of southeastern Washington. We know of no suitable goat
country in the Blue Mountains of Washington and feel that the report was
probably based on an erroneous identification.
There is a single record, supported by specimen, of a mountain goat from
northeastern Washington. This individual probably wandered into
Washington from northern Idaho, Montana, or adjacent British Columbia.
=Oreamnos americanus americanus= (Blainville)
_Ovis montanus_ Ord, Guthrie's Geol., 2d Amer. Ed., p. 292, 1815
(preoccupied).
_R[upicapra]. americana_ Blainville, Bull. Sci. Soc. Philomath,
Paris, p. 80, 1816.
_Mazama dorsata_ Rafinesque, Amer. Month. Mag., 2:44, 1817 (new
name for _Ovis montanus_ Ord).
_Mazama montana_ True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 7 (1884):592, 1885.
_Oreamnos montanus_ Merriam, Science, n. s., 1:19, 1895.
_Oreamnos montanus montanus_ Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull.,
79:398, December 31, 1912.
_Oreamnos americanus americanus_ Hollister, Proc. Biol. Soc.
Washington, 25:186, December 24, 1912.
_Type._--None. Descriptions all based on _Ovis montanus_ Ord who,
in turn, based his description on the account of skins seen by
Lewis and Clark on the Columbia River of Washington or Oregon. As
the mountain goat is not known to have ever occurred in Oregon in
Recent times, the type locality is probably near Mt. Adams,
Washington, the point where goats come nearest the Columbia.
_Measurements._--The measurements of a large male killed "west of
North Yakima" were reported by A. S. Harmer as: 8 feet 3 inches
from tip of nose to tip of tail; horns 10 inches; weight 507
pounds (Outdoor Life, 1915: 459).
_Distribution._--Throughout the higher Cascade Mountains.
=Oreamnos americanus missoulae= Allen
_Oreamnos montanus missoulae_ Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
20:20, February 10, 1904.
_Oreamnos americanus missoulae_ Hollister, Proc. Biol. Soc.
Washington, 25:186, December 24, 1912.
_Type._--Obtained at Missoula, Missoula County, Montana; type in
American Museum of Natural History.
_Distribution._--A single record for northeastern Washington.
Seemingly a rare wanderer from outside the state.
ORDER CETACEA
Whales and porpoises
Because Victor B. Scheffer and John W. Slipp have in preparation a
detailed account of Cetaceans properly ascribable to Washington, members
of this order here are not treated in as much detail as are other native
mammals.
=Berardius bairdii= Stejneger
Baird beaked whale
_Description._--Length about 40 feet; mandibles elongate, "beak-like";
one or two large teeth at tip of lower jaw; dorsal fin small and
situated posteriorly; color black but abdomen occasionally grayish.
_Remarks._--This rare whale is known from a few specimens recorded from
Alaska south to California.
=Mesoplodon stejnegeri= True
Stejneger beaked whale
_Description._--Similar to the previous species in proportions but
smaller; length about 17 feet. Differs in possessing one large flat tusk
in lower jaw.
_Remarks._--Known only from a specimen from Alaska and another from the
coast of Oregon.
=Delphinus bairdii= Dall
Dolphin
_Description._--A slender porpoise about 6 or 7 feet long; long, narrow
beak with 80-120 conical teeth; color above black tinged with greenish;
sides gray; belly and throat white.
_Remarks._--Recorded from California and probably ranges into Washington
in off-shore waters.
=Lissodelphis borealis= (Peale)
Right whale porpoise
_Description._--A small, beaked porpoise lacking a dorsal fin; color
black with narrow white area from breast to tail; length about 4 feet.
_Remarks._--A rare species described from waters 500 miles off the mouth
of the Columbia River.
=Lagenorhynchus obliquidens= Gill
Striped porpoise
_Description._--Length about 7 feet; beak not prominent; 44-46 conical
teeth in each jaw; anterior edge of dorsal fin curved; color of upper
parts greenish black; sides with one white or gray stripe posteriorly;
underparts white.
_Remarks._--This is the common porpoise in the Straits of Juan De Fuca
from about the vicinity of Port Townsend to the ocean and in immediate
off-shore waters. One specimen was obtained 100 miles off Grays Harbor.
Rarely seen in Puget Sound.
=Grampus rectipinna= (Cope)
Killer whale
_Description._--A large porpoise, 20-30 feet in length; dorsal fin high
and nearly straight; teeth large, conical, 12 above, 13 below; color
black above with white patch on side anteriorly.
_Remarks._--The killer is common in Puget Sound and off the ocean coast.
Both the killer and the true blackfish are locally termed "blackfish."
=Grampidelphis griseus= (Cuvier)
Grampus
_Description._--A round-headed porpoise about 10 feet in length; dorsal
fin high and narrow; 4 to 6 teeth in each jaw; color black, occasionally
with white head or with body mottled with white and gray.
_Remarks._--An off-shore species, probably not uncommon off the coast of
Washington at times.
=Globicephalus scammonii= (Cope)
Blackfish
_Description._--A large, stout-bodied, round-headed porpoise about 20
feet in length. Teeth large; 8-10 in lower jaw; 10-12 in upper jaw.
Color black. Differs from the killer whale in possessing a low, long
dorsal fin rather than a high, erect one.
_Remarks._--The blackfish is a colonial species, often common in Puget
Sound. It is frequently confused with the killer whale.
=Phocoena vomerina= (Gill)
Harbor porpoise
_Description._--A small, stout-bodied porpoise with a rounded head.
Length 5 to 6 feet. Teeth small, slightly flattened; about 25 above, 24
below; color blackish or brownish to liver color.
_Remarks._--Small schools of harbor porpoises are common in Puget Sound,
among the San Juan Islands, and in the Straits of Juan De Fuca. This is
the commonest inshore porpoise but, because of its smaller size, is less
well known to most persons than are the blackfish and killer whale.
=Phocoenoides dalli= (True)
Dall porpoise