In the forests of yellow pine and white fir of the higher parts of the
San Gabriel Mountains the workings of this gopher were common, and sign
of its presence was found above 4500 feet on both slopes of the mountain
range. The rocky character of the coastal slope seems to limit the
occurrence of gophers, for they are not continuously distributed there.
On the desert slope they occur locally down into the pinyon-juniper
belt.
In the vicinity of Big Pines, on the interior slope, these gophers
preferred broken forest where snow brush or other brush occurred; their
workings, however, were also found beneath groves of conifers and black
oaks. The abundance of earth cores resting on the duff indicated that
this species is active in the snow in winter.
_Specimens examined._--Total, 5, distributed as follows: Los
Angeles County: 2 mi. E Valyermo, 4600 ft., 2; 3 mi. W Big
Pines, 6000 ft., 1; 1 mi. S and 2 mi. E Big Pines, 8000 ft., 2.
=Thomomys bottae mohavensis= Grinnell