This species was found below about 4000 feet elevation all along the
coastal face of the range and reached maximum abundance in the level
tracts of coastal sage. It was one of the most abundant rodents there,
usually being second to _Perognathus fallax_ in point of numbers. Large
colonies of kangaroo rats occurred locally on sandy ground adjacent to
large washes. The rats were found sparingly on the foothill adobe banks
and in the greasewood chaparral of the lower foothills, but in heavy
chaparral where a layer of plant debris covered the ground, such as on
north slopes grown to scrub oak and lilac, kangaroo rats were completely
absent. Thus, in the lower chaparral belt, this rodent had a
discontinuous distribution.
The coyote probably is one of the major predators of these kangaroo
rats; remains of this rodent were often found in coyote feces, and
coyotes excavated many burrow systems in large kangaroo rat colonies in
the sandy ground near San Antonio Wash. The soil there is so soft that
coyotes probably were often successful in digging out their prey. The
shed skin of a large Pacific rattlesnake (_Crotalus viridis helleri_)
was found four feet inside the mouth of a kangaroo rat burrow; probably
this reptile preys on _agilis_. Great horned owls (_Bubo virginianus
pacificus_) come down nightly from the chaparral to hunt in the sage
flats. Beneath the perches of these owls I have found pellets containing
bones of _agilis_.
_Specimens examined._--Total, 13, distributed as follows: Los
Angeles County: San Antonio Wash, 1900 ft., 11 (10 PC); 4 mi. NE
Claremont, 1600 ft., 2.
=Dipodomys agilis perplexus= (Merriam)