Jerome L. Gifford 1954

Student field notes from zoology classes in 1954

€ ° 7 a vS6Tt ‘sz fey APC b4OF STO *T owaior | : Ne ae &q pentugng - 661 ASOTOOY ederqoqzeg 284NOD : ; > “SOJON DIOLE yodoayy jo palqng s LIbOd 14009 a scents é ~ HVLAN JO ALISYAAINA — ee te eeeliee < < SrrKN SLSpeman rm eee Scat cliaaedehiardameoRareaAEe <nain GENERAL SECTION SIREREEHEARERS EEE ee Excerpt from field notes Jerome L. Gifford CATALOGUE SECTION Springdale, Wash. Co., Utah Dec. 13, 1952 No. 43. Parke. Ondatra zibethicus. 3920 ft. Female. Irrigation canal. One mile south of Zion National 459=224=72—20,. Skull only. Feb. 16, 1953 No. 45. Ondatra zibethicus. National Parke 3920 ft. Female. One-half mile south of Zion Irrigation canal, 500=-255=735-24, Feb. 4, 1954 Ondatra zibethicus. edale. 3850 ft. 1 onlye Female. Freeborn Gifford Pond, 1/2 mile Shallow watercress-cattail marsh. Feb. 6, 1954 Se Female. 3850 ft. One-half mile south of Springdale, Shallow watercress-cattail marshes. Springdale, Utah May 28, 1954 =e Dr, Stephen D, Durrant Division of Biology University of Utah salt Lake City 1, Utah Dear Dr, Durrant: I am forwarding the specimens for V, Z. 199, even though I did not complete the work I had hoped to do, I was transferred to Bryce Canyon a couple of weeks after I began the collection, so did not get specimens from the Kolob area, I have been promised work on Kolob later on during the year, so I will try to fill in the gaps at the elevations I missed, Very truly yours, is . ie me/ a frners Z . Yefprd Jerome L, Gifford Jgerome L. Gifford & Virgin City, Washington Co., Utah March 30, 1954 In the evening I set four gopher traps on the property of E. S. Lee one mile east of Virgin City. As it had been raining continuously most of the day, it was difficult to tell if the diggings were fresh, The tra ps were placed in three separate holes, about 50 yards apart, in a marshy pasture at 5550 ft. elevation. 7 Mareh 31, 1954 Three of the traps had gophers in them tonight. The two traps that were set separately each contained a mature female, while the set with two .traps in it contained an immature female. the same holes. The traps all were replaced in April 1, 1954 Only one of the traps had been disturbed since last night. This was one of the traps where a female had been caught last night, and although the trap had been sprung, it was empty. The traps all were removed. Clear Creek, Kane County, Utah @ . April 2, 1954 In the evening I drove to Clear Greek, on the east boundary of Zion National Park, to hunt for a trapping area. I finally selected a level mesa about 1/2 mile due north of the park checking station. The mesa still was dotted with patches of snow from a storm on March 30. I could find no sign of gophers in the uncleared areas of the mesa, which was covered with junipers and artemesia, but found a lot of old diggings as soon as I reached a field of wheat stubble. All of the mounds seemed to have been made before the snow storm. At last I set two traps in a burrow that was open, and dug up what seemed to be an old burrow to set two more. April 3, 1954 There was no sign of activity around the traps. Although I covered the entire wheat field, I could not find any fresh diggings. As the ground still was wet from the storm, it was difficult to determine accurately if some of the mounds had recently been pushed up. At one place I found several mounds composed of limestone which evidently had been pushed up through a great depth of sand from the Carmel Limestone formation below. There were some surface ridges of-soft dirt, where the gophers probably had been working under the snow, but most of the diggings were just mounds of loose earth. The wet sand showed the tracks of many rodents and other small mammals, The most numerous tracks were those of Lepus, but there also were many tracks of ground squirrels. The elevation of the mesa was about 6350 ft. Zion National Park, Wash. Co6., Utah April 3, 1954 In the evening I set four gopher traps in a flat covered with native erassese The traps were located between the Zion Lodge and the Grotto Le eS GIL STE Ae. ee Rateee me < Jerome L. Gifford campground, about 1/8 mile north of the lodge. Two of the burrows were beneath an old log at the base of a small boxelder tree. The third was in the open and the fourth at the foot of a talus. slope. is 4350 fte Elevation of the flat April 4, 1954 The traps’at the base of the tree contained a male and a female gopher, while that one at the foot of the slope contained a male. The trap in the open was undisturbed. Only the skulls of the specimens were prepared, and the traps were removed. Grafton, Wash. Co., Utah April 5, 1954 This evening I set four gopher traps in a sandy pasture one-half mile west of the town of Grafton, near the corner of Zion National Park, The pasture had been planted into domestic grasses, and last year had been replanted with alfalfa. Most of the gopher disgings were concentrated in the northwest corner of the field. One burrow had three tunnels leading from a single mound of earth, so a trap was set in each. The fourth trap was set in a burrow about twenty feet tothe west. April 6, 1954 One of the three traps contained a male gopher, the largest that I have ever seen. The fourth trap had a female in it. The trap that had contained the male was reset in a burrow about fifteen feet south of the burrow it had been in, and the others were left in the same places they were set last night. April 7, 1954 The trap that was set in a new location had one female gopher in it, but the rest were empty. All of the traps had been disturbed, however. The two that were set in the same burrow had been covered with freshly—dug earth, with twigs of Erodium cicutarium mixed with it. The traps all were removed, Zion National Park, Wash. Co., Utah April 7, 1954 In a cove three-fourths of a mile south of Zion Lodge I set four traps for gophers. The cove was at the west slope of the canyon, and was covered with native grasses growing under juniper and oak trees. April 8, 1954 There were two female gophers in the traps tonighte All of the traps were reset in different burrows in the same cove, April 9, 1954 Only one of the traps had been disturbed. It contained an adult male gopher. All of the traps were removed so they could be placed in a new location. Sr tas Jerome Le. Gifford Big Plains, Wash. Co., Utah & April 9, 1954 The four gopher traps were set in an old wheat field on the Big Plains, five miles south of Rockville. Elevation of the area is about 5000 fte April 10, 1954 Only one of the traps set last night had been disturbed. That one contained a female gopher. I attempted to dig up the burrow in which the female had been caught, but could not reach the nest as a large rock blocked my digging. The traps were removed so I could reset them in a new location. Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah April 13, 1954 It was dark before I set out the traps, so could not be sure the mounds that I dug up were fresh. Two holes were selected at the edge of a pasture covered with native and domestic grasses. Two traps were set in each burrow. The pasture was one-fifth mile south of Ruby's Inn, at an elevation of 7666 ft. April 14, 1954 & In the first hole one of the traps had been sprung, but the gopher had been pushing so much loose dirt ahead of it that it had not been caughte One of the traps in the other hole had a piece of skin and some entrails of a gopher in it, but the rest of the animal had been torn from the trap. There were no tracks visible to show what could have gotten the animal, but the trap had not been moved out of the burrow, so it probably was not a bird, All of the traps were reset in the same places, and a number one jump tram was set between the two traps where the gopher had been eaten, April 15, 1954 Again two of the traps had been sprung, but only one of them had taught a gopher. The trap with the jump trap near it had been sprung by a gopher pushing dirt ahead of ite One trap in another burrow had caught a gopher, but something had eaten the specimen. As the traps were pulled out of the burrow, it is probable that some bird had bothered them. were removed All of the traps Zion National Park, Wash. Co., Utah April 16, 1954 This evening I set four traps in the burrows of three gophers across the road from the Wylie Retreat, three-fourths of a mile south of the Zion Lodge. Elevation of the grassy flat in which the traps were placed is April 17, 1954 There were two female gophers in the traps this morning, The traps were reset in the Wylie Retreat, near the same area where they were set last nighte April 18, 1954 There were two of the traps sprung this morning, but only one contained Jerome L, Gifford a gopher. This was a female which had been nursing young traps were taken up for removal to Bryce Canyon. © Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah April 19, 1954 The four gopher traps were placed in burrows in the same area they had been set last week. In addition, two tin-can traps were set out for mice. April 20, 1954 One of the gopher traps had been sprung by loose dirt being pushed against it. I attempted to dig the dirt out of the burrow, using onlymy hands and a stick, but it was too tightly packed to clean out. the tunnel was being discarded. gopher. Evidently One of the other traps contained a male Four gopher traps were reset in the same area. The can traps had not been disturbed, so they were moved to new sites in the same general arede April 21, 1954 All of the traps were empty tonight. The gopher traps were left in the same burrows, while the can traps were set at the edge of a pile of prushe Dried apples were used as bait. April 22, 1954 e | One of the can traps had been sprung, but was empty. of the traps had not been bothered. All of the rest They all were left in the same locations, April 23, 1954 There was one male gopher in one of the traps tonight. had not been touched. All of them were taken up. The other traps Zion National Park, Wash. Co., Utah April 23, 1954 Tonight I placed four gopher traps in two burrows in the Temple of Sinawava, near the beginning of the Narrows trail. April 24, 1954 All of the traps were empty this morning, so they were removed, Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah _ April 28, 1954 Tonight I set four gopher traps in two burrows along the side of the road, one-half mile north of the entrance to Bryce Canyon. April 29, 1954 The traps in one burrow had not been disturbed, but one of the traps in another burrow had contained a gopher. The trap had been pulled out of the ground and most of the animal was gone, except for some skin in the trap and the stomach, which was laying nearby. same hole. The trap was reset in the April 30, 1954 & A snowstorm, starting earlyin the morning, had evidently stopped the gophers from working, as there was no sign of movement around any of the traps. All of the traps were removed for the week-end, May 5, 1954 Four gopher traps were set in three different burrows along the road one-half mile north of the entrance to Bryce Canyon. These traps were about fifty yards north from the burrows where the traps were set last week. May 4, 1954 Again the traps had been raided by some bird. A gopher had been caught in a trap, but the trap had been pulled from the hole and the gopher eaten. Another trap in the same burrow had been covered with loose earth. The other two traps were not sprung. May 5, 1954 Today I discovered the bird that had. been raiding my traps. A. crow was feeding on the carcass of a gopher in one of the traps by the side of the road. The traps were moved to a new location in a pasture about 200 yards to the easte May 6, 1954 All of the traps were empty, so they were removed. ® Zion National Park, Wash. Co., Utah May 6, 1954 I set four gopher traps in two burrows tonight in a sandy flat in the Temple of Sinawavae I could not determine how fresh the diggings were, although they had been made since the storm a week ago. May 7, 1954 The traps had not been disturbed when I checked them early in the morning. All of them were removed and in the afternoon reset in the lylie Retreat, three-fourths of a mile south of the Zion Lodge. May 8, 1954 The traps were empty again this morning, so I removed them. Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co.,:Utah May 10, 1954 This morning I set two can traps beneath a pine tree on a knoll near the Bryce Canyon residential area. Elevation of the area is about 7950 Pte The traps were baited with dried apple. @ In the evening there was a female chipmunk in one of the traps. ; Although the chipmunk was too large to get inside the trap, its head had been caught by the door of the trap. the bait was intact. The second trap had been sprung, but was empty and Jerome Le Gifford May 11, 1954 The two can traps were reset this morning by a log in the same area Se where they had been placed yesterday. Dried apple was again used as bait. One of the traps had caught a female ground squirrel, while the other was untouched when I checked them tonight. Both of them were set in the same places for tomorrowe May 12, 1954 Both of the can traps were empty tonight, although they both had been sprunge ‘They were moved to a new location on the same knoll. Four gopher traps also were set in a sagebrush flat one-half mile north of Bryce Lodge, at an elevation of 7950 ft. ; May 13, 1954 The can traps had not been disturbed, but a gopher had been caught in one of the traps in the flat. However, it managed to break loose, as it had only been caught by the foot, so was not obtained for a specimen. All of the traps were reset in the same locations May 14, 1954 As all of the traps were empty, they were removed for the week-end, Zion National Park, Washe Co., Utah May 14, 1954 © Four gopher traps were set on a sagebrush knoll one-fourth mile inside the east entrance to the park, at an elevation of 5764 ft. Two can traps, baited with dried apple, were set in the same locality. May 15, 1954 The can traps were untouched, but there was a male govher in one of the other trapse None of the traps were reset. Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Go., Utah May 16, 1954 This afternoon I set four gopher traps in the same locality I trapped in last week. In addition, Wo: number-one traps were placed in prairie dog burrows near the head of Swamp Canyon, at an elevation of 8150 ft. May 17, 1954 There was a female gopher in one of the traps north of the lodge. of the traps set for pial ete dogs had been sprung, but was —? One The gopher traps were reset in thexysame locality. May 18, 1954 }]} This morning I set two can traps, baited with peanut butter and oatmea nee on the knoll at the Bryce residences. : There was no sign of movement around the gopher traps tonigght, sol moved them to new burrows in the same locality. from The ee Tee both of the can traps, and toth of them had been sprung, empty. They were reset in the same plac@Se Dub ‘acy’ ign Jerome L. Gifford May 19, 1954 Both of the can traps had been sprurig, but both were empty. As there are many ground squirrels in the area, it is probable that they took the bait, but were too large for the traps. One of the gopher traps had a male gopher in it, but the skin had been torn so badly that the skin was not prepared. All of the traps were set again in the same locations. = May 20, 1954 Again the can traps had been sprung without catching anything. I set them again tonight, in the hope that some smaller rodents, such as mice, might get into them before the ground squirrels and chipmunks are out in the morning. ‘They were baited with a mixture of dried apple and peanut buttere There was one female gopher in a trap tonight, while the others were undisturbed. The female was caught in the same burrow as the male was eaught in last night. All of the traps were set again in the same placese May 21, 1954 The two traps that were set in a burrow by the side of the road were empty tonighte One gopher had been caught in this burrow on May 19th., but since then there had been no sign of movement around the burrow. Two other gopher traps, set about ten yards from the road in a sagebrush flat, were missing. As they were well staked down, the traps must have been taken by | some persone The can traps were empty, although they had both been sprung. Zion National Park, Washe Co., Utah (Ss May 21, 1954 Two gopher traps were set in separate burrows on a sagebrush knoll at Ge ee PageeI reeSage er the east entrance of Zion Park tonight, and two can traps, baited with oatmeal and peanut butter, were placed under brush piles by the side of the roade 3 May 22, 1954 TSeereTeeetet ee ee ee < All of the traps were empty this morning, so they all were removed. | Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah May 23, 1954 As it was after dark when I arrived at Bryce, I could not find fresh burrows in which to set the gopher traps, so I finally placed two of them in holes dug by some animl beneath manzanita bushes. The can traps also were set near these same bushes. May 26, 1954 My work prevented me from checking the traps I set last sunday until tonight. One of the gopher traps contained part of the carcass of a brown— mantled ground squirrel, while the other had been sprung but was empty. Both of the can traps set in the same locality were emptye CATALOG SECTION City, Wash, Coe, Utah Mareh 31, 1954 No. 483550 fte No. 49. 5550 fte No. 50. 3550 ft. Thomomys bottae. Marshy pasture. Thomomys bottae, Marshy pasture, Thomomys bottae. Marshy pasture, Female. Lee ranch, one mile east of Virgin City. 203-73-29-8, Female. Lee ranch, one mile east of Virgin City. 209~70-26—7, Female. Lee ranch, one mile east of Virgin City. 172-61-25-5, Zion National Park, Wash. Co., Utah April 4, 1954 “No. 51. 4350 fte Thomomys bottae. Grassy flat. Female. One-eighth mile north of Zion Lodge. 209~-69-30—-7. Skull only. ~NOe 52. Thomomys bottae. Male. OQne-eighth mile north of Zion er 4350 ft. Grassy flat. 2351-79-31-8. Skull onl Noe 55. Thomomys bottae. Male. One-eighth mile north ofZion Lodge. 4350 ft. Grassy flate 212-66-30—-6. Skull only. Grafton, Wash. Co., Utah April 6, 1954 No. 54, Thomomys bottae. Male. One-half mile west of town of Grafton, near corner of Zion National Park. 3625 fte No. 55. Thomomys bottae,. Female. near corner of Zion National Parke One-half mile west of town of Grafton, 5625 ft. Sandy pasture. Sandy pasture. 261-83-35-8, 207=65=29=56 April 7, 1954 Noe 56-4 Thomomys bottae. Female, near corner of Zion National Park. One-half mile west of town of Grafton, 4625 ft. Sandy pasture. 177-59-26-6, Zion National Park, Wash. Co., Utah April 8, 1954 Noe 57. Thomomys bottae, Female. Three-fourths mile south of Zion Lodge. 4250 ft. Sandy cove with native grasses. 199—66=29=66 Noe 58. Thomomys bottae, Female, Three-fourths mile south of Zion Lodge. 4250 ft. Sandy cove with native grasses. 204—71=50—6.6 April 9, 1954 No. 59. Thomomys bottae. Male. Three~fourths mile south of Zion Lodge, 212-70-51=-6.4 4250 ft. Sandy cove with native grasseSe Big Plains, Wash. Co., Utah a | April 10, 1954 No. 60. Thomomys bottae. Female. Big Plains, 5 miles south of Rockville. 5000 ft. Wheat field with native & domesticated grasses. 206-66~29-—6, Zion National Park, Wash. Co., Utah April 17, 1954 Noe 61. 4225 fte Noe 62. 4225 ft. Thomomys bottae. Grassy flat. One-fourth mile south of Zion Lodge. 191-64-29~6, Thomomys bottae. Grassy flat. Female. Female. . One-fourth mile south of Zion Lodge. 215-65-31-6, April 18, 1954 “Noe 63. Thomomys bottae. 214=]67—29=—7. Female. Wylie Retreat. 4225 ft. Grassy filet. Skull only. Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah April 20, 1954 Noe 64. 7666 ft. Thomomys talpoides. Male. One-fifth mile south of Ruby's Inn, Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah. & 201-55-28-9, April 23, 1954 Noe 65. 7666 fte Thomomys talpoides. Male. One-~fifth mile south of Ruby's Inn. Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah. 221-61-29-9, May 10, 1954 No. 66. Eutamias quadrivittatus. Bryce Canyon residential area. Pine-covered knoll. Female. 200-88-32~-18, 7961 Pts May ll, 1954 , Nose 67- Citellus lateralis. Pine-covered knoll. Female. 241~78-41-20. Bryce Canyon residential area, 7961 ft. Zion National Park, Wash. Co., Utah May 15, 1954 og | | } gi | NOe 68. Thomomys bottae. Male. East entrance Zion National Park, 5764 fte Sagebrush knoll. 213-57~31-6, ; Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah ' May 17, 1954 Nos 69. 7950 fte Thomomys talpoides. Sagebrush flat. Female. 197-68-28-6.4 One-half mile north of Bryce Lodge, : 19, “No. 70. Thomomys talpoides. Male. One-half 7950 ft. Sagebrush flate 215-67-29~7. Skull > north of Bryce Lodge. May 20, 1954 Noe 7le Thomomys talpoides. Female. One-half mile north of Bryce Lodge, 7950 ft. Sagebrush flate 197-61-28~6, SPECIES ACCOUNTS Jerome L. Gifford THOMOMYS BOTTAE April 6, 1954 Grafton, Wash. Co., Utah The female gopher that was caught today had a browvm stripe across its back, while the male caught in the same field did not. A check of previously prepared specimens showed that all mature females of Thomomys bottae had this stripe. The stripe is of a dark brown and forms an are across the back, directly in front of the hips. gophers from this area, I have not observed this stripe on any male April 10, 1954 ite Big Plains, Wash. Co., Utah This morning I attempted to dig up the burrow of a pocket gopher to map The burrow was located in an old wheat field on the Big Plains, five miles south of Rockville, at an elevation of about 5,000 ft. been caught in the burrow during the night. A female hed The trap had been placed in a hole where a fresh mound of earth had been pushed up. About a foot from the mound there was an old mound, and another eighteen inches from it the burrow terminated inan opening to the surface. From the fresh mound the tunnel also) led off in a large cirche, then ran ten feet to the north, where it was blocked off. Six inches from the end of the tunnel, however, it began again and continued northward for eighteen feet more. into three tunnelse Here the burrow branched’ One went westward for about six feet to several old mounds, while the second ended just below the surface about a foot to the east of the forks. The third tunnel spiraled downwards for three feet before it amrved under a large rock which stopped my digging. was about six inches to the bottom. The average depth of the burrow } Tunnel spiral] downward Gold mound old mound open hole MAP OF THOMOMYS BOTTAE BURROW © old mound old mound April 17, 1954 =. Zion Nat'1 Park, Wash. Co., Utah One of the female gophers caught this morning had only recently given birth to young, and had been nursing them. As the traps had been set near the road in the park, I could not dig up the nest to find the younge THOMOMYS TALPOIDES April 25, 1954 Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah A male gopher was caught in the same burrow tonight that yielded another male on April 20. This is the cient time I have ever caught two male gophers in the same burrow, although I have often caught several females in the same tunnel. May 18, 1954 Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah While searching for a new area to set gopher traps in tonight, I noticed that there were many area where e gophers had been digging since the snow melted here, but none of the diggings were fresh. However, all of them seemed to tena off toward an area where there were fresh diggings. Some of OOo the trails of mounds were more than a hundred yards long, indicating that the gophers must migrate slowly by building new burrows as they move alonge One burrow where I placed a trap was at the edge of a hard-surfaced highway. One burrow led away from the road, while another brenched out directly toward the road, and there were fresh mounds on the opposite side of the road. As the roadbed is made of hard shale and. stones, the animal would have had to dig through exceedingly hard ground if it made the burrows on both sides of the road. May 21, 1954 j hk ; | ‘Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield Co., Uta After catching one gopher in the burrow by, the side of the road, there has not been any sign of movement anywhere around any of the other mounds , and traps left in the burrow have been empty for the past two days. It is possible that one gopher did make the mounds on both sides of the road, even though the roadbed seems too hard for it to dig through, Jerome L. Gifford ODOCOILEUS HEMIONUS April 3, 1954 Clear Creek, Kane Co., Utah There were very few deer tracks in this area as compared with other years at this same time. Clarence Perry, proprietor of an auto court at the east entrance of Zion Park, reported that the deer had not yet begun their migration into the higher country, even thouch the wint er had been unusually warm and there had been less snow accumulated in the area than in normal Winters. Ordinarily this area is traversed by a great number of deer migrating from the lower elevations of Zion Park towar d the higher regions around Cedar Breaks, April 19, 1954 Bryce Ganyon National Park, Garfield Co., Utah While surveying an area of less than one square mile near Bryc e Point, we came upon the remains of four deer that evidently had been winter=killed, three of them during the past couple of months. As the winter had been milder than usual, it would seem that the loss during a normal year must then be much larger. an adult doe. May 21, 1954 Three of the deer were last yearts fawns, while the other was Hatch, Garfield Co., Utah While driving along the highway tonight I noticed a yearling mule deer standing shoulder deep in the water of the Sevier River, about twomiles north of Hatch, feeding on the leaves of a peachleaf will ow. As the banks of the stream were crowded with willows, it seemed stra nge that the deer would stop to browse on a half-submerged willow of the same typee I stopped and watched the animal for about ten minutes, and it continued feeding wumtil all of the leaves had been stripped from the tree. It then continued across the river and wandered across a sagebrush flat, igno ring the willows on dry land.