Mammals of the San Gabriel Mountains of CaliforniaVaughan, Terry A.
Science
Mammals of the San Gabriel Mountains of California
Vaughan, Terry A.
Mammals -- California, Southern
The population seemed to be at a low ebb from 1948 to 1952, when field
work was done on the desert slope. I often hiked for an hour or more on
the desert or juniper-covered benches without seeing a jack rabbit. The
species was commoner in washes where as many as eleven were noted in two
hours' hiking.
In December, 1951, below Graham Canyon, the leaves on large areas of
many nearly recumbent Joshua trees had been gnawed down to their bases,
and jack rabbit feces covered the ground next to these gnawings.
Probably the Joshua tree is an emergency food used by the rabbits only
when other food is scarce.
In years when the population of jack rabbits is not low they serve as a
major food for coyotes. In the Joshua tree belt below Mescal Canyon,
jack rabbit remains were fairly common in coyote feces, and tracks
repeatedly showed where some coyote had pursued a jack rabbit for a
short distance. A large male bobcat trapped in the juniper belt in
Graham Canyon had deer hair and jack rabbit remains in its stomach.
_Specimens examined._--Total, 7, distributed as follows: Los
Angeles County: 6 mi. E and 1 mi. S Llano, 3500 ft., 4; Mescal
Canyon, 4800 ft., 3.
=Sylvilagus audubonii sanctidiegi= (Miller)
Audubon Cottontail
Cottontails are common in the coastal sage scrub association and in and
around citrus groves, but generally penetrate the mountains no farther
than the lower limit of the chaparral association. They are everywhere
on coastal alluvial slopes, except in the barren washes, and prefer
patches of prickly-pear and often are loathe to leave its protection.
After completely destroying a large patch of prickly-pear in the course
of examining a wood rat house in the center of the cactus, I found
hiding, in the main nest chamber of the house, a cottontail that dashed
from its hiding place only when poked forceably with the handle of a
hoe.
Cottontails are seldom above the sage belt in the chaparral
associations, although along firebreaks and roads they occasionally
occur there. Habitually cottontails escape predators in partly open
terrain offering retreats such as low, thick brush, rock piles, and
cactus patches; but on open ground beneath dense chaparral, cottontails
may be vulnerable to predation.
Examinations of feces and stomach contents of the coyote reveals that it
preys more heavily on cottontails than on any other wild species.
Remains of several cottontails eaten by raptors were found in the sage
belt.
In April, 1951, many young cottontails were found dead on roads in the
sage belt, and a newly born cottontail was in the stomach of a coyote
trapped four miles north of Claremont, on February 7, 1952.
_Specimens examined._--Total, 3, distributed as follows: Los
Angeles County: mouth of San Antonio Canyon, 2000 ft., 1 (PC).
San Bernardino County: 2 mi. NW Upland, 1600 ft., 2 (PC).
=Sylvilagus audubonii arizonae= (J. A. Allen)
Audubon Cottontail
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