====================================================================== | Number | Per cent | | of total --------------------------------------------------+--------+---------- Perognathus fallax fallax | 31 | 30.7 Dipodomys agilis agilis | 20 | 19.8 Reithrodontomys megalotis longicaudus | 4 | 4.0 Peromyscus californicus insignis | 4 | 4.0 P. eremicus fraterculus | 7 | 6.9 P. maniculatus gambeli | 20 | 19.8 Neotoma lepida intermedia | 9 | 8.8 N. fuscipes macrotis | 2 | 2.0 Microtus californicus sanctidiegi | 4 | 4.0 --------------------------------------------------+--------+---------- The list below indicates the catch in 200 trap nights in San Antonio Wash, at 1700 feet elevation and within the realm of the coastal sage; all of the traps were set in rocky and sandy main channels of the wash. TABLE 3.--YIELD OF 200 TRAP-NIGHTS IN SAN ANTONIO WASH. ====================================================================== | Number | Per cent | | of total --------------------------------------------------+--------+---------- Perognathus fallax fallax | 2 | 5.1 Peromyscus californicus insignis | 2 | 5.1 P. eremicus fraterculus | 26 | 66.7 Neotoma lepida intermedia | 9 | 23.1 --------------------------------------------------+--------+---------- The prickly-pear cactus is of obvious importance to certain mammals of the coastal sage belt. This cactus is most common in disturbed areas such as sandy flats bordering washes, eroded adobe banks, and land once cleared by man. In these areas it is often the dominant plant with respect to area covered, usually growing in dense patches each covering approximately 150 square feet. It provides substitute nesting sites for _Neotoma lepida_ in areas devoid of rock piles, and is probably the major factor governing the distribution of this wood rat in the sageland. Cottontails and brush rabbits use prickly-pear cactus extensively as refuge. Their forms and short burrows can be seen beneath many of the clumps of cactus. This cactus serves as food for many mammals at least in the fruiting period in the fall. Usually only the fruit is eaten, but some pads are chewed by rabbits. The fruit or seeds of this plant are eaten by striped skunks, gray foxes, coyotes, pocket mice, kangaroo rats, wood rats, and probably white-footed mice.