Mammals of Washington, Volume 2: University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural HistoryDalquest, Walter Woelber
Science
Mammals of Washington, Volume 2: University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History
Dalquest, Walter Woelber
Mammals -- Washington (State)
[Illustration: FIG. 51. Probable past distribution of grizzly bears in
Washington. A. _Ursus chelan._ B. _Ursus canadensis._ C. _Ursus
idahoensis._]
The grizzly is the largest carnivorous mammal in North America. From the
black bear the grizzly may be distinguished in life by the prominent
muscular hump on the shoulders. Another feature is the long, slim,
gently curved claws of the forefoot as compared with the shorter,
stouter and sharply curved or hooked foreclaws of the black bear. The
grizzly is much larger than the black bear. Cranially, the grizzly
differs in possessing a larger skull with lower frontal area, higher,
more extensive sagittal crest, more posteriorly jutting occipital
condyles and much longer tooth row. The color of both species is
variable. Some grizzly bears from Alaska and British Columbia are dark
brown, almost as black as a black bear. Others are pale cinnamon with
the longer guard hairs pale gray. Individuals of this frosted appearance
popularly are known as "silver tips." In Washington, the black bear
varies in color from glossy black, through various shades of brown to a
pale cinnamon.
The grizzly bear is extinct over most of Washington. A few may remain in
remote parts of the northern Cascades, and are regularly listed on the
game census reports of the Mount Baker National Forest. Nevertheless, I
have found no one who has seen an undoubted grizzly bear in Washington.
The type specimen was obtained well up in the Cascade Mountains where
the animals, like those in British Columbia, feed on roots, berries,
marmots, pikas and other vegetable and animal life.
=Procyon lotor= (Linnaeus)
Raccoon
_Description._--The raccoon is a relatively large carnivore with a
stout, heavy body. Large adults measure three feet in length and weigh
up to 20 pounds. The legs are of moderate length. The broad head tapers
sharply to a pointed muzzle. The ears are erect, broad, low and rounded;
the tail is long, about one-half the length of the head and body, bushy
and round; the hind feet are large, flat and naked-soled but the
forefeet are smaller with long, slim, handlike toes. The color of the
body is a grizzled gray heavily washed with black on the back and sides.
A jet-black "mask" across the eyes, sharply outlined by white muzzle and
forehead, is the most distinctive feature of the head. The tail is
alternately marked with six or seven black and five or six yellowish
gray bands. The long, loose guard hairs give the body a shaggy
appearance. The fur of the wrists is short, smooth, coarse, and directed
downward.
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