Were it not for the golden-mantled ground squirrels, our evidence of mammals would be mostly indirect. But these little fellows are very much in evidence all day long as they play around the visitor center and in the picnic areas. They are handsome too, with their alert black eyes, cinnamon neck and shoulders, and dark side patches with white stripes. Most people call these ground squirrels chipmunks because both are striped. Actually the two are easy to tell apart; the chipmunk’s stripes run to the tip of its nose, but those of the golden-mantled ground squirrel extend forward only to the shoulder region. Any small, striped mammal seen near the quarry is probably a ground squirrel, as chipmunks are rare here. The water problem is an ever-present one for the mammals as well as the plants. At first this may seem strange with the Green River so close and several springs in the hills, but most of the smaller animals have very restricted ranges. A deer mouse, for example, seldom travels more than 100 feet from his home burrow in his entire lifetime. The kangaroo rat and the desert woodrat also have limited ranges although theirs are somewhat larger than those of deer mice. The majority of such animals must meet their water needs without springs and seeps. How do they do it? [Illustration: COYOTE. (COURTESY, U. S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE.)] [Illustration: BADGER. (COURTESY, U. S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE.)] The food they eat contains some water. The green vegetation of springtime contains large amounts. Even air-dried foods such as seeds contain some. And these animals don’t need much. Through the thousands of years these little creatures have lived in arid lands, evolutionary processes have altered their bodies and life patterns to fit the conditions under which they must live. Surely one of the most useful and interesting of their abilities is that of utilizing metabolic water. Such water is obtained through oxidation of hydrogen contained in food and is a by-product of metabolism. Putting it another way, during the digestive process these animals are able to manufacture water from the chemical constituents of their food and the oxygen in their blood. The amount of water thus obtained is between 70 and 100 percent of the dry weight of the food eaten. Thus some desert animals are able to live a normal life span without ever taking a drink, and probably many of them do. Carnivores such as the badger and the coyote get some of their water from the animals they eat and may go for days without visiting a spring. But eventually they return to the river or a spring for a drink. This is no special effort as carnivores generally range for miles in search of prey.