Mammals of Northwestern South Dakota Part 4

Two females, collected on May 15 and June 2, contained three and six embryos, respectively, that measured 15. One female with five placental scars (May 15) and two with six (May 16, June 2) also were trapped, and a lactating female was captured on June 20. Testes of two adult males taken in spring (May 18 and June 2) measured 15, and those of one weighing 45.6 grams that was taken early in June measured 17.

~Ondatra zibethicus cinnamominus~ (Hollister, 1910)

Muskrat

The muskrat is common in Harding County. Half a century ago Visher (1914:89) noted that it was "Fairly plentiful along the streams having deep permanent 'holes'."

Seven adults, all in winter pelage, were taken late in March from a pond near the west side of Slim b.u.t.tes (5 mi. S and 14 mi. E Buffalo). Testes of three adult males measured 17, 19, and 22; of three females, none evidenced reproductive activity.

~Mus musculus~ Linnaeus, 1758

House Mouse

The house mouse evidently is uncommon in rural environments in northwestern South Dakota. One subadult female was trapped along a "weedy" fencerow, 2 mi. N and 5 mi. W Ludlow.

~Zapus hudsonius campestris~ Preble, 1899

Meadow Jumping Mouse

Eleven specimens of this jumping mouse were taken from a relict population restricted to a shrub-gra.s.s habitat adjacent to a small spring-fed stream and impoundment in Deer Draw (10 mi. S and 5 mi. W Reva). Similar isolated populations may be present in the few other suitable mesic habitats in Harding County, but we have trapped extensively, yet unsuccessfully, for _Zapus_ in such situations; specimens are known, however, from the Long Pine Hills and from along the Little Missouri River in adjacent Carter County, Montana. It is of interest that a relict population of _Peromyscus leucopus_ also occurs in Deer Draw.

The testes of two adult males obtained on June 3 measured 7, whereas those of one taken on May 16 measured 16. Seven embryos (measuring 8 in crown-rump length) were carried by a molting female trapped on June 16.

Our specimens of _Zapus_, currently under study by Paul B. Robertson, appear to be intergrades between the subspecies _campestris_ and _intermedius_, but resemble the former more closely than the latter.

~Erethizon dorsatum bruneri~ Swenk, 1916

Porcupine

_Specimens examined_ (11).--NW 1/4 sec. 15, R. 5 E, T. 22 N, 1; 2 mi. N, 5 mi. W Ludlow, 3; 4 mi. S, 7 mi. W Ladner, 1; 10 mi. S, 4 mi. W Reva, 1; 10 mi. S, 5 mi. W Reva, 4; 2 mi. S, 5 mi. E Harding, 1.

The porcupine is a common resident of the pine-clad b.u.t.tes of Harding County and individuals were occasionally encountered some distance from pines. We noted porcupines almost nightly in June of 1961 along the road that parallels the Slim b.u.t.tes to the east, and found a number that had been struck by automobiles along this and other roadways in, or adjacent to, wooded areas. Visher (1914:90) earlier reported _Erethizon_ from Harding County.

Order Carnivora

~Canis latrans latrans~ Say, 1823

Coyote

_Specimens examined_ (8).--North Cave Hills, 1; N of Slim b.u.t.tes, 1; N end Slim b.u.t.tes, 1; 6 mi. N, 4 mi. W Camp Crook, 2; W of East Short Pine Hills, 1; E of Short Pine Hills, 1; Sheep Mountain, 1.

The coyote population in Harding County and adjacent areas is low owing to an active predator control program that is supported by local ranchers and by state and federal agencies. Our field parties neither saw nor heard coyotes, although tracks were found at one or two places in March of 1963. According to Robert Kriege (personal communication), the few coyotes that do reside in the area find refuge in the most rugged parts of the hills and b.u.t.tes. Visher (1914:90) reported that this carnivore was "generally considered as abundant." Our specimens all are skulls of individuals killed by a federal trapper in the winter of 1961-62.

~Canis lupus nubilus~ Say, 1823

Gray Wolf

Visher (1914:90) stated that wolves were "quite plentiful" in the early 1900's; he quoted figures for a two-month period in 1910 when a government trapper took five adults and 25 pups in the vicinity of the Short Pine Hills and two adults and 11 pups in the general area of the Cave Hills. According to local residents, wolves were common in Harding County in the 1920's. One (the famous "Three Toes") trapped 20 mi. NW Buffalo in July of 1925 had eluded capture for more than 13 years, and in that period caused an estimated $50,000 in damage to livestock (Young, 1944:259, 277). It seems likely that the skull of this animal, in the U.S. National Museum, is the one referred to by Goldman (1944:445).

Wolves apparently had become rare by about 1930. The last one known to have been killed in northwestern South Dakota was taken on January 27, 1945, near Red Elm, Ziebach County (Carl Cornell, personal communication). We have seen a photograph of this wolf, which was mounted and now is on display in Deadwood, South Dakota.

As noted by Goldman (1944:442), the subspecies _nubilus_ probably is extinct.

~Vulpes vulpes regalis~ Merriam, 1900

Red Fox

_Specimens examined_ (6).--1 mi. S, 5 mi. E Ladner, 3; 3 mi. S, 12 mi. E Ludlow, 1; 2 mi. W Camp Crook, 3200 ft., 1; 4 mi. S, 1 mi. E Buffalo, 1.

This fox was present, although apparently not abundant, in Harding County in the early part of this century (Visher, 1914:90). He reported knowledge of "two or three" that had been trapped in the county and further noted a report that red foxes were "not rare along the Lone Pines." Visher's paper evidently was overlooked by Hall and Kelson (1959: map 447), who did not include the western half of South Dakota within the distribution of the species. The only foxes observed by our field parties were two seen in July of 1970--one an immature animal held captive in Camp Crook and remains of another that had been killed on a county road about 18 miles north of that place. Five specimens that had been killed by hunters were acquired in March 1963 and an isolated skull was picked up west of Camp Crook in 1970.

There is a continuing demand from sheep ranchers in the county that foxes be controlled, yet this species seems to maintain considerably higher populations than does the coyote. According to federal trapper Robert Kriege (personal communication), dens of the red fox have been found princ.i.p.ally in the badlands and in certain gra.s.sland areas, but rarely in the b.u.t.tes proper. Records kept by Mr. Kriege indicate that litters are born in mid-March in Harding County. He estimated that over the past few years he has examined whelps from an average of 50 dens a year, but that more than 170 dens were found in the spring of 1963.

~Ursus america.n.u.s america.n.u.s~ Pallas, 1780

Black Bear

Visher (1914:91) reported that a black bear "was seen near the Cave Hills in July, 1910." He further noted: "Bears have been recently killed in the Long Pine and Ekalaka forests [of adjacent Montana], but their day of extermination is here near at hand." We know of no other reports of this carnivore from the area.

~Ursus arctos horribilis~ Ord, 1815

Grizzly Bear

According to Visher (1914:91) a grizzly bear was killed in the early 1890's a short distance southwest of Camp Crook.

~Procyon lotor hirtus~ Nelson and Goldman, 1930

Racc.o.o.n

_Specimens examined_ (10).--2 mi. N, 5 mi. W Ludlow, 4; 1/2 mi. W Reva, 1; 4 mi. E Reva, 2; NW 1/4 sec. 32, R. 1 E, T. 20 N, 3.

The racc.o.o.n evidently is one of the commonest carnivores in Harding County. On June 24, 1961, a den with three young (average total length, 429) was found in one of the numerous pockets eroded from the caprock of the North Cave Hills, and on May 21, 1968, another den, this one containing five young (average total length of three, 271), was found in a similar situation on the east edge of the Long Pine Hills. A female trapped on June 20, 1961, was lactating.

Three individuals that had been killed at Ralph, along nearly treeless Big Nasty Creek, were examined on May 28, 1968.

~Mustela frenata longicauda~ Bonaparte, 1838