Mammals of Washington, Volume 2 / University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History

by Walter Woelber Dalquest

The Hudsonian Life-zone

In Washington the Hudsonian Life-zone is of greater diversity than any other. Frost and steep slopes have formed great masses of talus and, in this talus, certain species of mammals, such as Ochotona princeps, Marmota caligata and Marmota olympus are found. Other species, such as the golden-mantled ground squirrels, mountain chipmunk, bushy-tailed wood rat, red-backed mouse and long-tailed meadow mouse find the talus an ideal home. Glacial action has produced, in the Hudsonian Life-zone, numerous level or concave areas that contain small lakes and slow-moving streams. Dense, herbaceous vegetation is abundant nearby. Small mammals abound and a line of mouse traps will almost certainly catch a few such typical species as: Sorex palustris, Sorex obscurus, Microtus oregoni, Microtus richardsoni, Microtus longicaudus and Zapus princeps as well as the ever present Peromyscus maniculatus. The shrew-mole or heather vole might also be taken, though the latter is more apt to be found in nearby heather meadows.

Table 1. Distribution of mammals in Washington by Life-Zones.
A. Abundant. C. Common. R. Rare.

Species and Subspecies.	Humid Transition	Arid-timbered Transition	Arid- grasslands Transition	Upper Sonoran	Canadian	Hudsonian
Neurotrichus gibbsii gibbsii					?	C
gibbsii minor	A
Scapanus townsendii	A				?	C
orarius orarius	A
orarius schefferi				C
orarius yakimensis				A
Sorex cinereus cinereus		R			R
cinereus streatori	R
merriami merriami				R
trowbridgii trowbridgii	A				C
trowbridgii destructioni	A
vagrans vagrans	A				R
vagrans monticola		C	C	A	C
obscurus obscurus					R
obscurus setosus	C				C	A
palustris navigator					C	A
bendirii bendirii	A				C
bendirii albiventer	C
Microsorex hoyi washingtoni		R
Myotis lucifugus carissima			C	C
lucifugus alascensis	A				C
yumanensis sociabilis			C	C
yumanensis saturatus	A
keenii keenii	R				R
evotis evotis		R
evotis pacificus	R
thysanodes thysanodes				R
volans longicrus	C
volans interior		C;
californicus californicus			R	R
californicus caurinus	A	C
subulatus melanorhinus			R	A
Lasionycteris noctivagans	A	A			C
Corynorhinus rafinesquii townsendii	R
rafinesquii intermedius		R
Pipistrellus hesperus hesperus				R
Eptesicus fuscus bernardinus	A	A
Lasiurus cinereus cinereus	R	R	R	R
Antrozous pallidus cantwelli			R	R
Ursus americanus altifrontalis	A	C			A	A
americanus cinnamomum		A			C
chelan					R
Procyon lotor psora	A				C
lotor excelsus		R	R	C
Martes caurina caurina					A	C
caurina origenes					A	C
pennanti	R				R
Mustela erminea invicta		C			C
erminea gulosa					C	C
erminea murica		R
erminea fallenda	R
erminea streatori	R				C
erminea olympica	R
frenata nevadensis		C	C	C	C
frenata effera		A	C	C	C
frenata washingtoni					C	C
frenata altifrontalis	A				C	C
vison energumenos	C	C	C	C	C
Gulo luscus luteus				R	R	R
Lutra canadensis pacifica	C	R	R	R	C
Spilogale gracilis saxatilis			R	R
gracilis latifrons	A
Mephitis mephitis hudsonica		A
mephitis major			R	R
mephitis notata		C	R
mephitis spissigrada	A
Taxidea taxus taxus		C	C	C	R
Vulpes fulva cascadensis						R
Canis latrans lestes	C	A	A	A	C	R
latrans incolatus		A	C	C	A
lupus fuscus	R	R	R?		R
Felis concolor missoulensis		C			C
concolor oregonensis	C	C			C
Lynx canadensis					R
rufus fasciatus	A				C
rufus pallescens		A	C	C	C
Tamias minimus scrutator				C
minimus grisescens				R
amoenus caurinus					A	A
amoenus felix					A	A
amoenus ludibundus					A	A
amoenus affinis		A
amoenus canicaudus		A;
amoenus luteiventris		C			A
ruficaudus simulans		C			A
townsendii townsendii	A
townsendii cooperi		C			A	R
Marmota monax petrensis					R
flaviventris avara		R	C	A
caligata cascadensis					R	A
olympus					C	A
Citellus townsendii townsendii				A
washingtoni			C	A
columbianus columbianus		A	C
columbianus ruficaudus		A
beecheyi douglasii		A
lateralis tescorum					C
lateralis connectens					C
saturatus		C			A
Tamiasciurus hudsonicus richardsoni		A			A
hudsonicus streatori		A			A	R
douglasii douglasii	A	A			A	C
Sciurus griseus griseus	C	C
Glaucomys sabrinus oregonensis	C
sabrinus fuliginosus					A
sabrinus columbiensis		A
sabrinus latipes		A			A
sabrinus bangsi		R			C
Perognathus parvus parvus			C	A
parvus lordi			C	A
parvus columbianus					A
Dipodomys ordii columbianus				A
Thomomys talpoides devexus				A
talpoides columbianus				A
talpoides aequalidens			A
talpoides wallowa					A
talpoides fuscus		A	C	R	C	C
talpoides yakimensis			C	A
talpoides shawi					C	A
talpoides immunis					A	A
talpoides limosus		C	A
talpoides douglasii	A
talpoides glacialis	A
talpoides tacomensis	A
talpoides pugetensis	A
talpoides tumuli	A
talpoides yelmensis	A
talpoides couchi	A
talpoides melanops					C	A
Castor canadensis leucodonta	A	A		C	C
canadensis idoneus	A
Onychomys leucogaster fuscogriseus				A
Reithrodontomys megalotis megalotis			C	A
Peromyscus maniculatus oreas	A				A	A
maniculatus hollisteri	A
maniculatus austerus	A
maniculatus rubidus	A
maniculatus gambelii		C	R	A
maniculatus artemisiae	A	R	R	C	C
Neotoma cinerea occidentalis		C	R	A	C	A
cinerea alticola		C			A	C
Synaptomys borealis wrangeli						A
Phenacomys intermedius intermedius					C	A
intermedius oramontis					C	A
Clethrionomys gapperi saturatus		R			A	A
gapperi idahoensis		R			A	A
gapperi nivarius					A	A
californicus occidentalis	A
Microtus pennsylvanicus funebris		A	R		C
pennsylvanicus kincaidi				A
montanus nanus			A	C
montanus canescens		C	A	A
townsendii townsendii	A
townsendii pugeti	A
longicaudus halli		A	C	C	C
longicaudus macrurus	R				C	A
richardsoni arvicoloides					C	A
richardsoni macropus					C	A
oregoni oregoni	A				A
Ondatra zibethicus osoyoosensis	A	A		C
zibethicus occipitalis	A
Zapus princeps oregonus					A
princeps kootenayensis					A
princeps idahoensis					A
princeps trinotatus	A				C	A
Aplodontia rufa rufa	A
rufa rainieri					A
Erethizon dorsatum epixanthum		A	R	C	A	R
dorsatum nigrescens		A	R	C	A	R
Ochotona princeps cuppes						A
princeps fenisex						A
orinceps brunnescens					C	A
Lepus townsendii townsendii			C	A
californicus deserticola			C	A
americanus washingtonii	A				A
americanus cascadensis		C			A	C
americanus pineus		C			A	C
americanus columbiensis		A
Sylvilagus nuttallii nuttallii				A
idahoensis				A
Cervus canadensis roosevelti	A				A	R
canadensis nelsoni		C			A
Odocoileus virginianus leucurus	A
virginianus ochrourus		A
hemionus hemionus		A			A	C
hemionus columbianus	A				C
Ovis canadensis canadensis		A	A	A	A	A
canadensis californiana		A	A	A	A
Oreamnos americanus americanus						A

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