Navajo Hill is the highest point (8,140 feet) on Chapin Mesa. The top of the hill is rounded and the sides slope gently southward and westward until they level out into mesa-top terrain at elevations of 7,950 to 8,000 feet. The northern and eastern slopes of the hill drop abruptly into the respective canyon slopes of the East Fork of Navajo Canyon and the West Fork of Little Soda Canyon. The gradually tapering southwestern slope of the hill extends southward for one mile and is bisected by the main highway, which runs the length of the mesa top.
Heavy growths of grasses cover the ground; Amelanchier utahensis, Cercocarpos montanus, and Fendlera rupicola comprise the only tall vegetation. Trees are lacking on this part of the mesa, except on the canyon slopes, where Quercus gambelii forms an almost impenetrable barrier.
Four traplines were run from May 4-7, 1962, and from May 9-12, 1962. P. maniculatus was taken but P. truei was not present here in 1962, or in 1964 or 1965 when additional trapping was performed as a check on populations ([Table 1]).
Other species trapped include the montane vole, long-tailed vole, and Colorado chipmunk. Mule deer and coyotes were abundant in the area. Striped whipsnakes, rattlesnakes and gopher snakes are known to occur in this vicinity (Douglas, 1966).
In 1934 a widespread fire deforested large areas of pinyon-juniper woodland on the northern end of Wetherill Mesa. The current vegetation consists of shrubs with a dense ground cover of grasses. Many dead trees still remain on the ground, providing additional cover for wildlife.
The trapping area was a wide, grassy meadow, three and a half miles south of the northern end of the mesa. A pronounced drainage runs through this area and empties into Rock Canyon. Four traplines were run parallel to each other. The first lines were established on May 23, 1962, and the second pair on June 3, 1962.
Another pair of lines was run in a grassy area two miles south of the northern escarpment of Wetherill Mesa. This area was one and a half miles north of the above-mentioned area. These lines ran along the eastern side of a drainage leading into Long Canyon. The vegetation was essentially the same in both areas, and they will be considered together.
The vegetation was composed predominantly of grasses. Quercus gambelii and Amelanchier utahensis were the codominant shrubs. Artemisia tridentata and Chrysothamnus depressus (dwarf rabbitbrush), were common. Plants in the two areas included the following: