D. Watson advises me that striped skunks are fairly common around the entrance to the Park, along the foot of the Mesa, and along the Mancos River. Striped skunks have been reported in 1951 in Morfield Canyon, in 1952 on the Knife Edge, in 1953 at Windy Point (¼ mi. N of Point Lookout), and in 1959 at the head of Morfield Canyon.
PLATE 1
Upper: View of the North Rim of Mesa Verde, looking west from Park Point, the highest place on the North Rim. The south-facing slope on the left is covered with brushy vegetation, mostly oak. Sheltered parts of the north-facing slope support stands of Douglas fir, and at a few places some ponderosa pines. Photo taken in August, 1956, by S. Anderson.
Lower Left: View of Rock Canyon from Wetherill Mesa, looking southwest from a point 2 mi. NNW Rock Springs. The area in the foreground on Wetherill Mesa was burned in 1934. Photo taken in August, 1956, by S. Anderson.
Lower Right: Prater Canyon, at Upper Well, 7575 feet. In the matted grasses and sedges on the floor of the canyon Microtus montanus and Sorex vagrans were captured. Tamiasciurus hudsonicus was found in a side canyon, Chickaree Draw, one half mile southwest of the place shown. Chickaree Draw is more sheltered than the slope in the background and has a denser stand of Douglas fir than occurs here. Photo taken in August, 1956, by S. Anderson.
PLATE 2
Upper: Relatively undisturbed stand of pinyon pine and Utah juniper ¼ mi. N Rock Springs, at 7400 feet elevation on Wetherill Mesa along a service road. The vegetation shown is characteristic of the lower more exposed parts of the top of the Mesa Verde. Photo taken in August, 1956, by S. Anderson.
Lower: Wetherill Mesa, ½ mi. NNW Rock Springs, 7500 feet elevation. This area burned in 1934. It contained no pine or juniper in 1956 despite attempted reforestation in the thirties and the presence of a stand of pinyon and juniper (shown above) only one quarter of a mile away. Possibly fire in the last three or four hundred years on the higher parts of the Mesa has been a factor in producing chaparral there, rather than pinyon and juniper. Photo taken in August, 1956, by S. Anderson.
Taxidea taxus berlandieri Baird
Badger
Several reports, but no specimens, of the badger have been obtained. In 1935, C.W. Quaintance wrote that in School Section Canyon tracks of cougar, bobcat, coyote, and deer were found, and that pocket gophers, badgers, and cottontail rabbits were present. Later in 1935, H.P. Pratt wrote that he had found evidence of badgers "at the lower well in Prater Canyon, where on September 23, there were extensive badger diggings and fresh tracks in the vicinity of the prairie dog colony there." Badgers are common in the lowlands around the Mesa and they are common enough on the Mesa to be regarded as nuisances by archeologists on account of badgers digging in ruins. Badgers have been seen from three to six times each year from 1950 to this date, most of them in the vicinity of the North Rim.