Specimens examined.—Los Angeles County: 2 mi. NW mouth of Graham Canyon, 3500 ft., 5 (PC).
Dipodomys merriami parvus Rhoads
San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat
One specimen of this subspecies was trapped on November 26, 1951, in a sandy channel of Cajon Wash near Devore beneath a clump of scale-broom.
Dipodomys agilis agilis Gambel
Pacific Kangaroo Rat
This species was found below about 4000 feet elevation all along the coastal face of the range and reached maximum abundance in the level tracts of coastal sage. It was one of the most abundant rodents there, usually being second to Perognathus fallax in point of numbers. Large colonies of kangaroo rats occurred locally on sandy ground adjacent to large washes. The rats were found sparingly on the foothill adobe banks and in the greasewood chaparral of the lower foothills, but in heavy chaparral where a layer of plant debris covered the ground, such as on north slopes grown to scrub oak and lilac, kangaroo rats were completely absent. Thus, in the lower chaparral belt, this rodent had a discontinuous distribution.
The coyote probably is one of the major predators of these kangaroo rats; remains of this rodent were often found in coyote feces, and coyotes excavated many burrow systems in large kangaroo rat colonies in the sandy ground near San Antonio Wash. The soil there is so soft that coyotes probably were often successful in digging out their prey. The shed skin of a large Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis helleri) was found four feet inside the mouth of a kangaroo rat burrow; probably this reptile preys on agilis. Great horned owls (Bubo virginianus pacificus) come down nightly from the chaparral to hunt in the sage flats. Beneath the perches of these owls I have found pellets containing bones of agilis.
Specimens examined.—Total, 13, distributed as follows: Los Angeles County: San Antonio Wash, 1900 ft., 11 (10 PC); 4 mi. NE Claremont, 1600 ft., 2.