Specimens examined.—Total, 17, all in Illinois Museum of Natural History, distributed as follows: Los Angeles County: Mescal Canyon, 4500 ft., 8 mi. SE Llano, 11; Mescal Canyon, 4300 ft., 2; 6 mi. SE Valyermo, 5100 ft., 1; Grandview Canyon, 6 mi. SE Valyermo, 5100 ft., 1. San Bernardino County: 1 mi. W Cajon, 3200 ft., 2.
Onychomys torridus pulcher Elliot
Southern Grasshopper Mouse
Grasshopper mice seemed to be partial to the more sandy parts of the Joshua tree flats where the mice were trapped regularly but not abundantly. This mouse inhabited the barren sandy channels of Mescal Wash but was rare on the adjacent juniper-clad benches. In the arid, sandy washes this typical desert rodent penetrated the high pinyon-juniper association.
Wherever grasshopper mice occurred they were outnumbered by most of the other rodent species. For example, on November 26, 1949, below Graham Canyon, 100 snap traps yielded 10 Dipodomys panamintinus mohavensis, 2 Dipodomys merriami merriami, 4 Peromyscus maniculatus sonoriensis, and 3 Onychomys torridus pulcher.
Where abandoned kangaroo rat burrows were common in the Joshua tree belt these burrows were used as retreats by Onychomys. Some traps set at the entrances to old burrows caught grasshopper mice.
Specimens examined.—Total, 7, distributed as follows: Los Angeles County: 8 mi. E and 3 mi. S Llano, 3500 ft., 1; Mescal Wash, 4200 ft., 5 (3 PC); 2 mi. S Valyermo, 4600 ft., 1 (PC).
Neotoma lepida intermedia Rhoads
Desert Woodrat
This species was on the Pacific face of the Mountains from 1600 feet elevation in the coastal sage belt, to 4800 feet elevation in open groves of big cone-spruce and scrub oak of the chaparral association.