This subspecies is widely distributed on the desert slope of the range, and was recorded down to the lower edge of the juniper belt. Tracks were observed on many occasions in yellow pine forest, but wildcats seemed to be commonest in the brushy parts of the pinyon-juniper association. Two were trapped in small draws lined with pinyons and scrub oak, and two at the base of rocky pinyon-covered slopes. Only occasionally were tracks noted in the lower part of the juniper belt. Bobcats are most numerous where woodrats also reach peak abundance, suggesting that woodrats are a major food.
The four specimens from the desert slope, although exhibiting a wide range of variation, are all representatives of the desert race baileyi. A yearling male from near the head of Grandview Canyon, at 5200 feet elevation, has the profuse black spotting of the subspecies californicus, but the general pallor dorsally is characteristic of the desert subspecies. An adult female, from 4700 feet elevation in Graham Canyon, shows the double mid-dorsal black line and the distinct black markings around the face characteristic of californicus, but is otherwise pale with reduced black patterns on the backs of the ears. The other two specimens, an adult male and a yearling female, are typical examples of baileyi, pale, and with reduced black markings. None of the specimens of bobcats from the coastal slope of the mountains showed characters approaching those of baileyi. It seems, therefore, that these two subspecies intergrade on the interior slope of the range.
A yearling male weighed 12 pounds, and a yearling female weighed 10.5 pounds. An old male weighed 19.6 pounds, and an adult female weighed 15.1 pounds.
Remains of deer were in two of the bobcat stomachs, and one of these stomachs also contained jack rabbit remains. Approximately a dozen nematodes (stomach worms) were in the stomach of one of the larger male specimens.
Specimens examined.—Total, 4, distributed as follows: Los Angeles County: Mescal Canyon, 4800 ft., 1; Graham Canyon, 4700 ft., 1; Grandview Canyon, 5200 ft., 2.
Felis concolor californica May
Mountain Lion
Several cabin owners near the mouth of Icehouse Canyon reported seeing a lion in that area in 1950, and others said they saw huge cat tracks in Icehouse Canyon. State Trapper James Wolfort reported that he trapped two lions on the coastal face of the range in 1947. Authentic reports indicate that mountain lions occur in remote sections on both slopes of the range, and in these areas mountain lions probably are as common as they ever were.
Family CERVIDAE