COLLECTING SMALL MAMMALS IN N.W.T. CANADA.
By Edwin Hollis.
Whilst staying in the neighbourhood of the Touchwood Hills, Assa, N.W.T. Canada, from July, 1901, to April, 1902, I occupied my spare time collecting small mammals for the British Museum. This district is situated about 51·5° N. latitude, 104° W. longitude, and is about 3000 ft. above sea-level. The country is slightly undulating, open prairie and bush being fairly evenly distributed, interspersed every few miles with lakes. These are all more or less alkaline, some of them so strongly as to kill cattle if they drink any quantity of the water; they naturally contain no fish. There is no fresh running water, but many sloughs (shallow ponds), caused by melting of the snow. The temperature varies from great heat in summer to 40° below zero in winter.
I obtained one or more specimens of twenty-three different species of mammals, which I think are nearly all the wild animals to be found in this district at the present time, although Lynx, Bear, Deer, and Jack-Rabbit are occasionally to be met with. I saw one of each of the two last-named, and these were the only animals I saw of which I did not get at least one specimen. The following is a list of animals obtained, with remarks on same.
Canis latrans (Coyote; locally called Wolf).—Not at all uncommon, several often being seen during the course of a day's drive. They are practically never dangerous to human beings unless driven into a corner, but are a great nuisance to ranchers, as if they once take to killing sheep or calves they seem to prefer them to other food. Those I got were all caught with hounds, except one suffocated in his earth, for they are too wary to be trapped. Although I set traps round an earth which I knew contained young ones about the size of a small Fox-Terrier, I never had one struck.
