STEPHENS SOFT-HAIRED GROUND SQUIRREL Citellus mollis stephensi (Merriam)

Field characters.—Size near that of House Rat; ears small; tail short; pelage silky textured. Head and body 6-1/2 inches (162 mm.), tail 2 inches (50 mm.), hind foot 1-1/4 inches (32 mm.), ear 1/6 inch (4 mm.) [measurements from extralimital specimens]. General coloration buffy gray above, silvery white on under surface; feet dull white; tail drab on upper surface, buffy below. Workings: Burrows in ground beneath bushes.

Occurrence.—Resident at extreme southeastern corner of Yosemite section, near Mono Mills. Lives on sandy ground beneath sagebrush.

The Stephens Soft-haired Ground Squirrel is a Great Basin type of rodent which reaches the extreme eastern margin of our Yosemite section in the dry sagebrush-covered, sandy area southeast of Mono Lake. Its presence there is established by two specimens which were captured on June 10 and 11, 1916. These two individuals are not quite full grown. Others were present in the same place, but not obtained. The field notes state that the squirrels slid along on the ground like big lizards and like them stopped and scrutinized the observer from the shelter of the first bush that they reached.