This book is included in the Outdoor Survival - Bio-Regional Environments section.
Preface
FOR the past ten years the writer has been an almost
continual saunterer over mountain and
desert trails a constant searcher of the wild
places of nature that he might know intimately
the green growing things and learn more of the
life-histories of the animals, birds, and insects
that dwell in the unfrequented and secluded
domains of the wild. It is with a desire to share
the pleasures derived from his observations and
studies that he sends forth these sketches of
the lives of the denizens of our Southwestern
deserts.
The peculiar physical and meteorological conditions
which have made the North American
deserts have likewise had their influence upon
the animals that came to inhabit them. The environmental
forces have in many ways so much
modified their bodies and their behavior that
they are recognized as being extraordinarily
unique among animals, and the desert fauna
stands out as among the most distinct of the
minor life-areas of the world. Since the stories of
the lives of few of them have ever been presented
in popular form and untechnical language,
readers will find here set forth much new
and interesting information.
In some instances a didactic style of presentation
has been chosen. This has made it possible
to give much valuable information that
could not have been included had the effort
always been made to write a "good story."
Writers on natural-history subjects have, in their
desire to create interest and to bring their story
to a fitting climax, frequently conveyed impressions
concerning the behavior of animals
which were false or misleading.
The information concerning these birds and
animals has been gained in large part by observations
in the field without trap or gun ; for it
has been recognized that it is possible to obtain
true ideas concerning living creatures only
through sympathetic and friendly interest in
their habits and behavior under natural conditions.
Rather than attempt to give the life-histories
of all of the many animal forms inhabiting the
desert region and burden the reader with many
repetitions, the writer has chosen typical species
from among the most interesting, noticeable,
and predominant orders, and has thus hoped to
give a broad view of the life of the region under
consideration.
Thanks are expressed to Mr. Robert Anderson,
of the Riverside Junior College, and Mr.
J. C. Odell, of Occidental College, for their
kindly criticism; also to Mr. Wright M. Pierce,
Mr. Edwin Avery Field, and others for their aid
in furnishing many of the illustrations.
The writer recognizes the help he has gained
from the reading of the technical papers of specialists
of animal ecology, and if in certain instances
he has seemed to have drawn freely from
their works, it is because he desires to bring to
the reader the contribution they have made toward
a fuller knowledge of the life-histories of
the animals considered. The writings of Dr.
Joseph Grinnell, Dr. Harold C. Bryant, Dr.
Edgar Alexander Mearns, Dr. J. Van Denburgh,
and Mr. Frank Stephens have been specially
consulted. Thanks are also due to Messrs.
G. P. Putnam's Sons for permission to quote
a part of a tale entitled "The Coyote and the
Beetle/' from Zuni Folk-Tales, by Frank Hamilton
Gushing. Much of the matter included in
the chapter on the California road-runner originally
appeared in the pages of Saint Nicholas.
EDMUND C. JAEGER
PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA
January, 1922
CONTENTS
THE CALIFORNIA ROAD-RUNNER
THE NEOTOMAS, OR PACK RATS, OF THE DESERT
BILLY BOB-TAIL, THE HERMIT WOOD RAT
THE SPINY POCKET MICE
THE CACTUS WREN
CATHERPES, THE CANON WREN
BETSY BOUNCE, THE ROCK WREN
THE ANTELOPE CHIPMUNK
THE ROUND-TAILED GROUND SQUIRREL AND NEAR RELATIVES
ELEODES, THE BEETLE THAT STANDS ON HIS HEAD
THE MASON BEES
THE DESERT BIGHORN AND NEAR RELATIVES
DON COYOTE
THE BATTLE OF THE REPTILES
THE PHAINOPEPLA
LATRODECTUS, THE POISONOUS
THE LE CONTE THRASHER
THE GNATCATCHERS AND VERDINS
THE DESERT LYNX
THE DESERT WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW
THE BLACK-TAILED HARE
CALLISAURUS, THE GRIDIRON-TAILED LIZARD
SAUROMALUS, THE CHUCKWALLA
THE SIDEWINDER
TESTUDO, THE DESERT TORTOISE
THE VINEGAROON
THE DESERT HORNED LIZARD
SPILOGALE, THE SPOTTED SKUNK
End of Preview.
RETURN to
Main Titles Index or
Outdoor Survival - Bio-Regional Environments
Please Read The Website Disclaimer!
Copyright 1986-2012, The Survival & Self-Reliance Studies Institute (SSRsi), All
Rights Reserved
Site conceptualized, designed, created & maintained by MEG Raven
Snail Mail: SSRsi, PO Box 2572 Dillon, CO. 80435-2572