Yosemite Nature Notes · Volume 5, Number 12
1926
Vo ume V re :emEer 31, 1Q2() Number 12
THE YOSEMITE NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION ITS PURPOSES
i. To gather and disseminate information on the wild-life of the Sierras. 2. To develop and enlarge the Yosemite Museum (in cooperation with the National Park Service) and to establish subsidiary units, such as the Glacier Point lookout and branches of similar nature. 3. To promote the educational work of the Yosemite Nature Guide Service. 4. To publish (in cooperation with the U. S. National Park Service) "Yosemite Nature Notes". 5. To study living conditions, past and present, of the Indians of the Yosemite region. 6. To maintain in Yosemite Valley a library of historical, scientific, and popular interest. 7. To further scientific investigation along lines of greatest popular interest and to publish, from time to time, bulletins of non-technical nature. 8. To strietly limit the activities of the association to purposes which shall be scientific and educational, in order that the organization shall not be operated for' profit.
FROM THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON OUT-DOOR RECREATION
Called by PRESIDENT COOLIDGE
"THAT THE CONFERENCE ENDORSE NATURE STUDY IN
sCHCX')[_s
AND THE EXTENSION OF THE NATURE
STUDY I DN.' r'o rv
R Y AMERICAN SCHOOL AND FAMILY;
THAT TI-Fe esTABL1sH
MENT OF MUSEUMS OF NATURAL HISTORY IN NATIONAL PAR[.
WILL INCREASE THE EDUCATIONAL RECREA1hONAL VALUE OF Ttls pi4&x.a".—Resolution of the Conference.
lolume V~ L ecember 3r, FQ26 _ Number r 2
A GOOD WORD FOR THE COYOTE
By C. P. Russell HOULD there be a medium through which the good points possessed by coyotes may be brought to public notice, that medium is the eduational service of national parks. Yosemite has riot overlooked the pportunity. Consistent with the policy upon which national parks ere created, the coyote population of Yosemite National Park is not enaced with a killing campaign. Here the defamed predators occupy heir niche in nature's scheme. Occasionally the animals are seen by Isitors, but more often the presence of the beasts Is made known to ourists through the remarkah 'e chorus of yapping Voices raised to sierra camps. If w.. may judge from the enthusiastic comments made.y vacationists from the cities, alter they have been serenaded with this eird, wild music, yelping coyotes are one of the park's assets. Rarr.iy park tiffioi-t Is' atirntinn It • ailed to the fact that a cofute haof slaughter of everything that feasted upon a Yosemite fawn : or prfys upon game may he embraced syhap evidence points to the outside of our national wild life.rubahility that two or more of the.sanctuaries. but within them it ild dogs have pulled down a fullstands estranged. Mav we hope rown deer Undoubtedly coyotes that mislec sportsmen, game wor to kill sonie deer and many lesser shipers nd Ammunition manufac -
r nlma is as well. This is a perfecttimers may see the folly of their y natural state of affairs, and inways while there Is vet time to save smueh as a national park is more those species that are now victims Ilan a game preserve, it is a eonof their Killing campaigns. dition that warran t s no action Rie'htly enough, the United.;totes against the coyote. Yosemite NaGovernment controls locally the entional Park is a wild-life sanctumales of cattle and sheep. But the ary and as such it is Interested In hue and cry against the coyote has preventing human influence front hs'i nie universal and it is this uni altering original conditions. but is venal extermination that constiIn no way hound to interfere with totes au infringement on the rights
the natural behat for of animals if nature loiters. within its boundaries. A Coyote Habitat Where Would Eaterminatlou (.roan In Museum Polley Slop? Persistent and wldesnread oppnsi If control methods are practiced tion to the present unfair practice on coyotes, it is difficult to arrive will bring results. The Yosemite at a stomping point. Weasels, marMhisenm has raised Its voice, and tens, fishers and.volverines prey the hundreds of thousands of eatupon song birds, quill] and grouse, ens who visit the institution learn and by the same reasoning that from an attractive exhibit 'het the si:htects the coyote to persecution coyote is not all had. Gus Nordthese last named ' nteresting mathquist a taxidermist of Oakland, vnlmtls would he extermineted in naanteered to prepare end install tional parks. The,senseless policy coyote habitat group in the new
COYOTE AND SKUNK GROUP. G•f* of G N~y i 's
9 1 Government museum. We might coyote must be permitted to ccr°ell have portrayed a very natural cupy his natural place In the.d Scene by show'ng coyotes feeding life sanctuary. Ynserrite i.era lee upon the carass of their kill. Howon no killing lampaigns. ever Mr Nordquist recalled an inMost of this text was taken Item terestl!ig incident involving a skunk Joseph Dixon 's "Control ut h' and a ( o.yote that he once witnessed Coyote in Cyllfoinia, ' publishes in and it was agreed that such an 1929 by the tiniver e ity of a'al;ferniu Amusing scene.would he more deThe Sknnk'ea Neana.n or t)efrnne tirnble than the bloody business of On the opposite side of the ex coyotes feeding Mr. Nordquist's hihit case is a transparent label. work arouses great interest among eimiiae size giving the following visito•s and the large transparent information on the skunk labels Nearly `ell their story. On Striped Sku.ak--(M Phltis eeei one side or the plate glass front of dentalisl--This animal is famous the case is the following : the world over for S ts "Smell Mountain Coyote -s tennis tatGun." The fluid is a iiq"td mask 'tans lestes) — The coyote is not secreted by two large,lands un•,necessarily a bad citizen. On the der the tail. Those who have sheep range he is a menace; in a never smelled at may realize some Squirrel infested country he is a of its power it they imagine a benefit if we kilt off all the mixture of perfume musk, essence coyotes, we must ourselves acof garlic, burning sulphur and m ount for the thousands of ground sewer gas, intensified a thousand squirrels and aackrannits which times. the coyote now destroys annually. Like the rattle snake, the skunk he usually gives fair notice and acts With the exception of the on the defe'nei v ve. The aniskunk the coyote Is the most vale mal prefers to aim at a foe it usble fur-hearer in alifnrnja. c.an clearly see. Pelts taken between lie.cember 1 Dogs and wild creatures ostaally and Februar y 15, when the fur is prefer to let the skunk alone. rime. have' brought $20 each. Even this coyote would endure s his fact must not ne lost sight terribly hard pinch of hunger he_ 'of in any proposed method of fore invitin avoalev from the eradication 'Smell Cats " famous 'breechContrcl rather than, exterminaloader ion should be our aim in most. E. T iteton's "Nrarth e m Animals' laces. In a national park the provided the basis for this label
Published monthly by the National Park Service in cooper• taon with the Yosemite Natural History Association, in Yoite Valley The articles published in"Yosemite Nature Notes" are not pyrighted. It is intended that these articles shall be freely d by the press and by all periodicals that believe in the lue of National Parks. When material from this publication used due credit should be given. Communications should be addressed to C.P.Russeil, Park aturalist, Yosemite National Park.
The Food Habits of Trout in Yosemite National Park
SOMJ'INSECTS UPON WHICH YOSEMITE TROUT FEED
FOOD HABITS OF TROUT
By Helen Y. Howe and Avis F. Meigs Yosemite School of Field Natural History ' en a trout strikes at your ed what significance this condition al coachman, what does he think has for the angler. Do the trout is getting? We wondered. Out strike at artificial flies more readSheet curiosity and.z desire, perily because they are accustomed to 'Si to Improve our ability as catching insects on the water or t iers, we began to investigate the does the abundance of natural food ttei Soon, with the interested make fishing more difficult? The !stance of park anglers, entomolstomachs cf trout caught in the sts and chefs, we were deep in upper mountain streams have less Ut dietetics. in them. Black carpenter ants the very first day of our invest.:_ seem to be the chief article of diet. proved eventful. While takIn the high mcuntain lakes Insect our morning swim in the Merfood seams to be very scarce and we sew a lone fisherman on the most stomachs are entirely empty.,i•Osite shore. What luck' 'Here The few which contained food had could get material with which acry little in them, Mr. Russell. start at once! We waved expa rk naturalist, rep`-iris catching early and asked the trio if they had fish in a High Sierra cirque and V fish. Yes : but why two young noon examining the stomachs, ces were so excited :,bout his found that they cont -'teed many r trout we could net make him email bivalve mollusks..deratand across the river Much Since the remains of many small his amazement we dived in and }meets which may me seen floating.am over. Thus we met Tony. on the surface of streams are found mp Curry cook and one of the in the stomachs of trout. surface;sit enthusiastic fishermen in the feeding of the fish is Indicated. Talley. Surely we coa!d have the arniuch as some of the insects are •maehs from his fish--rill that he most nocturn it In habits, as the :tight for the rest,.f the;mason predaceous ground beetle, a part d all thn'.e which crime into the of, this feeding may occur at night. lichen of Camp Curry. Fits of cedar and pine neadlea in That afternoon those four Rain-- the stoma-hs indicate that the fish w trout ntomachs from the filersometimes make a mistatc e in thi it were opened at the Losemite it''dgments. The presence of 'add! tseum. Professor Essig of the fly larvae in cases,;roar fly iversity of California was Tresnymphs and crane fly I rise cogt. From what appeared to us goat that the fish nhtain part ' recdrnizable insect fragments Mr. their food under watersick!"ig q!g began poliine net almost pereff whatever adheres to f1 sting ct specimens lerd• bird beetles. stems plants. et cetera. it is inlddis cases, hopilas, n wasp. Sufiteresting to note that is Ali hir t my be hi mme excited, rsalnined haetles, which are apparently to ill insect ah ei l elnsele, turn-'d to a tastin g to birds and are 'rv^id d he.ok, ri n d for a few moment.e, cxthem form one of the chief a mre !nee the spec imen again under a of fond f'-r trout. Drina n Aand final!,• announced that nymphs sometimes at tae0 young `m we had the Irva of a rime iiibrnnk trout. asv^ning se tr eect tie n-• Other than the "aquatic selves' we were :clad to fin.!. there s""illid " Suraiy a trettt'e sumach fore that the trout,ring!. m all v -'e as the last piece one would expect versed 'the situation and had a nice' find this This a tr first d•iv themselves. f red with enthusiasm running Do we know any more about fishing bee. iuse of this investig,aig ', 'lrom June 21 to August 5, 1926, tinn? practically all the fish exb0 stomachs were examined. The enticed were caught with Royal i.pended t' hie gives our data conCoachman, a grey or a brown ruing them : heeltle. As there bore little reInvestigations indicate that in semblance to the stomach -•ontents. e valley--Merced river--and at El we hale come to the conclusion nrtal—crane creek—where there that it Is not the kind,'f hait yell an abundance of vegetation end use here in Yos e mite which cdmmnts, sect life, the trout have in abunlint the realistic way in which you nee of food. We have not deoidmake it alight, on the water. See next page for record of stamac contents.
Hundred Trout Stomachs Examined Date No. Species Locality Stomach Contents (1926) 4 Rainbow Merced river Lady Bird beetle, Caddis cases; Pubescent June 24 hoplia; wasp : Aequatic dascillil; salmon eggs (bait) 1 Rainbow Merced river Salmon eggs (bait) : Catidls fly larvae June 28 6 Rainbow Merced river Caddis fly larvae in eases; Crane fly July 6 larvae; grasshoppers : Pubescent hoplias: stink r-ug; angleworm 3 Rainbow Merced river Lady Bird beetles oak tree hopper; Click July 15 beetle; metallic wood borer; wafer strider; rohhei fly 3 Ra:nhow Lost valley Mack ants; Crane fly larvae; Predacious June 27 (Merced Pool) ground be-tie; Lady Bird beetles; Pubescent hoplia 18 Rainbow Crane creek Gra cshoppera; Predacious ground beetle : July 1 (El Portal) Stone fly nymphs; Stone flies (adult): whirligig; Caddie fly larvae in cases: dragon fly nymph : wasp, : elicit beetle: Ten-Lined June beetle; darkling ground beetle; earthworm; wafer skater
Eastern Bridalveil Black ants; Caddis fly larvae July 4 Brook creek 13 Eastern
YOSEMITE
Larkling ground beetle; Lampyridae; Click July 5 B:ook creek beetle; black ants : Caddie fly larvae m cases; whirligig 10 Eastern Merced river Lady Bird beetles : mosquitoes July "5 Brock 2 Rainbow Babcock Emnty July 26 Trout lake 8 Rainbow McClure Parnidae; plant fragment= Aug 3 fork 2 Eastern Young's One empty : Lad.. Bird beetle; Caddis fly Aug fi Brook lakes larvae 8 Loeb Leven Glen Aulin L•mg horn borer; Predacious ground Ang 7 10 Eastern Brook beetle; other insect fragments not identified; several stomachs empty
PINE MARTEN NEAR VALLEY FLOOR
On November 6, at ll a. m., Asder beside the trail, The ground sistent Chief Ranger Clyde Boothe squirrel dragged itself in the oppowitnessed a marten - e,itch a Callsite dire inter,. Martes eyed the hufnrnia eround -squirrel The amine] men intruder for a moment from was In the trail and so engaged in close range and then disatineared in the business of killing Its struga rock pile. gling prey that only close approach This incident took place on the by Boothe turned it from its pusVernal Fall trail, three-quarters of pose. When threatened with being amile from Happy Isles, and 1s, we tramped upon, the marten released think, the lowest occurrence of the ground squirrel and sprang marten recorded near Yosemite vallightly to the fop of a great botilley.--C. P. R.
YOSEMITE MUSEUM FORMALLY PRESENTED TO PARK SERVICE
WASHINGTON, D. C.—An interesting ceremony took place in the office
WASHINGTON,
the Secretary of the Interior a few days ago when acting Secretary E. C. Finney accepted, on behalf of the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior, the newly completed museum in Yosemite The presentation was made by and co-operative assistance of the Chauncey J. Hamlin, chairman of National Park Service, the f,nar:the committee to museums in naeial assistance of the ]os mite
tional parks of the American AsNatural History Association and of sociation of Museums, in the presthe American Association of Muestee of department officials and seums and the persona] efforts and conservationists of note. gratuitous services of the memucrs Funds for the museum building of of r committee. and equipment were secured by the "You are doubtless well aware ni American Association of Museums the remarkable response thn.t th from the Laura Spelman RockefelPublic has already made to tale ler Memorial, which made a grant educational project. I am i:•to.med of $75,55C for the purpose. that the building is fre,uunt; :. In makin g, the presentation Hamcrowded with visi t ors eager to iin read the following letter adearn the story lh ::t it sc foteefu n y dressed to the Secretary of the lnlecites. Museums and otiie; ecmterior; cational institutions nave become "Dear Sir : alive to the appropria.teness and "Early in 1924 the American Aspracticability of this kind of in sociation of Meeeums had its atstruction and the Association et 1ention called ti the desirability or Museums, encouraged by tile mot furthering the educational program at Yosemite has sought and.. of the National Parks, by erecting received funds which will eea'ile n. museums therein, the exhibited mato provide a new center of instructerial of which might explain to t ion at the Grand,Cant' :-n. It. has the visitor the national phenomena;Asa made suavegs which ]t. is of its neighborhood, hoped win extend the work into "The association promptly conother national possessions. ferred with Director Mather of the "Knowing your desire concerning National Park Service, organized a the supremo purpose of the natio :.committeti on museums in national
C.I. Parks, confident that the estanparks and, through its efforts, ob. liehment of local museums Is one tained a grant of $75.550 from the of the most practical ways of eduLaura Spelman Rockefeller Meeating the public end, with the aumortal. thorlty given me by the council or "It was the original purpose Ca the American Association of Mu- : I now construct and equip a museum at 'eums, pass over to vouii, this Informal way—such rights house the collections, onope d and ownership as the assoclat.on ti then on hand may have in the museum at Yosemite National Park, feeling sure to the needs of the general public that under federal administration and visiting men of science. "It is my privilege to report to its Educational purposes will lie you that the Yosemite Museum is maintained adequately. now completedl. It has four large "Assuring you of the sustained exhibition rooms, a lecture hall, a -nterest of the American Assocllibrrry and stock room, headquar- `ct'on of Museums in all that the ters for the nature guide service, N a tional Park Service may do to workrooms and laboratorIes and render the works of the Creator valuable exhibition' material unite mere intelligible to those who cornbeyond the original plans. mune with na*ure, I am, Mr. Secre-
"This achievement has been made tary, very truly y•,urs, possible through the sympatnetcc
"CHAUNCEY J. HAMLIN."
YOSEMITE NA! LIRE NOTES RECENT MUSEUM ACCESSIONS
Books for the Yosemite Nature tory, Library are slowly filling the spaA hound copy of Iteorge M. cious shelves of the rr ading room. Whaeli is report on geological surDuring the month of October 54 volveys wrst of the 100th rneridian, umes were obtained. containing a report made by l,re,it. Mr..=rid Mrs. A. A. Scott of AberM. M Maeomb on his 1878 work in dee p, Wash, presented %.2 valuable the Yosemite region, was presented old bnaks, many of which are espeby F. P. Ferquhar•. This book is of dally pertinent to the ntu5enm's interest, aside fr-mm its value as :i work. Ten hound volumes of dependable source or Yosemite hie,- "Haruer's New monthly Magazinre," tory,;n that It was rnec the prop dating from 1851 'so 1874, are in 'his erty,if 'he Yosemite guardian's of_ lot Articles by Charles Ainrdhoff flee. On the fly leaf is. M. Tliiteh on "Califoraia; Bow to Go There rug's ur mistakable inscription to and What 'o See by the Way," 1871that effect. 72; "California, what to Sse There Charles F. Saunders, author of a and How io See It," 1872; "Californumber of meaty borke that afford nia, Its Produels and Productivedelightful reading though the;; he ness " 1872• and Northern Califorhas given the museum copies of his nia. The Sacramento Volley," 1873, meaty, has given the museum cop. found in these old maganines are lee of his "1'sefil Wild Plants" and particularly i nteresting. An 1'72 "Under the Sky in California." edition of Mark Twain 's "Roughing It." "Kit Carson 's Life and Arisen- "Nature (-Wilding. " a remarkable tares, " 18139, and scientific works treatise en the teaching of nature by Geikie, DeQuartrefages and study, comes from Dr William r l. (Talton as well as many other Vi al, a one-time Yosemite nature authors of fifty Years ago, lend guide. Dr. Vinci demonstrated himvelue to the A. A. Scctt gift. self to he a leader In his Ynsemile Five volumes of historical interwork and 1s everywhere recogniz ed est were nuri•hneed by the Yosemite as a top-notcher in this line nf editNatural History Assrelation. Sir. rational activity. F S. Srihmoe, park naturalist of The Yosemite branch of the MartRainier National Park, presented a posa county free library will lid ropy of his splendid hook of Mount housed In the museum's nature li Rainier, "Oar Greatasf Mountain." hrary room. Books will orrice KoDr David White of the United vember 15, ind a rinalified librarian Stales geol,m ianl survey gave a will he placed in charge. Only th tae entry on Berry's `Tree Ancestors," volumes beionging to the county The r•hepter on Serynolas in this will cit.tlate. but this new use :.f work Is in itself of great value to the llhrary room will stimulate members of the Yosemite Netnre greater use of the nnlseum volumes Guide staff and stud ents in the Tothat are available for the reading semite school of Field Natural Histables.—C. P. R.
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A WILDLIFE CREED.
A conservationist's creed as to wild life administration is !liven by Dr. Joseph Grinnell, professor of zoology and director of the,California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, in a recent issue of "Science." In brief, the creed follows : 1. I believe that the fullest use should be made of our country's wild life resources from the standpoint of human benefit—for beauty, education, scientific study, fur, etc. All these possible uses should be considered in the administration of wild life, not any of them exclusively of the others. 2. I believe that that portion of our wild animal life known as "game" belongs no more to the sportsman than to other classes of people who do not pursue it with shotgun and rifle. More and more the notebook, the field-glass and the camera are being employed in the pursuit of game as well as other. animals. 3. I believe it is unwise to attempt the absolute extermination of any native vertebrate species whatsoever. At the same time it is perfectly proper to reduce or destroy any species in a given neighborhood where sound investigation shows it to be positively hurtful to the majority of interests. 4. I believe it is wrong to permit the general public to shoot crows or any other presumably injurious animals during the breeding season of our desirable species. 5. I believe in the collecting of specimens of birds and vertebrates generally for educational and scientific purposes. A bird killed, but preserved as a study-specimen, is of service far longer than the bird that is shot just for sport or for food 6. I believe that it is wrong and even dangerous to intro duce (that is, turn loose in the wild) alien species of either game or non-game birds and mammals. There is sound reasor. for believing that such introduction, if "successful," jeopardizes the continued existence of the native species in our fauna. with which competition is bound to occur. 7. I believe that the very best known way to "conserve" animal life, in the interests of sportsman, scientist and naturelover alike, is to preserve conditions as nearly as possible favorable to our own native species. This can be done by the establishment and maintenance of numerous wild-life refuges. 8. In the interests of game and wild life conservation generally, I believe in the wisdom of doing away with grazing by domestic stock, more especially sheep, on the greater part of our national forest territory. 9. I believe that the administration of our game and wild life resources should be kept as far as possible out of politics. The resources in question should be handled as a national asset, administered with the advice of scientifically trained everts.
A PERSONAL INVITATION.' YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK IS YOURS! WE OF THE NATIONAL PAR SERVICE WANT TO.IT I P YOU TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOUR PAR
AND TO UNDERSTAND IT IN ITS EVERY MOOD. ALL OF THE FOLLOq ING SERVICE IS OFFERED TO YOU free BY YOUR GOVERNMENT: Visit the-Yosemite Museum!. Here you will learn the full story of the Park what tools were used the great Sculptor in carving this mighty granite-walled gorge; who li here before the white man came; how the Days of Gold led, to Yosemi discovery; how the pioneers prepared the way for you; and how the. b' and mammals and trees and flowers live together in congenial comm waiting to make your acquaintance. 'Plan your trail trips on the large scale models in the Geography R The Yosemite Library in the museum provides refere ices on all phr Yosemite history and natural history. Popular lectures on Yosemite geology and other branch: s o` nut.ral tory are given by nature guides at scheduled times each day. The nature guide on duty will be more than willing to answer your tions on any subject: Go Afield with a Nature Guide!' Take advantage of this free service that will help you to k ::ow your A competent scientist will conduct you over Yosemite trails,and fro._1 you may learn first hand of the native flowers, trees, birds, mammals, geological features. See Schedule of Nature Guide Field Trips. Visit Glacier Point Lookout! From there you will obtain an unexcelled view of Yosemite's High The binocular telescope. will bring Mt. Lyell to within one third of from where you stand;.you can recognize friends climbing trails miles away. The Nature Guide in attendance will help you to operate will explain what you see, " A small library is at your command. : You will enjoy the informal nightly campfire talks given here.. Attend the Nature Guide Campfire Talks! ' In addition to the museum lectures members of the educational give talks as a part. of the evening program at Camp Curry and Y ite Lodge. Nontechnical eXplanations of how Yosemite came to be; you may expect of Yosemite bears; how the local Indians lived; what you see about your camps; what trout you will catch in Yosemite how you may best visit the wonderland of the summit region; and of similar subjects are given by the National.Park Service;Nature