Author Institution: 6559 Salem Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio ; Museum of Natural History, University of Illinois, Urban

Goodpaster, Woodrow W.

Hoffmeister, Donald F.

The Ohio Journal of Science

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116 M. W. FALL, W. B. JACKSON, AND M. L. CARPENTER Vol. 68NOTES ON OHIOAN MAMMALS.1—During the course of field studies through-out the state, as well as the preparation of specimens both as study-skins andtaxidermist-mounts, various notes on Ohioan mammals have been accumulated.MASKED SHREW, Sorex cinereus ohionensis BOLE AND MOULTHROPMasked shrews have not been known in south-central Ohio from near the OhioRiver. On February 7, 1963, we caught two of these shrews at a locality fivemiles north of Minford, Scioto County. This is only 11 miles from the OhioRiver and 38 miles from the West Virginia-Kentucky-Ohio boundary. Oneshrew was caught in a fencerow of grasses and briars, alongside a stubble cornfield.The other was taken in a swampy patch of grasses at the end of the same cornfield.Specimens of Microtus pennsylvanicus were caught in the same runways with theSorex cinereus.The two specimens are tentatively referred to S. c. ohionensis, although weare not certain that this is a valid and distinct subspecies. The two specimensfit well the small size ascribed to ohionensis by Bole and Moulthrop (1942: 89),for they are not only small but actually have some features that are smaller thanin topotypes. Measurements of the two specimens, nos. 26959, 9 , and 26960, d\Univ. Illinois Museum of Natural History, are respectively: total length, 82, 76;tail, 31, 29; hind foot, 12, 12; condylobasal length, 15.2, —; palatal length, 6.15,6.0; cranial breadth, 7.3, —; interorbital breadth, 2.55, 2.75; maxillary breadth,4.1, 4.1; maxillary toothrow, 5.5, 5.4.BIG BROWN BAT, Eptesicus fuscus fuscus (BEAUVOIS)The following indirect evidence that big brown bats are preyed upon by Norwayrats, Rattus norvegicus, at least under certain conditions, is presented. On a coolOctober morning, some big brown bats were dislodged with tear gas from therafters of a two-story house at Bantam, Clermont County. Three of these semi-dormant, semi-gassed bats fell between the walls to the ground level, where aNorway rat immediately seized one and ate nearly all of it, even though the batwas squeaking, biting, and moving its wings and legs. The rat then ate the othertwo bats.Big brown bats can withstand extremely low temperatures, as indicated by thefollowing. A cloth sack containing six big brown bats was placed in a freezerthat normally maintains a temperature of — 10°F. After 24 hours in the freezer,^Manuscript received November 21, 1966.THE OHIO JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 68(2): 116, March, 1968.No. 2 NOTES ON OHIOAN MAMMALS 117four of the bats were in good condition and readily flew away when released out-doors. In Urbana, Illinois, a banded big brown bat escaped from a buildingsometime between November 24 and December 1, 1963. On December 31, thebat was found about one-eighth mile away in an outside window-well, under aboutfour inches of leaves. As the leaves and bat were picked up, the big brown bat,which was apparently in good condition, began to squeak and move, despite thefacts that the temperature at the time was 3°F and that, during the night, thetemperature had dropped to as low as 0°F.THIRTEEN-LINED GROUND SQUIRREL,Citellus tridecemlineatus tridecemlineatus (MITCHILL)A melanistic thirteen-lined ground squirrel was taken at Mound City, one milewest of Chillicothe, Ross County, on July 25, 1952. The specimen is of moreinterest than just because of the fact that it is completely black, for it also showsthe pattern of stripes and spots characteristic of thirteen-lined ground squirrels.Albinos also display this pattern (Hoffmeister and Hensley, 1949: 403), but thepattern is more difficult to discern in a melanistic than in an albinistic specimen.EASTERN CHIPMUNK, Tamias striatus rufescens BOLE AND MOULTHROPCompletely melanistic eastern chipmunks are rarely encountered. However,in Ashtabula Township Park, Ashtabula County, several black chipmunks havebecome established, living alongside normally colored individuals.COYOTE, Canis latrans subsp.Coyotes are said to be spreading eastward through Ohio, but actual records ofoccurrence are not numerous. In the fall of 1963, a coyote was shot at StonelickLake, Clermont County, and was brought in to the senior author to be preparedas a mounted animal. The coyote was shot in a pig pen while feeding on hog food.As late as 1959, Hall and Kelson (1959, p. 845) reported that there were no Ohiorecords of this animal.RINGTAIL, Bassariscus astutus subsp.The unusual records in Ohio of the ringtail, Bassariscus astutus, a westernspecies, were summarized in a report on the mammals of this state by Bole andMoulthrop (1942, p. 119). They had reason to believe that the following mid-1800records of capture of the animal were authentic: Parma, Cuyahoga County; BostonLedges, Summit County; Fairfield County.On December 5, 1962, another Bassariscus astutus was caught just outsideCincinnati by E. J. Carsey while hunting raccoons. The Bassariscus was treedby dogs, shot, and brought in for mounting. There were no obvious indicationsthat this animal had been a pet, although the determination of this fact wouldhave been difficult. Its stomach was filled with hackberry seeds. One mustsurmise that this is an escapee, though it is interesting that there are at leastthree other records for Ohio. Unfortunately, we did not have access to the skullof this Cincinnatian specimen so that we might attempt to determine its sub-specific identification and possible geographic origin.—W00DR0W W. GOOD-PASTER, 6559 Salem Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio, and DONALD F. HOFFMEISTER,Museum of Natural History, University of Illinois, Urbana.LITERATURE CITEDBole, B. P., Jr. and P. N. Moulthrop. 1942. The Ohio Recent mammal collection in the Cleve-land Museum of Natural History. Sci. Publ. Cleveland Mus. Nat. Hist. 5: 83-181.Hall, E. R., and K. R. Kelson. 1959. The Mammals of North America. Ronald Press Co.,New York, 2 vols.Hoffmeister, D. F., and M. M. Hensley. 1949. Retention of the "color" pattern in an albinothirteen-lined ground squirrel (Citellus tridecemlineatus). Amer. Midi. Nat. 42: 403-405.

Notes on Ohioan Mammals

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Notes on Ohioan Mammals

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