Part 3

Visher (1914:90) stated that wolves were "quite plentiful" in the early 1900's; he quoted figures for a two-month period in 1910 when a government trapper took five adults and 25 pups in the vicinity of the Short Pine Hills and two adults and 11 pups in the general area of the Cave Hills. According to local residents, wolves were common in Harding County in the 1920's. One (the famous "Three Toes") trapped 20 mi. NW Buffalo in July of 1925 had eluded capture for more than 13 years, and in that period caused an estimated $50,000 in damage to livestock (Young, 1944:259, 277). It seems likely that the skull of this animal, in the U.S. National Museum, is the one referred to by Goldman (1944:445).

Wolves apparently had become rare by about 1930. The last one known to have been killed in northwestern South Dakota was taken on January 27, 1945, near Red Elm, Ziebach County (Carl Cornell, personal communication). We have seen a photograph of this wolf, which was mounted and now is on display in Deadwood, South Dakota.

As noted by Goldman (1944:442), the subspecies _nubilus_ probably is extinct.

~Vulpes vulpes regalis~ Merriam, 1900

Red Fox

_Specimens examined_ (6).--1 mi. S, 5 mi. E Ladner, 3; 3 mi. S, 12 mi. E Ludlow, 1; 2 mi. W Camp Crook, 3200 ft., 1; 4 mi. S, 1 mi. E Buffalo, 1.

This fox was present, although apparently not abundant, in Harding County in the early part of this century (Visher, 1914:90). He reported knowledge of "two or three" that had been trapped in the county and further noted a report that red foxes were "not rare along the Lone Pines." Visher's paper evidently was overlooked by Hall and Kelson (1959: map 447), who did not include the western half of South Dakota within the distribution of the species. The only foxes observed by our field parties were two seen in July of 1970--one an immature animal held captive in Camp Crook and remains of another that had been killed on a county road about 18 miles north of that place. Five specimens that had been killed by hunters were acquired in March 1963 and an isolated skull was picked up west of Camp Crook in 1970.

There is a continuing demand from sheep ranchers in the county that foxes be controlled, yet this species seems to maintain considerably higher populations than does the coyote. According to federal trapper Robert Kriege (personal communication), dens of the red fox have been found principally in the badlands and in certain grassland areas, but rarely in the buttes proper. Records kept by Mr. Kriege indicate that litters are born in mid-March in Harding County. He estimated that over the past few years he has examined whelps from an average of 50 dens a year, but that more than 170 dens were found in the spring of 1963.

~Ursus americanus americanus~ Pallas, 1780

Black Bear

Visher (1914:91) reported that a black bear "was seen near the Cave Hills in July, 1910." He further noted: "Bears have been recently killed in the Long Pine and Ekalaka forests [of adjacent Montana], but their day of extermination is here near at hand." We know of no other reports of this carnivore from the area.

~Ursus arctos horribilis~ Ord, 1815

Grizzly Bear

According to Visher (1914:91) a grizzly bear was killed in the early 1890's a short distance southwest of Camp Crook.

~Procyon lotor hirtus~ Nelson and Goldman, 1930

Raccoon

_Specimens examined_ (10).--2 mi. N, 5 mi. W Ludlow, 4; 1/2 mi. W Reva, 1; 4 mi. E Reva, 2; NW 1/4 sec. 32, R. 1 E, T. 20 N, 3.

The raccoon evidently is one of the commonest carnivores in Harding County. On June 24, 1961, a den with three young (average total length, 429) was found in one of the numerous pockets eroded from the caprock of the North Cave Hills, and on May 21, 1968, another den, this one containing five young (average total length of three, 271), was found in a similar situation on the east edge of the Long Pine Hills. A female trapped on June 20, 1961, was lactating.

Three individuals that had been killed at Ralph, along nearly treeless Big Nasty Creek, were examined on May 28, 1968.

~Mustela frenata longicauda~ Bonaparte, 1838

Long-tailed Weasel

This mustelid seems uncommon in northwestern South Dakota. The only recent reports from Harding County that have come to our attention are of a female and four or five young that were found in a haystack "several years prior to 1963" (Robert Kriege, personal communication), and of several individuals seen by a rancher in a hay field along the Little Missouri about 7 mi. N Camp Crook during mowing operations in July 1970. Visher (1914:91) regarded the species as "quite common," and noted that "4 or 5 dead ones" were seen along roads in the summer of 1910.

~Mustela nigripes~ (Audubon and Bachman, 1851)

Black-footed Ferret

In a recent summary of the natural history of this species in South Dakota, Henderson _et al._ (1969) listed seven localities in Harding County (all in prairie dog "towns") at which ferrets had been sighted or trapped as follows (dates in parentheses): near Ladner (March, 1963); 17 mi. N Camp Crook (about 1956 or 1957); T. 20 N, R. 3 E (1964); T. 20 N, R. 4 E (winter, 1964); T. 19 N, R. 1 E (late November, 1966); T. 17 N, R. 8 E (summer, 1965); T. 15 N, R. 1 E (winter, 1963). These authors also reported a specimen in the U.S. National Museum (no. 243990) that was taken at Govert on November 1, 1923. Additionally, Wesley Broer, then the local game warden, reported to one of our parties that a ferret was seen on February 27, 1963, at a place 7 mi. N and 16 mi. W Buffalo.

Visher (1914) made no mention of this species in his report of the natural history of Harding County.

~Mustela vison letifera~ Hollister, 1913

Mink

Tracks of a mink were observed by a member of one of our field parties (T. H. Swearingen) in late March of 1963 at a pond 5 mi. S and 14 mi. E Buffalo, and one was reported to have been trapped in the same area the previous winter. Reports by local residents indicate that mink occur along the Little Missouri River as well as streams on the north side of the North Cave Hills. Visher (1914:91) reported the species to be uncommon but he knew of one trapped in February of 1911 on Bull Creek.

~Taxidea taxus taxus~ (Schreber, 1778)

Badger

_Specimens examined_ (4).--Sec. 25, R. 3 E, T. 22 N, 1; NE 1/4 sec. 28, R. 4 E, T. 19 N, 1; 4 mi. E Reva, 1; 10 mi. S, 2 mi. W Buffalo, 1.

Local residents regarded the badger as relatively common in the grasslands of Harding County, although this species was only rarely observed by members of our field parties. Visher (1914:91) reported it to be "quite common."

~Spilogale putorius interrupta~ (Rafinesque, 1820)

Spotted Skunk

We took no spotted skunks in northwestern South Dakota and both local residents and government trappers reported this species to be rare in the area. Visher (1914:91) indicated that it was "much more common than the large skunk" in the early part of this century.

~Mephitis mephitis hudsonica~ Richardson, 1829

Striped Skunk

Visher (1914:91) found this species to be "uncommon" in Harding County, as we did more than a half century later. Some local residents, however, reported this skunk to be fairly abundant. We took one specimen, an adult female having enlarged mammae that was captured on July 6, 1965, at a place 7 mi. S and 4-1/2 mi. E Harding, just south of the Short Pine Hills. Site records of several other striped skunks were obtained as follows: 14 mi. N Buffalo; 6 mi. N and 2-1/2 mi. W Camp Crook; 5-1/2 mi. WNW Buffalo; 1-1/2 mi. S and 1/2 mi. E Buffalo; 4 mi. S Buffalo; 10 mi. SW Ralph; and 1 mi. S Reva.

~Lutra canadensis interior~ Swenk, 1920

Otter

We have no record of this species in Harding County other than Visher's (1914:91) report that an individual was "recently trapped along the Little Missouri River."

~Felis concolor hippolestes~ Merriam, 1897

Mountain Lion

This large cat likely occurred throughout northwestern South Dakota prior to settlement by white man. No specimens are available from Harding County, but Visher (1914:91) reported that an individual "visited the East Short Pines in the winter of 1910-11." It is doubtful that _Felis concolor_ occurs in the area today, except possibly as an occasional transient.

~Lynx rufus pallescens~ Merriam, 1899

Bobcat

_Specimens examined_ (3).--12 mi. N, 9 mi. W Buffalo, 1; 11 mi. N, 7 mi. W Buffalo, 1; 9 mi. N, 9 mi. W Buffalo, 1.

The bobcat, although not abundant, is generally distributed throughout Harding County, particularly in the buttes and badlands. Visher (1914:90) reported the species as common in the early part of this century. Our three specimens were shot in March 1963 by professional hunters sponsored by the Western South Dakota Sheepman Association, two from the air and one on the ground. Two other bobcats were killed in the same three-day period (March 25-27).

We tentatively assign our specimens to the subspecies _pallescens_ owing to their pale color and the general agreement of their external and cranial measurements with those reported for other specimens of that race. Geographic variation in _Lynx rufus_ from throughout the Northern Great Plains is poorly documented, however, and is in need of critical analysis. External measurements of the three specimens, all males (adult and two young adults, respectively), are: total length, 870, 925, 820; length of tail, 142, 176, 155; length of hind foot, 191, 192, 178; length of ear, 82, 84, 71; weight (pounds), 23, 17, 16. Respective lengths of testes were 30, 36, and 15. Selected cranial measurements of the adult and largest young adult are: condylobasal length, 113.7, 111.5; zygomatic breadth, 88.3, 83.7; interorbital constriction, 24.5, 23.5; length of nasals, 30.1, 30.8; length of maxillary toothrow, 37.7, 38.6.

Order Artiodactyla

~Cervus elaphus canadensis~ Erxleben, 1777

Wapiti or Elk

Visher (1914:87) reported that the last native elk in Harding County was killed in the Long Pine Hills in 1879, and also mentioned skulls picked up in the Cave Hills. The origin of a wapiti allegedly shot in the Slim Buttes in 1956 (Robert Kriege, personal communication) is unknown, but presumably this individual was a wanderer, possibly from the Black Hills to the south where elk were reintroduced some years ago.

~Odocoileus hemionus hemionus~ (Rafinesque, 1817)

Mule Deer

_Specimens examined_ (6).--2 mi. N, 5 mi. W Ludlow, 1; 9 mi. N, 10 mi. W Buffalo, 2; 10 mi. S, 5 mi. W Reva, 3.

The mule deer is common in the buttes and adjacent badland areas of the county, and many were seen by members of each of our field parties. Local residents reported "black-tails" to be widespread in the area and State Game Protector Merritt Paukarbek reported to Andersen that even though hunting success was high in the autumn of 1967, there was no apparent reduction in numbers in the spring of 1968. In contrast, Visher (1914:88) found this species absent in Harding County in the early 1900's, and stated that it was "exterminated by 1900."

An adult female taken on June 26, 1961, in the North Cave Hills was molting and evidenced no indication of reproductive activity.

~Odocoileus virginianus dacotensis~ Goldman and Kellogg, 1940

White-tailed Deer

_Specimen examined_ (1).--8-1/2 mi. N, 1-1/2 mi. E Camp Crook, 1.

The white-tailed deer is less abundant in northwestern South Dakota than is _O. hemionus_, but a number were seen by members of our parties (in Deer Draw of the Slim Buttes, for example), and local residents reported many sightings to us. Visher (1914:82) earlier recorded this species as once "fairly plentiful in the forest reserves" in Harding County, but stated that it had become rare when he made his biological survey of the area in 1910 and 1912.

~Antilocapra americana americana~ (Ord, 1815)

Pronghorn

_Specimens examined_ (2).--Sec. 28, R. 8 E, T. 23 N, 1; 12 mi. S, 10 mi. W Buffalo, 1.

This species is the most conspicuous (and possibly the most abundant) ungulate in Harding County. It ranges throughout the county on flat and rolling grasslands where small groups, and occasionally herds of up to 50 individuals, were seen in 1960, 1961, 1963, 1968, and 1970. Visher (1914:88) reported that the pronghorn was common in the area until about 1900, but that it was near the point of extinction when he visited the county in 1910 and 1912.

~Bison bison bison~ (Linnaeus, 1758)

Bison

According to historical accounts (Anonymous, 1959), the bison was rare or absent in Harding County at the time of settlement in 1876. By the early 1880's, however, herds were of regular occurrence, and there is one record (_op. cit._: 95-96) of thousands crossing the Little Missouri near Camp Crook in November of 1882.

One report has it that the last bison killed in the county was shot in the summer of 1884 (_op. cit._: 73-74), but Visher (1914:88) reported that an "old settler" had seen "a small bunch in 1886." Visher also reported finding bison remains, probably in 1910 or 1912, to the northeast of the North Cave Hills and west of the South Cave Hills.

~Ovis canadensis auduboni~ Merriam, 1901

Mountain Sheep

According to Visher (1914:88), mountain sheep formerly inhabited all the areas of buttes in Harding County but were extirpated in the 1890's. Sheep Mountain, a large butte just below the south end of the Slim Buttes, was reported to be the last area in which these animals occurred. Over and Churchill (1945:54) mentioned both the Cave Hills and Slim Buttes as localities formerly inhabited by _O. c. auduboni_.

Early in 1961, the South Dakota Game Commission introduced 12 animals, four rams and eight ewes, from Alberta (subspecies _O. c. canadensis_) on the Slim Buttes, but none is known to have survived to 1968.

SPECIES OF UNVERIFIED OCCURRENCE

The ten species of mammals listed below are not known certainly to occur in Harding County, but there is a strong likelihood that some will be found in the area or once occurred there. Three were mentioned by Visher (1914) as having been seen or taken in the county at the time of, or prior to, his biological survey of 1910 and 1912, but his accounts were not supported by adequate documentation. In addition to the kinds listed, several other mammals, such as Keen's bat (_Myotis keenii septentrionalis_), the red bat (_Lasiurus borealis borealis_), or the least weasel (_Mustela nivalis campestris_) are known to occur near enough to the area that the possibility of their presence cannot be discounted.

~Sorex cinereus haydeni~ Baird, 1858.--No shrews presently are known from Harding County. This species almost certainly will be found in relatively mesic habitats there, however, as our field parties have taken specimens in adjacent Bowman County, North Dakota, and only a few miles to the west of the county in the Long Pines Hills of Montana.

~Sorex merriami merriami~ Dobson, 1890.--This shrew inhabits somewhat more xeric areas than most other members of the genus and surely occurs in northwestern South Dakota. Specimens are on record from western North Dakota and northwestern Nebraska, and in the summer of 1970 a field party from The University of Kansas took one but a half mile west of the Harding County (state) line in Carter County, Montana.

~Spermophilus richardsonii richardsonii~ (Sabine, 1822).--Visher (1914:88) reported that he saw individuals of this species "in the extreme northwestern corner" of Harding County. However, the limits of the presently known range of the species are approximately 150 miles distant from that area.

~Sciurus niger rufiventer~ E. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, 1803.--The fox squirrel presently is unrecorded from much of the West River part of South Dakota. Hoffmann _et al._ (1969:589), however, recently have reported specimens from along the Yellowstone River in eastern Montana and this squirrel now may occur also along the Little Missouri River. It was not surprising, therefore, when residents of Camp Crook reported to us that in recent years they have seen what were believed to be fox squirrels along the Little Missouri near that town. Specimens now are needed to verify these reports.

~Lagurus curtatus pallidus~ (Merriam, 1888).--The sagebrush vole undoubtedly occurs, albeit probably uncommonly, in areas of sage in northwestern Harding County, because specimens have been taken recently a few miles north and west of the county in North Dakota and Montana, respectively. We trapped unsuccessfully (900 trap nights) for this vole on sage flats to the north of Camp Crook and west of the Little Missouri River in the summer of 1970. "Sign," which appeared to be that of _Lagurus_, was found in this area, but only _Peromyscus maniculatus_ and _Spermophilus tridecemlineatus_ were trapped there.

~Rattus norvegicus~ (Berkenhout, 1769).--No records of this introduced murid are available from northwestern South Dakota, but it seems likely that the species has reached the area.

~Vulpes velox~ (Say, 1823).--Visher (1914:90) reported seeing a swift fox "along the Little Missouri Valley in North Dakota" and further noted that an early settler [Sol Catron] had "trapped a few" in Harding County. Whatever the former status of this fox in northwestern South Dakota may have been, the species evidently does not occur in the area today, or is rare, and the subspecific status of _V. velox_ throughout much of the Northern Great Plains is in question. A specimen obtained in February of 1970 at a place 9 mi. N and 2 mi. E Scranton, Slope Co., North Dakota, is the only swift fox taken north of Nebraska in recent years (Pfeifer and Hibbard, 1970:835).

~Urocyon cinereoargenteus ocythous~ Bangs, 1899.--Jones and Henderson (1963:288) reported a gray fox from Deer Ear Buttes, Butte Co., South Dakota, approximately 15 miles south of the Harding County line. This species appears to have dispersed westward in recent years, and its future occurrence in the county is likely.

~Gulo gulo luscus~ (Linnaeus, 1758).--The wolverine probably occurred sparingly in northwestern South Dakota until the time of early settlement, but we know of no verified records from Harding County or surrounding areas. A recent report of a specimen taken south of Timber Lake, Dewey Co., South Dakota (Jones, 1964:283), indicates that it may again be found in the area.

~Lynx canadensis canadensis~ Kerr, 1792.--We have no reports of this species in Harding County save that Visher (1914:90) noted that local residents claimed specimens had "been taken recently in the Cave Hills." Hoffmann and Pattie (1968:53) reported that the lynx occurs presently in eastern Montana and we suspect that individuals may occasionally range into Harding County.

ZOOGEOGRAPHIC COMMENTS

Of the 53 mammals listed in the foregoing accounts, all but one (_Mus musculus_) are native North American species. These fall into five rather well-defined faunal groupings as outlined by Hoffmann and Jones (1970:364-365). A majority (27) can be characterized as "widespread species." Most of these have broad distributions over much of North America; a few do not, but are widely enough distributed that it is impossible to assign them with certainty to a more circumscribed assemblage. Mammals from northwestern South Dakota that can be characterized as widespread are: _Myotis leibii_, _Myotis lucifugus_, _Eptesicus fuscus_, _Lasionycteris noctivagans_, _Lasiurus cinereus_, _Castor canadensis_, _Peromyscus maniculatus_, _Ondatra zibethicus_, _Erethizon dorsatum_, _Canis latrans_, _Canis lupus_, _Vulpes vulpes_, _Ursus americanus_, _Ursus arctos_, _Procyon lotor_, _Mustela frenata_, _Mustela vison_, _Taxidea taxus_, _Mephitis mephitis_, _Lutra canadensis_, _Felis concolor_, _Lynx rufus_, _Cervus elaphus_, _Odocoileus hemionus_, _Odocoileus virginianus_, _Antilocapra americana_, and _Bison bison_. The above list is composed mainly of volant or relatively large and mobile mammals, several of which occur also in Eurasia or range well into the Neotropics.

A few widespread species deserve special comment. Two, the pronghorn and bison, are typical inhabitants of the interior grasslands of North America and might be considered steppe species save for the fact that each has an extensive distribution beyond that region. Four other species, _Erethizon dorsatum_, thought of primarily as a mammal of coniferous forests, and _Ursus arctos_, _Taxidea taxus_, and _Odocoileus hemionus_, all more or less western taxa, are not so broadly distributed as are other members of this grouping. Of the five bats, three are year-round residents, but _Lasiurus cinereus_ and evidently _Lasionycteris noctivagans_ are migrants.

The remaining 25 kinds of mammals are representative of four regional faunal groupings as follows: boreomontane species (10), steppe species (nine), species with Sonoran affinities (four), and species of the eastern deciduous forest (two).

_Boreomontane species._--Of the 10 mammals in this faunal group, three (_Eutamias minimus_, _Tamiasciurus hudsonicus_, and _Microtus pennsylvanicus_) are distributed both in the boreal forests to the north of the plains and in montane areas to the west. Six species (_Myotis evotis_, _Myotis volans_, _Plecotus townsendii_, _Thomomys talpoides_, _Neotoma cinerea_, and _Ovis canadensis_) are primarily montane in distribution and evidently reached northwestern South Dakota from the west in late Wisconsin or post-glacial times; all but the pocket gopher occur there now only in the vicinity of coniferous timber or rocky buttes. The remaining species, _Zapus hudsonius_, is a glacial "relic." The nearest populations now are far to the north, and this jumping mouse occupies only restricted habitats in northwestern South Dakota and adjacent regions. In Harding County, _Z. hudsonius_ presently is known only from Deer Draw in the Slim Buttes.

_Steppe species._--Taxa intimately associated with the Great Plains are: _Lepus townsendii_, _Cynomys ludovicianus_, _Spermophilus tridecemlineatus_, _Perognathus fasciatus_, _Perognathus hispidus_, _Reithrodontomys montanus_, _Microtus ochrogaster_, _Mustela nigripes_, and _Spilogale putorius_ (subspecies _interrupta_). A few of these are endemic to the plains, but most occur in grassland habitats beyond the borders of the region. All clearly are well adapted to, and therefore presumably evolved in response to, the environment of the interior grasslands; this zoogeographic unit, then, is characterized by truly steppe species that have relatively narrow habitat requirements and largely concordant patterns of distribution.

The case of the spotted skunk deserves brief commentary. This species was not taken or observed by members of our field parties and local residents made no claim to its presence except for a few vague recollections of spotted skunks having been seen "years ago." Visher (1914:91), however, reported that _Spilogale_ was much commoner than _Mephitis_ in the early part of the century. However that may have been, _Spilogale putorius_, as currently understood, would be judged to be a widespread species except that recent evidence strongly suggests that the plains race (_interrupta_) is not of the same species as spotted skunks to the west (subspecies _gracilis_). Furthermore, the ranges of the two are not in contact. Whatever its ultimate specific affinities may be, _S. p. interrupta_ clearly is a plains mammal, and thus is here considered in that zoogeographic unit.

_Sonoran species._--_Sylvilagus audubonii_, _Dipodomys ordii_, _Reithrodontomys megalotis_, and _Onychomys leucogaster_ are invaders to the Northern Great Plains from the Sonoran region to the southwest. The latter two, however, are rather broadly distributed on the Great Plains and their assignment as Sonoran species is somewhat arbitrary. It is of interest that as many as nine mammals with southwestern affinities occur as far north as southwestern South Dakota and adjacent Wyoming.