away so
rapidly that it is quite impossible to follow his movements. In color
he is of a grayish brown, with thick-set body, and short, slim tail.
He has an exceeding sharp call, and makes his home in grassy meadows
from the level of the Lake nearly to the summits of the highest peaks.
The "copper-head" is the other ground-squirrel, though by some he may
be regarded as a chipmunk, for he has a striped back.

The flying squirrel is also found here. It comes out only at night and
lives in holes in trees. On each side between the fore and hind legs
it has a hairy flap, which when stretched out makes the body very
broad, and together with its hairy tail it is enabled to sail from
one tree to another, though always alighting at a lower level. A more
correct name would be a "sailing" squirrel. The fur is very soft, of
a mouse color and the animal makes a most beautiful pet. It has great
lustrous eyes and is about a foot in length.

The tree squirrel about the Lake is the pine squirrel or "chickeree."
The large tree squirrel is abundant on the west slope of the Sierra
from about six thousand feet downward, but it is not in the Lake
basin, so far as I am aware. The pine squirrel is everywhere, from
the Lake side to the summits of the highest wooded peaks. It is dark
above, whitish to yellow below, usually with a black line along the
side. The tail is full, bushy, the hairs tipped with white forming a
broad fringe. It feeds on the seeds of the pine cones.

The woodchuck or marmot is a huge, lumbering, squirrel-like animal in
the rocky regions, wholly terrestrial and feeding chiefly on roots and
grass. The young are fairly good eating and to shoot them with a rifle
is some sport.

Of the fur bearing and carnivorous animals the otter, fisher, etc.,
all are uncommon, though some are trapped every year by residents of
the Lake. The otter and mink live along the larger streams and on the
Lake shore where they feed chiefly on fish. They may sometimes catch a
wild fowl asleep. The martin and fisher live in pine trees usually
in the deepest forests, and they probably prey on squirrels, mice and
birds. They are usually nocturnal in their habits. The martin is the
size of a large tree squirrel; the fisher is about twice that size.
The foxes are not often seen, but the coyote is everywhere, a scourge
to the few bands of sheep. Often at night his long-drawn, doleful howl
may be heard, a fitting sound in some of the wild granite canyons