USA > California > Merced County > History of Merced County, California with biographical sketches of prominent citizens > Part 47
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Walter Colton in his " Three Years in California," says he set out to visit the gold mines, and on September 27, 1848, thus describes the San Joaquin Valley as "stretching away like a Sahara without an object on which the eye could rest. We were in the midst of the plain when a moving object, dim and distant, rapidly advanced upon us. It was a band of wild horses rushing down the plain like a torrent to the sea. We instantly seized the halters to our pack-mules, and not knowing what to do, waited the issue. They swept past us but a short distance ahead. The very ground shook with the thunder of their hoofs. Their arehing necks and flowing mane, their glassy flanks and sinewy bound, made you begrudge them their free- dom."
The larger wild animals have probably disappeared forever from this eounty. It would be interesting to know just when and where the last of these noble animals met their inevitable fate.
There is now, at proper seasons, an abundance of California quail, wild ducks, geese, and other game in this county. In fact, the wild geese along the borders of the rivers are a great nuisance to the farmers.
BANDS OF ELK.
CERVIDE-Cervus Canadensis, American elk.
Elk were here in great numbers, but we believe that they were about the first animals to take fright at civilization and leave. They were mereilessly killed by hunters, killed not for their flesh, but for the fun of the killing. As early as 1854 the elk were pretty much all eleared out or had gone off.
Herds of elk roamed over the San Joaquin plains in early times. Captain Kimball, of Antioch, says on the first morning after his arrival, then in 1849, he saw eighty elk in one drove, feeding, a mile south of his house, and sbot a fine heifer weigh- ing four hundred pounds, At the same time these plains were covered with wild cattle. These were slaughtered for their hides and tallow, which, at that day, constituted the only cur-
rency of the country. Much of the flesh meat iu 1850-51 was dried elk. Large herds of elk used to feed on the green tule lands and islands opposite Antioch. Their horns were such as to prevent them from running in large bodies. Thoy were frequently lassoed by the vaqueros of California.
Walter Colton in "Three Years in California," says, Septem- ber 27, 1848 :-
"Our road for ten miles lay through a level plain correspond- ing in its cheerless aspeet to that which we had passed on the other side of the San Joaquin. We encountered a drove of elk with their forest of branehing horns, but they kept beyond the range of our rifles. They ran away from their own horns it would seem, for our road was strewn with their cast-off horns."
They are now found in small numbers along the northern coast, where they will soon be exterminated. The meat resem- bles that of the deer, but is a little eoarser iu grain. The elk are shy animals, have a very quick ear, and are more diffieult to approach than any other game animal in the State, unless the mountain sheep be excepted. They ordinarily lie hidden in thickets during the middle of the day, and feed about sunrise and sunset, at which times the hunters seek them.
THE GRIZZLY BEAR.
URSIDE-U. horribilis, grizzly bear; U. Americanus, black, brown, einnamon.
The grizzly was the terror of the poor Digger, and, we are sure, of the other animals also. He " was the monarch of the forest and the jungle." The Indiau name was boose, and we do not think that the most daring among them ever attacked one. There were great numbers of these bears in all the bends of the river aud in the foot-hills. As soon as settlements began to be made along the river, the bear migrated, but a few more dar- iug than the rest remained for many years.
Grizzly bears were thick in early times, so much so that Dr. Marsh, the first settler near the foot of Mount Diablo, used to say he could have one caught at any time by the vaqueros. The bears often took his ealves and colts. They would destroy elk, deer and antelope. A young man was killed by one of them in the dense forest of chemissal, three or four miles from Antioch. This ehemissal is a short growth of uuderbruslı, so dense as to be impenetrable by man, and covers about 5,000 acres. It is still affirmed that bears are to be occasionally seeu in or near this hiding-place.
Of the native quadrupeds of California, the grizzly bear is the largest and the most formidable. It grows to be four feet high and seven feet long, weighing 2,000 pounds when very large and fat.
The grizzly and his habits are more fully described in the account of "Grizzly Adams' " adventures on another page.
THE ANTELOPE.
Antilocapra Americana-Antelope-These are a fleet, pretty auimal, as well as eunning in their habits.
Antelope, however, were more numerous than any other of the larger animals. They furnished meat for all the settlers, teamsters and travelers. The antelope were a good deal more
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HISTORY OF MERCED COUNTY.
easily killed than deer. They passed the plains to the brush land on the hills. The flesh of the antelope was very good, but they never got fat. It partook more of the nature of the goat than the deer. The young antelope could be tamed inch more easily than a calf. They disappeared suddenly from the plains ahout 1855 or 1856. Occasional bands of half a dozen will now visit the plains-fromn whence we know not-and remain for a few months or until killed hy the hunters.
They are shy, but inquisitive also, and are easily enticed to approach the hunter, who hides himself hehind a rock, and fastening a white handkerchief to his ramrod, waves it back and forth. One, larger than the rest, has often been seen by early settlers watching while the main body of the kids were at water, or on the bottom-lands feeding on green grass.
THE NATIVE DEER.
C. Columbina-Black-tailed Deer-The common deer of the Coast Range and the mountains east of the valley.
Deer were not so numerous as the antelope, but did not so soon succumb to the destroying force of civilization. They inhabited the timber lands of the rivers and the mountains in great numbers, hut being more difficult to get at than the antelope, were not so often killed. They have gradually left the river, until now it is a very rare thing to find one even in the thickets of the deep brush. Tens of thousands of them have been killed in the mountains for their hides and meat, but they show no signs of becoming extinct like the elk and tbe antelope. Stringent laws have been passed against killing deer at certain seasons, but the enforcement has always been slack.
The black-tailed deer are good game for the hunter. They may be approached with more ease than the Virginia deer, run with a steady gate, and when disturbed do not run so far. The deer east of the Mississippi go 'with a run and a jump; tbe Pacific deer move with a steady run. Their meat is not so sweet as that of their Eastern congeners. The deer live near the timber, and are found along the coast and in the Sierra Nevada.
THE COYOTE.
CANIDE-Canis Lupus, gray and black wolf; C. latrans. coyote; Vulpes vulgaris, gray, red, silver-gray foxes.
Coyotes were thick here in 1849, and while they never at- tacked a man, they would come into camp and carry off any- tbing that was lying around loose. They have been known to steal meat from under a man's head while he was asleep. The coyote is a species of wolf, but is by no means so large or ferocious as those of the Eastern States. Of course they became a mark for every sportsman, and their numher diminished very rapidly. There was a time when it appeared that they were about to become extinct, but for the last few years they seem to have been more numerous, and are giving the wool- growers of the foot-hills a good deal of trouble. There are none left on tbe plains or along the river. They are more shy now than they used to be, and are much harder to kill.
The coyote or fox is well known to the Californian-a kind of link between the cat and dog, and is sometimes called prairie- dog, but is very different from the animal of that name found on the western plains. They often followed the emi- grant train to pick up the bones and crumbs that fell by the
way. They would steal eggs and chickens from the roost, but were great cowards, and a small dog would drive them off.
THE GROUND SQUIRREL.
SCIUVIDE-Sciurus leporinus-California gray squirrel.
S. Douglasii-Oregon red squirrel.
Spermophilus Beecheyi-California ground squirrel.
The ground squirrel is not as numerous here as in the Santa Clara and some other valleys. They destroy large quantities of growing grain.
They are very hard to kill, or very hard to get after being killed. However badly one is wounded, it always manages to flounder toward its hole. It has often occurred that one would get into its hole, several feet off, after being shot in the head.
It is somewhat strange that while they have been hecoming more numerous in some of the lower counties of the State, the number bas been constantly decreasing here. According to the reports Merced has paid large amounts in some years as bounty for their. extermination.
These squirrels burrow in the ground, generally at the foot. of a tree, or near something that protects the hole. While they have the power of climbing almost equal to the gray squirrel of the East, they are hardly ever seen in trees. The flesh of the young squirrel is excellent eating, hut should be parboiled to do away with a strong ground taste. They are darker in color than the gray squirrel and not quite so large.
Sciurus Fessor-The California gray squirrel.
The most beautiful, and one of the largest of the squirrel genus, inhabits all the pine forests of the State. Its color on the back is a finely-grizzled bluish-gray, and white beneatb. At the base of the ear is a little woolly tuft, of a chestnut color. The sides of the feet are covered with hair in the winter, hut are bare in summer; the body is more slender and delicate in shape than that of the Atlantic gray squirrel. It sometimes grows to be twelve inches long in the head and body, and fif- teen inches long in the tail, making the entire length twenty- seven iuches.
CALIFORNIA GOPHER.
This is the most abundant and most tronhlesome rodent of the State. When full grown it has a body six or eight inches long, with a tail of two inches. In the cheeks are large pouches, covered with fur inside, white to the margin, which is dark brown. He spends nearly all his time under ground, gnaw- ing off the roots of fruit trees and garden vegetables, eating newly grown seed and grain, and cutting off the roots of flow- ers and bulbs.
RABBITS OR HARES.
LEPORIDÆ-Lepus Californicus-Jackass rahbit.
L. Trobridgii-Commonly called cotton-tail (a hare).
The next most numerous, and now perhaps the most numor- ous of any other animal, is the hare. We have two distinct kinds, the jackass rabhit, and the cotton-tail. Neither of them are like the gray rabbit, common in the States east of the Rocky Mountains. The jackass rabbits are very numerous in foot-hills, and once inhabited the plains to a great extent, and there are a few of them there yet. At certain seasons of the year, they become very poor and sickly, and most people in districts where they are thiek do not care to eat them, except
NEW IMPROVED ALTHOUSE VANELESS WINDMILL, L. H. WOODIN, PROPRIETOR, 109 PINE ST. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. D. T. CURTISS AGENT, MODESTO, CAL.
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ZOOLOGY OF MERCED COUNTY.
they can get one about half-grown. City people eat them "for the name of the thing," the same as they do a wild goose in the fall of the year, because it is game. The cotton-tail is a very small rabbit, and is very fine eating. They inhabit prin- cipally tbe brush lands hordering the river and swamps.
The California hare, or "jackass rabbit," as it is commonly called, is one of the largest of its elass, growing sometimes to be two feet long from the nose to the end of the tail. Its ears are very large, and have suggested the vulgar name. It was once abundant in all the valleys from the Klamath to the Col- orado; it is more rare now. The color beneath is a pale cinna- mon; above it is mixed black and light cinnamon, the longest hairs being of a light smokey-asb color for about half the length, then dark sooty-brown, then pale einnamon-red, and finally black at the tip.
Lepus Campestrus-The prairie hare-One of the largest hares; inhabits the plateau of the Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin, Valley, and the country about the Klamath lakes. It is all white in winter; in summer yellowish-gray, with brownish tinges above and white beneath.
BEAVER.
Beaver were quite numerous at one time, as we notice hy the following article, printed in 1871 :-
" Major Murray, a resident of Snelling, turned his attention November 18th, to trapping for beaver, and bad unparalleled snecess. He had three traps, which he set on Sunday evening. On Monday morning he found three beavers in his traps; on Tuesday morning two, and on Wednesday morning one, making six in three days.
" These industrious little animals have beeu making a source of great trouble to the mill men and orchardists along the river, as they cut down and destroy the trees, with which they build dams in the ditches, turning the water away from the mills. The Major seemed about to exterminate the family in that section."
PANTHERS AND WILD CATS.
FELIDE-Felis concolor, pantber ; F. Canadensis, Canada lynx; F. rufus, wild cat.
The mountain eat is abundant along the western base of the Sierra Nevada, between latitudes 36° and 39º. One was killed near Berkeloy in 1881. The body is about the size of that of the domestic cat, but the nose is very long and sharp, and the tail very long and large. The color of the animal is dark gray, with rings of black on the tail. The miners call it the " mountain cat," and frequently tame it. It is a favorite pet with them, becomes very playful and familiar, and is far more affectionate than the common eat, which it might replace, for it is very good at catehing mice.
MOUNTAIN SHEEP.
Ovis Montana-Rocky Mountain sheep, seen as far west as the tops of the Coast Range formerly.
The mountain sheep is found on the Sierra Nevada, from the Tejon Pass to the Oregon line, but is a rare and very shy animal, and is seldom killed. Its lengtb is about five feet, and its weight sometimes three hundred and fifty pounds, consider- ably greater than that of the deer or domesticated sheep. The color is white bencath, grayish-brown elsewhere. The horns of the ram are very large, sometimes five inches through at
tbe base and three feet long. The borns after starting upward turn backward, tben downward, and so round with a circular or spiral shape, the tip inclining outward. Mountaineers assert that these horns are used by the sheep in getting dowu from the bigh cliffs which he is fond of frequenting. "Instead of clambering down toilsomely over the rugged and broken rocks, be makes an easy job of it by leaping headlong confidently down over precipices fifty, yes, one hundred feet high, and alights head first on his horns, which are strong enough to be unbroken by the sbock, and elastic enough to throw him ten or fifteeu feet into the air-and the next time he alights on his feet all right."
OTHER ANIMALS.
MUSTELIDE-Mustela Pennantii, fisher; Mephitis Mephitica, Taxidea Americana, badger; Lutra Canadensis, otter; Putorius ermineus, weasel; Putorius lutreolus, mink ; Procyon lotor, raccoon.
The raccoon is found here wherever there is timber. While some of the animals here differ from their species of the East there is no difference that we can see in our raccoon and those of the Eastern States; in fact he is everywhere "that same old coon." We do uot know that civilization has either increased or decreased the number.
The American badger is abundant on the plateau of the Sierra Nevada, and is occasionally found in other parts of State. It is very sby, and is rarely seen by the traveler.
The California lion is a very rare animal. It is not a roar- ing lion, like the Easteru. The head is small and much like the head of the tiger, being large between the eyes. The neck is without mane. It is said he seldom attacks human beings.
The desert fox is found in the central deserts and valleys of the coutinent, crosses the Sierra Nevada, and is often killed in Mariposa and Tuolumne counties.
The following is an extended list of the more common quad- rupeds occasionally found: Grizzly hear, cinnamon bear, pan- ther, or California lion, large yellow wolf, coyote, Indian dog, lynx or catamount, wild cat, mountain or civit cat, gray, black, silver and cross fox, fisher, badger, marten, weasel, mink, large striped skunk, small spotted skunk, large gray, ground, pine and flying squirrel, chipmunk, otter, raccoon, woodchuck, gopher, mole, wood-mouse, and rat like a kangaroo in its motions.
BIRDS OF THIS SECTION.
The birds of this valley are very uumerous, but are not char- acterized by striking colors or good singing qualities, though there are a few good songsters.
CATHARIDE CALIFORNICUS-Vulture, Pseudogryphus Califor- nicus, Rhinogryphus Aura.
The California vulture, sometimes improperly called " con- dor," is the largest bird on the continent, and next to the condor the largest flying bird in the world, and inbabits all parts of the State, though it is not abundant in any place. It is as prominent and peculiar a feature of the birds of California as tbe grizzly bear is among the quadrupeds. It is very shy, and is rarely killed. The total length of the California vulture is ahout four feet, and its width from tip to tip of the outstretched wings, ten feet or more. Its color is brownisb-black, with a white stripe aeross the wings. The head and neck are bare, and red and yellow in color.
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HISTORY OF MERCED COUNTY.
Cutharetes Aura-Turkey-buzzard, or turkey-vulture-It is specifically the same with the bird known by that name in the Atlantic States; is found in all parts of California. From the the tip of the bill to the end of the tail it is about thirty inches long, and six feet from tip to tip of the outstretched wings. The head and neck are bare, and covered with a brigbt-red wrinkled skin. The plumage commences below that, with a circular ruff of projecting feathers. The color of the plumage is black, with a purplish lustre, many of the feathers having a pale border. The bill is yellowish in color.
Sturnella Magna-Western Meadow Lark.
Ceryle Alcyon-Kingfisher.
THE EAGLE FAMILY.
FALCONSIDE - White-headed Eagle, Duck-hawk, Sparrow- hawk, Fish-hawk.
Aquila Canadensis-Golden Eagle-Inhabits California, and indeed all parts of North America. Its lengtb is thirty or forty inches ; its color on the head and neck is yellowish- brown; white at the base of the tail, and brown varying to purplish-brown and black, elsewhere.
Haliaëtus leucocephalus-Bald Eagle-It was abundant in California ten years ago, and is still often seen along the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Klamath rivers. It frequents rapids for the purpose of catching fish, which seems to furnish the larger part of its food. It is from thirty to forty inches long, white on the head and at the base of the tail, and brown- ish-black on the breast, wings and back.
Pandion Carolinensis-Fish-hawk-It is found along all our large rivers. It is from twenty to twenty-five inches long. The head and under parts are white, with pale yellowish-brown spots on the breast ; the back wings and tail dark brown. There are seventeen other species in the State, most of them small and rare.
Owls-Barn, burrowing, horned.
Athene Cunicularia-Burrowing Owl-It is ten inches long, ashy-brown above and whitish-brown beneath, variegated by spots and bands of white and dark brown. Dr. Newberry says :-
" The burrowing owl is found in many partsof California, where it shares the burrows of Beecbey's and Douglas' spermophiles. We usually saw them standing at the entrance of their burrows. They often allowed us to approach within sbot, and, before taking flight, twisted their heads about and bowed with many ludicrous gestures, thus apparently aiding their imperfect sight, and getting a better view of the intruder. When shot at and not killed, or when otherwise alarmed, they fly with an irregu- lar, jerking motion."
California has nine species of owls, namely: the barn, great- horned, screeeh, long-eared, short-eared, great grey, saw-whet, burrowing, and pigmy owls.
Melanerpes formicerous-Woodpecker.
The California woodpecker is called by the Spanish Califor- nians the carpintero, or carpenter, because he is in the habit of boring holes with his beak in the hark of the nut pine, red- wood, California white oak, and Western yellow pine, and then storing acorns in them for his winter use. The holes are just
large and deep enough to hold each an acorn, which is ham- mered in so that there is no danger of its falling out. The acorns on the northern side of the tree, where they are pro- tected from the rains, which come from the southward, often keep good for years. The bark of the nut pine is preferred, probably being softer and more regular in grain than any other bark. The holes are bored to within two or three feet of the ground, and to a height of fifty feet-sometimes, hut rarely, in the limbs as well as the trunk. From thirty to fifty holes are often found in a square foot. In seasons when, or in places where, acorns are scarce, the woodpecker will put away hazel- nuts in the same manner. The squirrels often plunder the stores and then the birds attack the thieves, darting down upon them and pecking them with their beaks. When the squirrel sees the property-owner coming, he hurries to a hole or gets under a limb where he cannot be seen. There are eleven species of woodpecker in the State.
TURDIE-Thrushes (Robin-Turdus migratorius. Oregon robin, T. nævis.
SAXCIOLIDÆ-Stone-chats -- Sialia Mexican warblers --- Maryland Yellow throat, Shrikes, Finches, Orioles (Agelous pho- niceus and A. tricolor-Yellow head).
Pigeons, Doves, Grouse-(Canace obscurus.)
Quails - Laphortyx Californicus valley; Oreortya picto, mountain.
The most abundant and prominent of our scratchers, the California quail, is found in all the valleys of California and Oregon. Its breast and upper parts are lead-colored, with an olive-brown gloss on the back and wings ; the chin and throat are black, with a white line running backward from the eye ; the forehead is brownish-yellow ; the belly is pale buff, with an orange-brown round spot in the middle, changing to white at the sides ; the feathers on the back and sides have a central streak of white, and those on the top and sides of the neck have black edgings. The head bears a crest numbering from three to six feathers, usually five, about an inch and a half long The shafts are bare, very slender, and, though all are in a straight line on the longitudinal medial line of the head, they are so near together as to look like but one shaft, more especially as the fine, fur-like bushes at their tops all combine to form a compact little plume. These feathers are usually erect, the plume lean- ing forward when the bird is trying to look its best in the presence of company ; but when running about in the grass, and not thinking of its appearance, the crest is lowered, falling forward over the bill. The California quail has two notes-the song and the call.
Humming Birds-There are four varieties of humming birds in California, all different from those found in the Atlantic States. The white-throated swift is a bird resembling the swallow.
We have a whip-poor-will, different from the one known in the Eastern States.
The following is a list of the most common birds, with the usual namnes applied to them: Condor or king vulture, bald eagle, golden eagle, turkey-buzzard, raven, crow, several kinds of hawk, road-runner, several varieties of woodpecker, grouse, mountain and valley quail, pigeon, meadow-lark, magpie, black- hird, flicker, robin, suipe, saud snipe, plover, curlew, red-wiuged blackbird, bluebird, oriole, gray sparrow, small sparrow, cher-
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ZOOLOGY OF MERCED COUNTY.
rybird, cross-bill, linnet, cheewink, California cauary, martin, swallow, blue crane or hieron, sand-hill crane, wild goose, small Canadian goose, wood duck, mallard, teal, dipper duck and mud-hen, pelican, and two varieties of humming birds.
Herons-Ardeu Herodias, blue; butorides virescens, green.
Grus Cunadensis-The Sand-hill Crane-Is found from the meridian of Cincinnati to the Pacific, and are not rare in California. They spend the winters in our valleys, and in the spring migrate to the Klamath Lakes and farther north, where they spend their suminers and breed. Subsisting upon vegetable food exclusively, they are themselves good to eat, and are occasionally seen in tbe San Francisco market.
CORVIDE-American raven, Yellow-billed Magpie, Bluejay.
SWANS, WILD GEESE AND DUCKS.
ANATIDÆE-Geese, ducks, pelicans, swans and gulls are nu- mnerous.
Wild geese are abundant in California during the spring and fall, when they pass through on their migrations. Among them are the Canada goose, the snow goose, the white-footed goose, or "speckled belly," Hutching's goose, and the black brant.
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