Part 16

The otter is one of the largest members of the weasel family, somewhat minklike in general appearance, with a small head and rather short legs. The feet are webbed and the tail is thick and tapering toward the tip. The general coloration above is dark chestnut-brown, becoming somewhat paler on the underparts, throat and cheeks.

Specimens in park collection: Mounted specimen, Longmire Museum, Park Headquarters.

Otters are geographically distributed over most of North America. The Pacific Otter is found from Oregon, Washington and British Columbia northward as far as the coast of Alaska.

Recent years have failed to produce any records from the park, and there is some doubt that the otter still exists in the area. However, it was reported by Dr. C. Hart Merriam as fairly common along the Nisqually Valley in 1897, while there were reports from the park in later years. Thus it may be that this animal is still present in some more remote sectors.

Although adapted for living either on land or in the water, the otter seems to prefer the water. It is a graceful, powerful swimmer, and delights in frolicking in pools deep enough to allow lots of freedom of action. Playful by nature, it often amuses itself by sliding down banks into the water, repeating the performance time and again until a well defined slide is made. Its food is made up of a wide variety of animal life, ranging from fish, crayfish, frogs, snakes and birds to small mammals.

In one way it is unfortunate that the otter has such a valuable pelt, because it has been relentlessly trapped wherever found; so much so, in fact, that only in areas protected against trapping is it likely to continue to hold its own or multiply.

LITTLE SPOTTED SKUNK Spilogale gracilis latifrons Merriam

This animal has a slender body about a foot in length, with short legs and a plumelike tail. The general coloration is black with a prominent white spot on the forehead, four white stripes running from the head onto the back, white patches and stripes along the sides, the rump spotted white, and the tail broadly white-tipped.

Specimens in park collection: None.

The spotted skunks, often erroneously called “civet cats,” are found over most of the United States.

The little spotted skunk occurs on the west side of the Cascade Mountains of Washington, and through the Olympic Peninsula to the westward. The northern limits of range are not clearly defined.

In Mount Rainier National Park it has been reported from near Longmire, Tahoma Creek and Carbon River. In 1897 records show that it was fairly common in the Nisqually River Valley, but in recent years observations have become extremely limited. Its present status must be considered as uncommon to rare.

This is without doubt the most interesting as well as the handsomest skunk in the Northwest. Unlike its larger cousin, the Puget Sound striped skunk, this little animal is graceful and rather agile. Seldom is it seen during the day time, preferring to roam about in search of food during the night. Its travels take it over a wide area, and it shows a fondness for man-made buildings. It has been known to occupy attics in dwellings, and one disconcerted wife of a National Park Service employee found one casually strolling through the hallway of her house one night! It is rather playful and even tempered, and seldom resorts to the strong perfume it carries.

Its food is varied, and may include almost anything from insects and reptiles to small rodents. As a mouser it rivals a cat in effectiveness. Sometimes referred to as the “hydrophobia skunk” or “phoby-cat” it has had a bad reputation in the past as a carrier of hydrophobia. However, the belief so prevalent among many people that its bite will always produce this dread malady has no foundation in fact. Many animals may carry hydrophobia, and there are few authentic records of the skunks as carriers.

PUGET SOUND STRIPED SKUNK Mephitis mephitis spissigrada Bangs

Larger and stockier than the little spotted skunk, the Puget Sound striped skunk is black, with a narrow white stripe through the forehead, a broad white stripe starting on the head and dividing at the shoulders into two broad stripes that run back along the sides of the body. There are long white hairs on the tail; the tip of the tail is black.

Specimens in park collection: RNP-43, Longmire Museum, Park Headquarters.

The Puget Sound striped skunk is found from northwestern Oregon through the lowlands of western Washington and into the Puget Sound section of southern British Columbia.

In the park it has been recorded only once. This lone record was from near the Nisqually Entrance where one was killed on the highway by an automobile.

This type of skunk is well known throughout the United States. Its cousins through the Middle West, East and South are familiar to every farm boy. Its struggle for existence has been seriously threatened in many localities because of the value of its fur. Because it prefers open country to dense forests and mountains, it occupies the same regions as man.

The skunk is by nature a timid and gentle animal, and by moving slowly it is possible to approach one with no fear of disastrous results. However, practically anyone will agree that it is a safer course to simply let the skunk go its way unmolested. The powers of persuasion it possesses are not to be taken lightly!

NORTHWESTERN COUGAR Felis concolor oregonensis Rafinesque

The cougar is the largest of the cats found in the region, measuring up to more than eight feet in total length and weighing 150 pounds or more. The body is slender, with a small head and long tail. Its coloration above may range from reddish brown to gray brown, darkest along the back. The underparts are whitish with the light areas extending forward as far as the chin. The tail is brown with a prominent black tip. Young cougars are somewhat lighter in color, with large dark spots along the back and sides.

Specimens in park collection: Mounted specimen at the Forest House at Ohanapecosh.

Cougars, or mountain lions, were formerly found over practically all of the United States, but are now extinct over most of their original range.

The Northwestern cougar ranges from northern California through Oregon and Washington into British Columbia. It is fairly common in some parts of its range.

In the park it may be found from the lower elevations up to forest line. Most records have come from around the Nisqually River drainage and from the west side of the park. However, it is apparently well distributed throughout the region.

Probably no animal found within the park affects the visitor as does the cougar. To many people it is regarded as a highly dangerous, blood-thirsty creature awaiting only a chance to pounce upon some unsuspecting hiker. On the contrary, there are few animals in the woods that are as shy or that run faster from humans than does the cougar. The chances of actually observing one in the wilds are very remote, as the lion usually sees without being seen, and beats a hasty retreat.