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[[underlined]] Sweetwater Lakes [[/underlined]]

[[underlined]] Bison [[strikethrough]] americana [[/strikethrough]] ^[[bison]] [[/underlined]], old bones [[strikethrough]] & horns [[/strikethrough]] are numerous in the woods and around the shores of the lakes.

[[underlined]] Cervus canadensis [[/underlined]] - An old elk antler was found near our camp in the timber by the lake.

[[underlined]] Citellus franklini [[/underlined]] - Abundant in the brushy places around the lakes

[[underlined]] Citellus 13lineatus [[/underlined]] - One seen on the prairie but none in the brush.

[[underlined]] Citellus richardsoni [[/underlined]] - Abundant over all the prairie along roads & in fields. Are beginning to cut the heading grain and have pulled down considerably.

[[underlined]] Peromyscus ^[[m. bairdii]] [[/underlined]] - Abundant but none taken.

[[underlined]] Zapus campestris [[/underlined]] - One seen and their cut grass piles are common in edge of meadows and brush.

[[underlined]] Microtus drummondi [[/underlined]] - Abundant. only 2 taken, but runways & cuttings seen all over marshes & in edge of sloughs.

[[underlined]] Fiber z. cinnamoninus [[/underlined]] - Common in the lakes.  Numerous holes run out into the banks.

[[underlined]] Thomomys talpoides [[/underlined]] - Common both over prairie & in woods & meadows.

[[underlined]] Lepus f. [[strikethrough]] bearusi [[/strikethrough]] ^[[similis]] [[/underlined]] - Cottontails are numerous in the woods & brush.  Eastgate says they reached Laramore in 1890.  One specimen sent.

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[[underlined]] Sweetwater Lakes [[/underlined]]

[[underlined]] July 11 [[/underlined]] - Caught Blarina & Microtus, Saw 12 skunks & signs of cottontails & muskrats & tracks of badgers.

Eastgate saw a zapus & picked up an old elk horn. Cottontails are common & there may be varying [[pairs?]] in the thickets. Peromyscus have eaten the cockle-burs all over the sandy beaches.  Buffalo bones are numerous in the woods & on the lake shores. Franklins groundsquirrel is everywhere in the bushes. One bat was seen near camp.

Sweetwater lakes have gone down till they are now disconnected and we camped in the middle between 4 or 5 of them on a wooded point. Most of the borders are timbered down to the ice bank, then a sloping beach of sandy or weedy ground, then tules or reeds in wide borders out into the shallow margins. The Southeast lake, at which we camped in the NW corner, is shallow and water plants come to the surface over most of it.

Ducks & grebes are numerous over this & most of the lakes.

Some of the lakes are more open with prairie around part or all of the shores, and little or no plant life and these have fewer birds. Others are marshy bordered or just sloughs