In order to test hypotheses concerning habitat preferences of each of
the species of _Peromyscus_, several previously untrapped areas that
appeared to be ideal habitat for one species, but not for the other,
were selected for sampling. In the summers of 1963 and 1964 snap traps
were set along an arbitrary line through each of these areas. Traps were
placed in pairs; each pair was 20 feet from the adjacent pairs.
A mixture of equal parts of peanut butter, bacon grease, raisins, roman
meal and rolled oats was used as bait. Rolled oats or coarsely ground
scratch feed was used in areas where insects removed the mixture from
the traps.
Rodents trapped by me were variously prepared as study skins with
skulls, as flat skins with skulls, as skeletons, as skulls only, or as
alcoholics. Representative specimens were deposited in The University of
Kansas Museum of Natural History. In the course of my study, traps were
set in the following areas:
_Morfield Ridge_
In July 1959 a fire destroyed more than 2,000 acres of pinyon-juniper
forest (_Pinus edulis_ and _Juniperus osteosperma_) in the eastern part
of the park. The burned area extends from Morfield Canyon to Waters
Canyon, encompassing several canyons, Whites Mesa, and a ridge between
Morfield Canyon and Waters Canyon that is known locally as Morfield
Ridge (Fig. 1). Beginning on September 4, 1961, three pairs of traplines
were run on this ridge at elevations of 7,300 to 7,600 feet.
Vegetation in the trapping area consisted of dense growths of grasses
and herbaceous plants, which had covered the ground with seeds. In this
and in the following accounts, the generic and specific names of plants
are those used by Welsh and Erdman (1964). The following plants were
identified from the trapping area on Morfield Ridge:
_Lithospermum ruderale_
_Chenopodium pratericola_
_Achillea millefolium_
_Artemisia tridentata_
_Aster bigelovii_
_Chrysothamnus depressus_
_Chrysothamnus nauseosus_
_Helianthus annuus_
_Helianthella_ sp.
_Lactuca_ sp.
_Lepidium montanum_
_Quercus gambelii_
_Agropyron smithii_
_Bromus inermis_
_Bromus japonicus_
_Oryzopsis hymenoides_
_Calochortus nuttallii_
_Linum perenne_
_Sphaeralcea coccinea_
_Polygonum sawatchense_
_Solidago petradoria_
_Wyethia arizonica_
_Nicotiana attenuata_
_Fendlera rupicola_
_Penstemon linarioides_
Only _Peromyscus maniculatus_, _Perognathus apache_ and _Reithrodontomys
megalotis_ were taken in this area (Table 1). Many birds inhabit this
area, including hawks, ravens, towhees, jays, juncos, woodpeckers,
doves, sparrows and titmice. Rabbits, badgers and mule deer also live in
the area. Only two reptiles, a horned lizard and a collared lizard, were
seen.
_South of Far View Ruins_
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