In order to determine the relative numbers of each species of
_Peromyscus_ that were taken on a seasonal basis by predators, scats of
coyotes and foxes were collected from trails and roads at least twice
each month, from September 1963 through August 1964. Scats were
identified, labeled and dried; all bones and samples of hair were later
removed from each scat. Scats that were intermediate in size between the
droppings of foxes and coyotes, and that could not be identified readily
in the field, were not collected. Bones from the scats were identified
to species, and hair was identified to genus or species by comparing
color patterns or cuticular patterns with samples from known mammals.
More than 200 impression slides and whole mounts of guard hair and
underfur were prepared.
Seven individuals of _P. truei_ and three individuals of _P.
maniculatus_ were represented in 114 coyote scats (Table 13). Both
species of _Peromyscus_ comprised only 3.9 per cent of the 253 items of
food represented in the 114 scats. Rabbits, _Sylvilagus_ sp. and mule
deer, _Odocoileus hemionus_ were the major food items of coyotes. Mice
of the genus _Peromyscus_ apparently were preyed upon mostly in autumn
(September through November), when mouse populations were near their
yearly peaks.
Foxes also prey upon _Peromyscus_ in the park. One _P. truei_ was
represented in the 16 scats of foxes that were analyzed. This individual
was taken in the winter quarter (December through February).
The bobcat may be an important predator upon _Peromyscus_ in this
region, but few scats of this animal were found. Since these could not
be assigned to a specific month, they were not saved for analysis.
Anderson (1961:58) believed that bobcats and gray foxes were the most
abundant predators in the park. My observations over a period of two
years led me to conclude that coyotes were more abundant than foxes and
that foxes were, in turn, more abundant than bobcats.
TABLE 13--Food Present in 114 Coyote Scats Collected at Mesa Verde
National Park each Month from September 1963 through August 1964.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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