North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Science
North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)
Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Zapus
The population of _Z. hudsonius_ may vary considerably from year to year
as well as seasonally. Blair (1940:249) found notably fewer jumping mice
on the George Reserve in 1938 than in 1939. Quimby (1951:94) found the
numbers of _Zapus_ to be highly variable and thought that there was a
rapid turnover. Young animals were not caught until July when 25 per
cent were either juveniles, young, or subadults; from this time on these
age classes increased to a high of sixty-one per cent in September.
Quimby (_loc. cit._) found that separating the individuals into their
proper age classes was more difficult in September, since the young
from early litters are adultlike in appearance. His data indicate as he
remarked, "That the over-wintering adults are, for the most part,
gradually replaced by the young of the year as the summer progresses."
The sexes in _Z. hudsonius_ vary only slightly from a one to one ratio.
Quimby (1951:63) found a sex ratio of 110 females to 100 males and Blair
(1940:245) records a sex ratio of 113 males to 100 females. Townsend
(1935:42) records a sex ratio in central New York of 155 males to 100
females. Such a wide variation from a one to one ratio suggest that the
moving quadrat technique, which Townsend (1935:90) employed in obtaining
his data, may be, in some way unknown to me, more selective for the
males.
_Behavior._--The saltatorial powers of _Z. hudsonius_ are well developed
and often have been described in the literature. Stoner (1918:123)
remarks that, "When disturbed _hudsonius_ moves away by a series of
leaps ... the distance traversed in one of these leaps is from six to
eight feet."; Cory (1912:249) observed these mice to make surprisingly
long leaps, and, according to him, a distance of 10 feet is by no means
unusual; Handley and Patton (1947:49) credit these animals with jumping
eight to ten feet at a single bound; Hamilton (1935:190) remarked that
he noted an average of not more than four to six feet per jump; Townsend
(1935:91) observed one individual make jumps of about two feet; and
Harper (1932:29) records a jumping mouse leaping for distances of two to
three feet. Quimby (1951:72) notes that he had never seen one jump
farther than three feet. He found that the greatest jumps occurred
initially and normally covered a distance of two to three feet;
subsequent leaps were shorter but more rapid. A jumping mouse in full
retreat progressed by jumps of about one foot.
Statements concerning the gait of _Z. hudsonius_ are not in agreement
but the consensus of opinion is that these animals when unfrightened
progress by a series of hops of one to six inches, or, occasionally,
with a slow creeping motion while the animal is on all fours. When
frightened, however, their progress is by long bounds; the mice make a
series of two or three such leaps to the nearest protective cover, and
then sit motionless until pursued.
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