Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Peromyscus Maniculatus

This deer mouse was scared out of its hiding place yesterday morning by a nosy terrier.  I'm posting its picture so we can all have a close-up and personal look at what ate those cherry pits in CyberTracker Quiz Question #2.
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4 comments:

  1. Alyssa JohnsonOctober 23, 2012 at 11:31 AM

    Can you share how you identified this mouse? I know the Peromyscus are hard to tell apart!

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    Replies
    1. SusanOctober 23, 2012 at 12:03 PM

      Very good question, Alyssa, and I'd like to say that I am absolutely positive this is a deer mouse. However, given the variations within each species and the similarities between the two, it could very well be a white-footed mouse. I took several shots of this little guy and finally decided that its tail - when looked at in close-up mode - appeared to be multi-colored, a trait of deer mice. Also, again in close-up, I detected white tufts of hair on the ears, another trait.

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    2. Alyssa JohnsonOctober 23, 2012 at 1:10 PM

      great, thanks! whenever I've handled them, we usually just call them Peromyscus because no one's been able to say with authority this or that.

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    3. SusanOctober 23, 2012 at 1:23 PM

      Smart. Being far from an authority on the subject, I may do that in any future mouse postings.

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