urement of about 60 mice per hectare was made when the gound vegetation improved and became very dense due to rains. (Webster and Jones Jr., 1982)
Home range size apparently varies with location. In California, home ranges of about 3,525 square meters were reported. (Webster and Jones Jr., 1982)
Communication patterns have not been reported for these mice. It is likely that they communicate with conspecifics with a combination of olfactory/chemical cues, vocalizations, and tactile communication, as these avenues of communication are prevalent in rodents.
The primary diet of this mouse is seeds. However, it eats anything available at the time, including new growth of plants and insects (grasshoppers and moths). These animals sometimes cache food in their nests. (Nowak, 1999; Ruff and Wilson, 1999; Webster and Jones Jr., 1982)drinks water.
Because of their noctural activity, it is likely that these mice have the best opportunity of avoiding predation by nocturnal predators. These mice are most active on very dark nights, which may be a strategy for avoiding predation by animals that use vision to detect prey. (Nowak, 1999)
This species is essential to western ecosystems. It reproduces rapidly, and lives a very short time, even when removed from the threat of predation. This indicates that the species does not live long in the wild. The most likely source of mortality is predation. (eNature.com, 2000; Nowak, 1999; Ruff and Wilson, 1999; Webster and Jones Jr., 1982)
As a prey species, the availability oflikely controls the populations of many predators which rely heavily upon this species in their prey base.
Also, because (Nowak, 1999)caches seeds, it probably helps in their dispersal.
There is no known benefit of this species for humans. However, because they are important in the food web, many of the higher profile animals that people enjoy watching, such as hawks, owls, coyotes, and foxes, rely on them.
There are no reports of these mice actually damaging crops. However, human agriculture has positively affected (Nowak, 1999), allowing it to extend its geographic range eastward.
These mice are thought to be quite common, and not in danger. However, Canada considers (Royal British Columbia Museum, 1995)vulnerable because it lives in grasslands. Grasslands are a threatened habitat. Also, there is little known about Canadian populations of Western harvest mice.
Hiromi Konishi (author), Humboldt State University, Brian Arbogast (editor), Humboldt State University.
Nancy Shefferly (editor), Animal Diversity Web.
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
uses sound to communicate
living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture.
young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
Found in coastal areas between 30 and 40 degrees latitude, in areas with a Mediterranean climate. Vegetation is dominated by stands of dense, spiny shrubs with tough (hard or waxy) evergreen leaves. May be maintained by periodic fire. In South America it includes the scrub ecotone between forest and paramo.
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
in deserts low (less than 30 cm per year) and unpredictable rainfall results in landscapes dominated by plants and animals adapted to aridity. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain. Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants. In du