Western Harvest Mouse
Reithrodontomys megalotis
Summary 7
The western harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys megalotis) is a small neotomine mouse native to southwest British Columbia, most of the western United States extending continuously to west Texas, northeast Arkansas, northwest Indiana, southwest Wisconsin, the interior of Mexico to Oaxaca. Many authorities consider the endangered Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse to be a subspecies, but the two are now usually treated separately.
Description 8
Western Harvest Mouse are adaptable, widespread, and abundant, especially in meadows, prairies, old pastures, stream valleys, and marshes. They eat seeds, insects, and plants. They rarely live for more than a year, but under optimal conditions, a female can produce more than 50 young in her lifetime. Their nests are built of plant material, usually on the ground, but sometimes in burrows or in vegetation slightly above the ground. Each mouse may have several nests, which it uses at different times. The Mice are nonterritorial and show a great deal of tolerance for one another, even huddling together when it is cold. Such intimate contact carries risks: they are afflicted with many parasites, including protozoans, worms, fleas, chiggers, mites, and lice. They are a vector for a hantavirus that can cause acute respiratory illness and hemorrhagic fever in humans.
Links:
Mammal Species of the World
Click here for The American Society of Mammalogists species account
Sources and Credits
- (c) J. N. Stuart, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/21786539@N03/3495799750
- (c) ap2il, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3365/3526652974_42c25b24ea_b.jpg
- (c) 1999 California Academy of Sciences, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=508&one=T
- (c) Robby Deans, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Robby Deans
- (c) Connor O'Malley, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Connor O'Malley
- (c) Stephanie Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Stephanie Taylor
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reithrodontomys_megalotis
- (c) Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/6625455
