Abstract
Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are known to larder hoard food, but their scatter-hoarding behavior is poorly documented. Eleven deer mice were each presented with 150 Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) seeds in 10 × 10-m enclosures in Jeffrey pine forests on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada. Subjects made a mean ±1 s of 31.2 ± 30.0 caches per trial. Caches were shallow (most 2–12 mm deep) and usually contained only 1 or 2 seeds. Most caches were made at the edge of antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) shrubs in mineral soil or in thin layers of plant litter. These results suggest that deer mice might make a significant contribution to the dispersal of Jeffrey pine.
Recommended Citation
Vander Wall, Stephen B.; Thayer, Theodore C.; Hodge, Jennifer S.; Beck, Maurie J.; and Roth, Julie K.
(2001)
"Scatter-hoarding behavior of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus),"
Western North American Naturalist: Vol. 61:
No.
1, Article 14.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan/vol61/iss1/14