Shed fur from a reestablished bison herd incorporated into nests of two semifossorial rodents in central Nebraska

Authors

• Matt Urbanski, Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, 6611 W. Whooping Drive, Wood River, NE 68883Follow
• William Hamson, Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, 6611 W. Whooping Drive, Wood River, NE 68883Follow
• Joshua D. Wiese, Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, 6611 W. Whooping Drive, Wood River, NE 68883Follow

Abstract

Although dried plants are the material most often reported in burrows and nests of semifossorial rodents, the use of shed mammal fur for nest material has remained largely speculative. Herein we report 2 accounts documenting 2 small mammal species, thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) and western deermouse (Peromyscus sonoriensis), utilizing bison (Bison bison) fur in burrow and nest construction within a pasture grazed by a reintroduced bison herd in central Nebraska. Use of such materials from a formerly widespread species throughout the Great Plains may improve reproductive fitness for these grassland rodent species. Our observations lend support to the idea that bison reintroductions restore ecological interactions that were likely once common in North American grasslands.


A pesar de que los materiales vegetales secos son los que se reportan más comúnmente en las madrigueras y nidos de roedores semifosoriales, el uso de pelo desprendido de otros mamíferos sigue siendo objeto de especulación. En este trabajo, presentamos dos registros de dos especies de pequeños mamíferos, la ardilla de tierra de trece franjas (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) y el ratón ciervo occidental (Peromyscus sonoriensis), utilizando pelo de bisonte (Bison bison) para la construcción de sus madrigueras y nidos dentro de un pastizal pastoreado por un rebaño de bisontes reintroducido en central Nebraska. El uso de materiales provenientes de una especie que anteriormente se distribuía ampliamente en las Grandes Llanuras, podría mejorar la aptitud reproductiva de estos roedores de pastizal. Nuestras observaciones respaldan la idea de que la reintroducción de bisontes restablece interacciones ecológicas que probablemente fueron comunes en los pastizales de America del Norte.

Recommended Citation

Urbanski, Matt; Hamson, William; and Wiese, Joshua D. (2026) "Shed fur from a reestablished bison herd incorporated into nests of two semifossorial rodents in central Nebraska," Western North American Naturalist: Vol. 86: No. 3, Article 12.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan/vol86/iss3/12