Late Fall Home Ranges of Three Golden Mice, Peromyscus nuttalli

From October 22 to December 8, 1951, during the course of a small mammal study in Knox County, Tennessee, a condition became apparent in regard to three golden mice (Peromyscus nuttalli) that seems worthy of mention. Part of the study involved home range and population estimates. Livetraps, placed at 25 feet intervals, were used to accumulate data for these estimates. The method employed to calculate the home ranges was that used by Man ville (Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan, no. 73:1–83, 1949). The home ranges drawn for the three golden mice were long but narrow, apparently following a strip of bushes and small trees heavily entwined by Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica). Unfortunately, these ranges touched one or two boundaries of the study area and were considered incomplete although it is believed that assumed extensions out of the area resulted in over-estimations of these ranges (average of .26 acre). Traps set outside the boundaries in question failed to take the three mice and the boundary most touched was a railroad track that seemed to limit the movement of this species. These three individuals were the only golden mice that had the major part of their home ranges within the trapping area.