Document Type

Honors Project

First Advisor

Dr. Michael Hensley

Degree Award Date

Fall 1998

Keywords

Population Study, Peromyscus leucopus, Paul State Forest

Disciplines

Animal Sciences | Laboratory and Basic Science Research

Abstract

Since Peromyscus leucopus, the white-footed mouse, can be easily captured, marked, released and re-captured a systematic understanding of a given population can be obtained. By performing sets of consecutive captures and tracking the species scat patterns, the population size and density were examined. The population of interest suffered from a weakening factor and did not withstand the capture process as readily as expected from a healthy population resulting in elevated levels of deceased specimen in traps. The accepted Leslie-Zippen indicator, therefore, could only be utilized to an extent as it is based on a capture, mark, release and recapture procedure, and the latter could not be performed on a deceased rodent. The study, consequently, resulted in a better understanding of the P. leucopus, including its travel and behavioral patterns.

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