Fauna Series No. 3

Fauna of the National Parks — No. 3 Birds and Mammals of Mount McKinley National Park

Mammals

DESCRIPTIONS OF MAMMAL SPECIES

BOREAL WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE
Peromyscus maniculatus borealis [MEARNS]

GENERAL APPEARANCE.—A wood mouse of medium size. Its coat is distinctly bicolored. The upper parts are cinnamon and the under parts are creamy white. The ears are fairly large but not densely furred. The eyes are large and almost black. The tail is bicolored and short; it is less than half the body length. Length, 6.5 inches; tail, 2.7 inches; hind foot, 0.8 inch.

IDENTIFICATION.—The Arctic white-footed or deer moose can be distinguished from the other mice of the region because of its bicolored body pattern and its relatively short bicolored tail.

DISTRIBUTION.—Deer mice are the most common of the small mammals which are found over much of temperate North America. The Arctic form of this mouse is found in the Canadian and Hudsonian zones along the headwaters of the Mackenzie and Yukon Rivers. In Mount McKinley National Park this species has been detected at low elevations only along the McKinley River.

HABITS.—While I was drying my wet clothes in a log cabin at the Kantishna Ranger Station on the afternoon of August 8, 1932, I watched a nearly grown Arctic deer mouse run along the floor behind the stove. It came within 5 feet of me and I saw it in a good light. The white under parts and bicolored tail identified it as a deer mouse. The unusually short tail placed it definitely as belonging to borealis and not to hylaeus. Traps set to capture this mouse caught only Microtus or meadow mice, which were abundant in the cabin.

The altitude at this point is about 1,900 feet and the plant association is typical of the upper Yukon River Basin. This is the only Peromyscus recorded for Mount McKinley National Park. It is believed to be rare there.

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Last Modified: Thurs, Oct 4 2001 10:00:00 pm PDT
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