Pine Mouse 



This is the most distinct of all the meadow mouse tribe. So 

 soft and silky is its fur that we think at once of the mole, the 

 very small eyes and ears likewise resemble this animal, but the 

 teeth at once show it to be a mouse and the rusty colour is not found 

 in any of the mole tribe. The points that the pine mouse pos- 

 sesses in common with the mole are evidently the results of similar 

 habits, for this little beast is the most strictly subterranean of any 

 of the mice. He is not content with a runway on the surface 

 among the grass roots but must go strictly underground, and many 

 a one have I caught in raised tunnels that I took to be the work 

 of the moles. Much damage done to vegetables and plants in the 

 garden which is usually attributed to the meadow mouse is, I am 

 quite sure, really the work of this silky haired cousin, the pine 

 mouse. 



Varieties of the Pine Mouse 



/. Pine Mouse. Microtus pinetorum (Le Conte). Description as 



above, range Southern Atlantic States. 

 2. Northern Pine Mouse. M. pinetorum scalopsoides Audubon and 



Bachman. Light in colour. 



Range. Southern New England and Middle States. 

 j. Mississippi Pine Mouse. M. pinetorum auricularis Bailey. 



Darker and richer in colour, with rather larger ears. 

 Range. Lower Mississippi Valley. 



Round-tailed Muskrat 



Microtus allcni (True) 



Also called Neofiber. 



Length. 13.60 inches. 



Description. This animal is essentially a very big meadow mouse 



with a long tail. Colour above rich rufous brown, darker on 



the head; beneath whitish, more or less tinged with rufous; 



hairs plumbeous at base; tail sparsely haired, blackish in colour. 



Young gray above. 

 Range, Eastern Florida. 



This curious animal is common in the fresh-water ponds and 

 marshes of interior Florida and on the salt savannahs of the Indian 

 River. 



1 20 



