55© The Ohio Naturalist [Vol. VI, No. 8, 



NOTES ON SOME OHIO MAMMALS. 



James S. Hine. 



A few facts regarding some of the Ohio mammals have been 

 brought out in the past year or so. A number of species have 

 been added to the state list and some observations recorded on 

 well known Ohio forms. 



The Little Brown Bat, Myotis lucifugus, has been taken at 

 Sandusky where is appears to be rather common. 



Much has been said about the Cooper Lemming Mouse, 

 Synaptomys cooperi, but there does not appear to be a definite 

 published record of its occurrence in Ohio. The past summer 

 the species has been collected in Franklin and Madison Counties. 

 In the former county it was trapped in low grass land and 

 appeared to be common, as nearly a dozen specimens were taken. 

 In the latter county a female and two young were procured from 

 under a log in a low pasture near a stream. 



The Prairie Meadow Mouse has been reported as a member 

 of the state fauna but specimens on which this record was 

 founded turn out to be the Pine Mouse, Microtus pinetorum 

 scalopsoides. It is doubtful if Microtus austerus belongs to our 

 fauna, although it has been taken in western Indiana. 



When Brayton wrote his report on Ohio mammals, the Rice- 

 field Mouse, Oryzomys palustris, was included on account of a 

 very peculiar record made by Dr. Langdon. A Red-tailed Hawk 

 was shot near New Philadelphia, and in its stomach were found 

 the partially digested remains of what was reported as the Rice- 

 field Mouse. Since that time no living specimen has been 

 reported from Ohio and Rhoades says the species is not found in 

 Pennsylvania. Some years ago two skulls were unearthed at 

 Madisonville and sent to Washington for determination. Dr. 

 Elliot Coues pronounced them to be the skulls of the mouse in 

 question. A year or two ago Prof. W. C. Mills collected a num- 

 ber of skeletons which he unearthed in Ross County, and which 

 prove to be of this same species. Prof. Mills says large numbers 

 of the skeletons were seen and not taken for the reason that he 

 considered them of no special interest, since evidence showed 

 that the animals had crawled into the pits and died there, and as 

 he was studying the food animals of the Aborigines these did not 

 appeal to him. Where the hawk mentioned above got the 

 specimen it had in its stomach is a question. Although one 

 would naturally suppose it to be an Ohio specimen we have no 

 way of proving it. We arc certain of one thing, however, and 

 that is the Rice-field Mouse once occurred in numbers over 

 certain parts of Ohio, and the questions that naturally arise are, 

 Is the species a member of our fauna at present, or has it become 



