various bird species. Most waterfowl 

 and shorebirds eat a great variety 

 of plant or animal material or both, 

 and their gut contents may reflect 

 relative food abundance at a particu- 

 lar time rather than food preference 

 or requirement (Cronan and Halla 

 19G8). 



Mammals 



Although no large grazing animals 

 live on the New England salt marshes 

 as they do (or did) on prairies and 

 savannas, many smaller mammals feed 

 or live there or both (Daiber 1977). 

 The dense mat of Spartina patens and 

 Distichlis spicata provides excellent 

 habitat for the meadow or field mouse 

 ( Microtus pennsylvanicus ); other 

 small mammals frequent or live in 

 the high marsh including the meadow 

 jumping mouse ( Zapus hudsonius ), 

 the white-footed mouse ( Peromysus 

 leucopus ), the house m.ouli ( Mus 

 musculus ), and the masked shrew ( Sorex 

 cinereus). 



Larger animals such as raccoon 

 ( Procyon lotor ), mink ( Mustela vison ), 

 skunk ( Mephitis mephitis ), and weasel 

 ( Mustela sp.) feed on the shellfish, 

 bird eggs, and mice of the marsh, 

 although their homes are usually in 

 upland trees (raccoon), upland dens 

 (skunk), or under fallen logs or in 

 hollow stumps (mink and weasel). One 

 of the most conspicuous animals on 

 many marshes is the muskrat. Ondatra 

 zibethica , whose diet consists almost 

 entirely of vegetation, including 

 roots and tubers. The muskrat favors 

 lower salinity marshes with less tidal 

 variation. Many New England muskrats 

 use bank dens or burrows rather than 

 the familiar large "house" made from 

 marsh vegetation. The average house 

 is a mound from 1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft) 

 in diameter and 0.5 to 1.5 m (1.5 to 

 5 ft) high. Generally, the mammals of 

 the New England high marsh remain 

 invisible to all but the very patient 

 or fortunate observer, although many 

 will leave some tracts of their pass- 

 ing in the soft mud. 



35 



