RATS AND MICE FAMILY 



239 



tail very long, more than half the total length, very 

 sparsely haired, the annulations of the tail plainly 

 visible ; hair very long, lax and soft. General color, 

 dark gray mixed with light brown ; below grayish buff. 

 Coast region of California from San Francisco Bay 

 south to Santa Barbara in open forest, in brush and 

 in valleys of lower mountains. 



Large-eared Deer Mouse. — Pcroiiiysciis truci truei 

 (Shufeldt). Size medium; tail a little less than head 

 and body in length ; ears very large. Southwestern 

 United States. 



Desert Deer Mouse. — Pcromyscus creinicus crcmi- 

 cus (Baird). Size medium; tail very long, longer than 

 head and body ; colors pale. Desert regions of south- 

 eastern California eastward to western Texas. 



Golden-breasted Deer Mouse. — Pcromyscus crinitus 

 auripcctus (.Allen). Size medium; hairs long and silky; 

 coloration bright above ; yellow spot on breast ; rest of 

 underparts white. Northeastern Arizona, southeastern 

 Utah and adjacent parts of Colorado and New Mexico. 



Nuttall's Deer Mouse. — Pcromyscus iiuttalli nut- 

 talli (Harlan). Tail less than head and body in length; 

 coloration bright orange. Southeastern Virginia and 

 northern North Carolina west to central Kentucky. 



Taylor's Deer Mouse, or Little Deer Mouse. — 

 Baiomys taylori taylori (Thomas). Otie of the smallest 

 of North American Mice; coloration yellowish-brown 

 thickly lined with black ; tail indistinctly bicolor ; total 

 length, 3.5 inches; tail vertebrae. 1.4 inches. Southern 

 Texas, 



From West Va. University Experiment Station 



WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE 



An interesting and accurate life photograph, showing a characteristic pose of this small rodent, which is 



feeding on a nut 



The White-footed Mouse is by far the most 

 beautiful species of the family to which it be- 

 longs. Indeed it is almost a shame to call this 

 handsome creature a mouse at all ! He is 

 almost a dandy in dress and neatness, and his 

 spotless robe of grayish fawn above is sharply 

 contrasted with the pure white beneath. This, 

 coupled with the natural grace and agility of hi^ 

 movements, distinguishes the White-footed 

 Mouse as one of our most attractive little mam- 

 mals. 



Combined with this grace and beautv there is 

 a gentleness of disposition reminding one of the 



Flying Squirrel. It is said that these two little 

 wood-dwellers are sometimes found living in 

 the same cavity. An adult White-footed Mouse, 

 when captured wild, will seldom bite if taken in 

 the hand, and after two or three days of con- 

 finement is as gentle and confi'ding as though it 

 had been born in captivity. 



The home of the White-footed Mouse is 

 occasionally found in deep forests of evergreens 

 or deciduous trees ; but its usual abode is along 

 hedgerows, in the fields, or even in dwellings 

 about well-wooded sections of the country. The 

 Imnter's camn is verv stire to be visited bv them. 



