170 CALIFORNIA MAMMALS. 



Short-eared Pocket-Mice are common in southwestern CaH- 

 fornia from the coast up to the lower edge of the pine belt. They 

 occur some distance into Lower California and north to Los 

 Ang-eles County. As they are nocturnal and seldom enter build- 

 ings, few people become acquainted with them, or know that 

 these interesting animals are common about them. They prin- 

 cipally inhabit weed patches and prefer sandy land. They rarely 

 enter thick brush. Their tracks are often seen in dusty roads 

 in the morning, and may be distinguished by the impressions 

 of the long heels; frequently the mark of the tail may also be 

 seen in the dust. 



They live in burrows and under weeds and accumulations 

 of dead leaves. The food is mostly seeds, with some leaves, buds 

 and plant stems. Seeds are stored for food, commonly in small 

 independent surface caches, not readily noticed. I have not 

 heard them make any vocal sound, except rarely a squeak of 

 pain. The number of young is usually five. These are born in 

 April and May. 



These Pocket-Mice make interesting pets. In November, 

 1889, I found one alive and unhurt in one of my traps and kept 

 it a captive to study its habits. It was not wild but allowed me 

 to handle it freely from the start. It would walk up my sleeve, 

 around my neck and down the other arm, and for a year or more 

 did not try to jump to the floor, but later it seemed to have lost 

 the power to judge distances, and would jump down after a 

 little walking about, even if the fall was great enough to injure 

 it. 



It never tried to bite me and would quietly bear handling 

 and carrying about. I put it in a box with an inch or so of sand 

 in the bottom ; this it would scratch about vigorously in the night, 

 but I rarely heard it moving in the daytime, although the interior 

 of the box must have been fairly dark all the time. It did not 

 try to gnaw the box, as true mice would have done, and did not 

 try to lift the lid, which was kept closed by its own w^eight only. 

 At first I tried feeding it grain, seeds and green food. It would 



