Family CRICETIDAE 



165 



Fig. 91. — Golden mouse and its nest. 



Its tail, used as a fifth appendage, is frequently wrapped around 

 twigs to aid the animal in balancing and maneuvering. The 

 golden mouse is a seed eater; it feasts on the soft inner parts of 

 the seeds of sumac, greenbrier, wild cherry, dogwood, poke- 

 weed, clover, bittersweet, and oak. The mouse fills its small 

 cheek pouches with these seeds and carries them to a nestlike 

 feeding platform situated above the ground. Here it may eat 

 the seeds immediately or store them for future use. 



The beautifully colored golden mouse makes a docile pet. A 

 few days of confinement and gentle handling will usually result 

 in its complete adjustment and conditioning to man. 



Signs. — A globular nest or feeding platform in a thicket or 

 tree may belong to a mouse of this species. However, in many 

 parts of Illinois, such a nest may belong to a white-footed 

 mouse. 



Distribution. — The golden mouse, evidently uncommon in 

 Illinois, has been taken only in Alexander and Johnson counties. 

 The Illinois subspecies is Peromyscus nuttalli aureolus (Audubon 

 & Bachman). The range of the species extends from southern 

 Virginia west to southern Missouri and eastern Oklahoma and 

 southward to the Gulf Coast and to central Florida, fig. 88. 



