AMERICAN WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE. 303 



that she had four young about a fourth grown, adhering so firmly to the 

 teats that she dragged them along in the manner of the jumping mouse 

 {Meriones Atnericanus),. or of the Florida rat. We preserved this little 

 family alive for eighteen months, during which time the female produced 

 several broods of young. During the day they usually concealed them- 

 selves in theit nests, but as soon as it was dark they became very active 

 and playful, running up and down the wires of their cages, robbing each 

 other's little store-houses, of various grains that had been carried to 

 them, and occasionally emitting the only sound we ever heard them 

 utter, — a low squeak resembling that of the common mouse. We have 

 been informed by William Cooper, Esq., of Weehawken, New Jersey, an 

 intelligent and close observer, to whom science is indebted foi^many ex- 

 cellent papers on various branches of natural history, that this species 

 when running off with its young to a place of safety, presses its tail 

 closely under its abdomen to assist in holding them on to the teats — a 

 remarkable instance of the love of offspring. 



The White-footed Mouse seems less carnivorous than most of its kin- 

 dred species. We found it when in confinement always dragging to its 

 nest any kind of meat we placed in the cage, but it was generally left 

 there unconsumed. We have often caught it in traps, set for larger 

 animals, and baited with meat. Its first object is to drag the meat to its 

 little store-house of provisions ; the bait, however, being tied with a 

 string to the pan of the steel-trap, is not so easily carried off ; but, with- 

 out much loss of time the mouse gnaws the string in two, and, if not 

 caught in the attempt, drags off the meat. Our friend, the late Dr. John 

 Wright, of Troy, furnished us with information confirming the above ; 

 he says, " In trapping for a weasel last summer I tied bits of beef above 

 each trap with twine. On my first visit to the traps I found the twine 

 at one, cut, and the meat in the jaws of the trap. The next day the 

 same thing was observed at one of the traps, but another held fast a 

 specimen of the Mas leucopus. I am informed that the trapper is not 

 unfrequently troubled in this manner." 



We have known this Mouse to cut into pieces snares set for the ruffed 

 grouse, placed in gaps left for the purpose in fences of brushvi^ood. 



In its wild state it is continually laying up little stores of grain and 

 grass seeds. We have seen it carrying in its mouth acorns and chinque- 

 pins. In the Northern States, these little hoards are often composed 

 wholly of wheat ; in the South, of rice. This species, like all rats and 

 mice, is fond of Indian-corn, from which it only extracts the choicest, 

 sweetest portions, eating the heart and leaving the rest untouched. 



In the thickly settled portions of the United States this Mouse avoids 



