134 Cheri A. Jones 



these fruits are eaten by opossums (Didelphis virginiana), humans, 

 and other mammals (Bartram 1791, Willson and Schemske 1980, 

 Norman and Clayton 1986). Although nutritional values and fruit set 

 have not been reported for A. incarna, it is the most abundant 

 pawpaw and the largest fruit produced in sandhills on Ordway and 

 probably represents a significant addition to the summer diet of 

 Podomys. 



I offered captive animals the following fruits and seeds collected 

 at Ordway, all of which were eaten: acorns (Q. chapmanii, Q. geminata, 

 Q. hemisphaerica, Q. laevis, Q. myrtifolia, and Q. nigra), pine seeds 

 (P. elliottii and P. palustris), blueberries (Vaccinium myrsinites), 

 deerberries (V. stamineum), gall berries {Ilex galabra), blackberries 

 (Rubus argutus), gopher apples (Licania michauxii), pawpaw fruits (A. 

 incarna and A. pygmaea), flowers of queen's delight (Stillingia sylvatica), 

 and seed pods of legumes (Crotalaria rotundifolia and Galactia elliotti). 

 Captive mice also shredded seeds and stems of unidentified grasses 

 and incorporated them into the cotton nesting material in their cages; 

 the grasses probably were eaten as well. 



The ready acceptance of a wide variety of foods in my study 

 implies that, like Peromyscus, P. floridanus is an opportunistic feeder. 

 In general, the feeding behavior I observed in captive P. floridanus 

 resembled that described for Peromyscus (Eisenberg 1968), in which 

 the animal picks up food with the paws or mouth, then crouches 

 and manipulates the food with the paws. Large items such as pawpaws 

 were propped against the substrate. Seed pods were opened by 

 grasping the pod vertically, resting one end on the substrate, chewing 

 off one end, and opening the pod longitudinally along a suture. 

 Larger foods, such as turkey oak acorns, were dragged with the 

 incisors; smaller items were carried in the mouth. Some captives 

 consistently cached acorns and sunflower seeds under kitty litter in 

 corners of the aquaria. Food items and remains also commonly were 

 found underneath nests. 



Except for smaller acorns that might be split in half, acorns 

 were opened consistently at the hilum (basal scar). Although acorns 

 typically were carried by the point at the distal end, mice never 

 chewed open the hull there. For small, round acorns a neat incision 

 was made around the hilum; on more elongate nuts (Q. geminata 

 and Q. laevis) the hull was nibbled farther down the sides. Caps, if 

 present, were removed; there was no significant difference in the 

 numbers of capped and capless Q. laevis acorns opened. 



Predation on vertebrates is probably rare. On Smith Lake in 

 1983, J. F. Eisenberg (University of Florida, personal observation) 

 trapped an adult male who detached and ate the posterior part (about 



