48 



Robert K. Rose 



Table 1. Number and species of small mammals trapped in the Dismal Swamp 

 between 23 February and 2 May (Jericho Ditch area) and 10 April and 

 2 May (East Ditch area) 1980. "Others" refers to the results of previous 

 investigations in the Dismal Swamp, mostly in the 1895-1906 period, 

 but including Handley in 1953 (from Handley 1979, Table 1). 



Species 



Jericho Ditch 



East Ditch 



Others 





2/23 to 



5/2 



4/10 



to 



5/2 





Sorex longirostris 



14 







1 





15 



Blarina sp. 



15 











39 



Crypt otis parva 



2 











1 



Peromyscus leucopus 



1 











112 



Ochrotomys nuttalli 



1 











50 



Microtus pennsylvanicus 



4 







1 





8 



Synaptomys cooperi 



6 







1 





21 



43 



Number mammals/ 100 

 trapnights 



2.43 



1.36 



DISCUSSION 



Compared to previous investigators, we caught few individuals of 

 the two most common species, Peromyscus leucopus and Ochrotomys 

 nuttalli. This is not unexpected, because they are predominantly forest- 

 dwellers and we restricted our trapping to openings dominated by her- 

 baceous vegetation. However, the 40 m wide powerline right-of-way was 

 bordered on both sides by maple-gum forest. Consequently, the proxim- 

 ity to nearby suitable habitat for these climbing species may explain 

 their presence in the openings. Handley's 1953 study, which produced 34 

 P. leucopus and 14 O. nuttalli out of a total of 56 specimens, showed 

 the typical numerical dominance of these two species. Breidling (1980) 

 caught 15 P. leucopus and 4 Ochrotomys using live traps on four for- 

 ested study plots. 



We caught a relatively large number of meadow voles and southern 

 bog lemmings (Table 1). Only 29 individuals of these two microtine spe- 

 cies had previously been collected in the Swamp. Although he took one 

 meadow vole in 1953, Handley (1979) contended that Synaptomys had 

 not been collected there since November 1898. According to Handley 

 (1979, 1980) several investigators, including himself, have speculated on 



