With Uncle Sain»s Naturcdists l5 9-9-32 



Scorpion nice e<at other insects besides scorj'ions. They eat grasshoppers, crickets, 

 ■beetles, caterpillars, cutworms, and insect eggs. They would thus be useful in 

 Iceeping down insect pests in greeaihouses, and gardens. They would clso often 

 capture oiid devour other specie s of mice. 



These friendly nice get their names of gra,sshopper mice and scorpion mice 

 from tlieir feeding habits# They are called calling mice on account of their un- 

 usurl voices. From what Mr, Bailey tells me, this little animal throws up its 

 head, opens its mouth, closes its eyes and howls like a lone wolf on the snow- 

 covcrcd crest of a far ridgo. Only the "howl" of tho calling mouse is so thin 

 and hiijh, a, person has to have keen oars to detect the sound. But,l allowing for 

 the difference in size of the wolf and the mouse, Mr, Bailey says the crllsare 

 not s.-) different. 



Another mouse Mr. Bailey classes among the good cdce is the little Arizona 

 grasshopper mouse. He has made a close study of the food and genei^rl habits of 

 Arizona cJid grasshopper mice and finds them mainly if not entirely useful animals. 

 They have no possibilities of injurious effect on agilcul t^are, and their influence 

 in holding in check insects and other sped es of mice may be important. 



On the ether hand, several species of the more nunerous little seed-eating 

 deer mice that live in the forests arc probably enemies to forest growth. They 

 discover and confiscate many of the carefully secreted seed stores of squirrels 

 and chipnunks, which mi^t otherwise bo left to grow^ If it wasn't for their 

 naturcl enordcs such as owls, and weasels, and foxes, and wild cats, and badgers, 

 and sloinks, and snakes, the deer mice ni^t dr> a lot more damage then they do. 



Rocky Mountain meadow mice, and several other sped, es of meadow mice, do 

 some miscliLef in lessening the grass crop of the raoiontain meadows. They also de- 

 stroy some small trees that otherwise mi^t help reforest some of the noimtain 

 slopes, but they have plenty of enemies waiting for them too. 



Those Rodcy Mountdn meadow mice arc groat road, buildfirs. Their roads 

 leading from one barrow to another are not merely paths worn smooth by the repeate(f 

 passing of feet. They are deliberately made roads. The mice will cut away the 

 growing vegetation and lift the old fallen mat of vegetation hi^ enou^ to moke 

 tunnels between it and the smooth surface of the ground, T;here there is plenty of 

 both fresh and dry vegetation, those runways are well conceajLed, But in many 

 plp/Jos they a re conspicuous from above as one looks closely down into the short 

 grass. And, we ni^t add, nature has man^"- other half hidden facts of interest for 

 those of us who look for them, 



:|i « % 3ti I* 



ANNOUITCin.iEMT i You have just hoard a short sketch of some of our many American 

 rats and mice. This time two weeks from today, we will have another of these 

 little visits with Uncel Sam's Nalm'alists of the United States Department of 

 Agri cul ture . 



