Responses of Deer Mice, Peromyscus maniculatus 
(Mammalia: Rodentia), to Wild Hog Rooting in the 
Great Smoky Mountains National Park 
Michael R. Lusk 1 
Department of Forestry 
North Carolina State University 
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8002 
Michael J. Lacki 
Department of Forestry 
University of Kentucky 
205 Thomas Poe Cooper Building 
Lexington, Kentucky 40546 
AND 
Richard A. Lancia 
Department of Forestry 
North Carolina State University 
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8002 
ABSTRACT — A mark-recapture study was conducted to assess the 
impacts of wild hog ( Sus scrofa ) rooting on small mammal popula- 
tions in the upper elevation beech (Fagus grandifolia ) forests of 
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Small mammals were 
captured using live traps and pitfalls. Microhabitat variables were 
measured in the vicinity of each live trap site and analyzed using 
discriminant function analysis. Populations of cloudland deer mice 
{Peromyscus maniculatus nubiterrae) showed no significant differ- 
ences between rooted and unrooted sites and are apparently unaf- 
fected by rooting. Although the presence of other small mammals 
was noted on both rooted and unrooted sites, deer mice were the 
only mammals caught with sufficient frequency to allow statistical 
analysis. Discriminant analysis of microhabitat variables indicates that 
deer mice orient toward areas dominated by deciduous trees with 
heavy midstory cover and light ground cover. We hypothesize that 
habitat selection by deer mice in this ecosystem is dominated pri- 
marily by predator avoidance. 
A population of exotic European wild hogs entered the bound- 
aries of Great Smoky Mountains National Park sometime during the 
1 Present address: Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Division of Natural 
Resources, Rota, MP 96951. 
Brimleyana 19:169-184, December 1993 
169 
