Horizontal and Vertical Movements of the White-Ankled Mouse (Peromyscus pectoralis) in Central Texas

The effect of time of release on microhabitat use by the white-footed mouse

“…Since bait used in traps may affect animal m ove ments, point data on m icrohabitat use obtained from trapping may be biased (Sheppe 1967). Radio telemetry can provide information about movements and Goodyear 1989 not indicated approximately 19.00 h Barnum et al 1992 23.30-04.00 h at time o f capture McShea and Gilles 1992 22.00 h at time o f capture Etheredge et al 1989 05.00-09.00 h at time of capture Mullican and Baccus 1990 17.00-09.00 h 17.00-20.00 h that evening home ranges, but it is limited by range o f transmitter, expense o f equipment, error associated with triangulation, and the potential for the researcher's presence to alter the animals' activity patterns and movements. In addition, although radio telemetry provides point data on use o f habitat, detailed inform ation on how the animal travels between points is difficult to obtain.…”

“…The low costs and high accuracy o f powder tracking has caused this technique to become favored by many researchers. Since it was first proposed by Lemen and Freeman (1985), fluorescent pigments have been used to examine movements (Jike et al 1988, Mullican 1988, Teferi and Herman 1995, intraspecific social interactions (Kaufman 1989, Millar andErickson 1992), foraging behavior (McShea and Gilles 1992), and use o f habitat (Graves et al 1988, Goodyear 1989, Etheredge et al 1989, Mullican and Baccus 1990, Barnum et al 1992, McMillan and Kaufman 1995 o f a number o f species of small mammals. The basic technique involves live-trapping animals, immersing them in fluorescent powder, releasing them at the point o f capture, then following and m arking the fluorescent trails (Lemen and Freeman 1985).…”