The southern grasshopper mouse is fairly common throughout its range, but generally has low population densities due to its short reproductive life and unique testicular pauses.
The southern grasshopper mouse is fairly common throughout its range, but is usually found in areas with low population densities.
Several studies have demonstrated that the reproductive attributes of this species allows them to be naturally maintained at lower population densities. Females tend to be sexually active only during one breeding season, which is due to their rapid reproductive aging following their first year. Moreover, males’ unique pauses in their testicular activity during the breeding season might also contribute to the lower population densities in which they live. Males store sperm at 40 days of age.
Home ranges of grasshopper mice in New Mexico were 3.2 hectares (7.8 acres) for males, and 2.4 hectares (5.9 acres) for females (Blair 1943). In southeast Arizona, the average home range of adult mice was 11.45 hectares (28 acres) (Chew and Chew 1970). In Nevada desert scrub, density averaged 1.83 mice per hectare (0.74 mice/acre).
• Image | ©️ Internet Archive Book Images, Public Domain, (CC0 Public Domain)
• Sources | (Brylski, n.d.; Chew & Chew, 1970; Kester, 1999; Lacher, Timm, & Álvarez-Castañeda, 2016; McCarty, 1975; The Wikimedia Foundation, 2020)
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