Eastern Desert Pocket Mouse

About the Eastern Desert Pocket Mouse

The Chihuahuan pocket mouse (Chaetodipus eremicus) is a species of heteromyid rodent found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the desert pocket mouse (C. pencillatus), but was determined to be a distinct species in 1996, following analysis of its mitochondrial DNA.

Chihuahuan pocket mice are moderately sized rodents, with a total adult length of 16 to 18 centimetres (6.3 to 7.1 in), including the tail, and weighing 15 to 23 grams (0.5 to 0.8 oz). The fur is buff sprinkled with black over the back and sides, and white on the tail and underparts. The hairs on the rump are long and slender, but there are no spines, such as are present on the otherwise very similar rock pocket mouse. The tail is long, measuring 8 to 11 cm (3.1 to 4.3 in), and ends in a large tuft of white fur.

The mice are herbivorous, mainly feeding on the seeds of plants such as broomweed, mesquite, and creosotebush, although they will also eat grasses when seeds are in short supply. They are nocturnal, spending the day in burrows comprising a central chamber from which numerous tunnels fan out to separate openings on the surface. The multiple openings... Wikipedia →