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Eastern Harvest Mouse - Reithrodontomys humulis Cricetidae Members: | Search Common: Search Scientific: |
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| Distribution |
In NC, it occurs essentially throughout the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont. In the mountains present apparently only at the lower elevations, barely found over about 2,000 feet. It is probably absent from most mountain counties that lack low elevations (below 2,000 feet). Our only mountain record seems to be an old one from Buncombe County. Occurs over the southeastern United States only, north to OH and MD, and west to eastern TX. | |
| Abundance | Generally uncommon or infrequent, though widespread, except apparently absent to locally rare in the mountains, and perhaps absent over about 2,500 feet. One of the less common small rodents in a given region, even in its favored habitats. Of course, small rodents are essentially nocturnal and are thus difficult for most people to find (dead or alive), and it could certainly be locally more numerous; however, most references suggest it is an infrequent species compared with many other small rodents. | |
| Seasonal Occurrence | Active year-round. | |
| Habitat |
Strictly in open weedy habitats, favoring overgrown fields, especially ones with broomsedge and some bare ground areas. It can also occur in pastures and damp meadows/marshes, but it is not a true marsh species. It tends to avoid areas of trees. See also Habitat Account for General Successional and Semi-Natural Grasslands | |
| Behavior | Presumably mostly nocturnal, but seldom has been studied in detail. Presumably not local in occurrence. | |
| Comments | This species might well occur in all Coastal Plain and Piedmont counties, but it has been poorly studied in most parts of its range. Even so, it occurs in "common" habitats, and with more intensive pitfall trapping in overgrown fields, it likely would be shown to be not overly uncommon. Interestingly, the range maps in Reid (2006) and Kays/Wilson (2009) show the species as being absent from the western 40% of the state, which is certainly incorrect, as Lee et al. (1982) show records from scattered counties in this part of NC. Even so, it is very poorly known in the mountains, and range maps perhaps should exclude most of the mountain region except for Buncombe and a few other counties. | |
| Origin | Native | |
| NC List | Official | |
 State Rank | S4 | |
| State Status | ||
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| Federal Status | ||
| subspecies |
Reithrodontomys humulis humilis, Reithrodontomys humulis virginianus Reithrodontomys h. virginianus is limited to the extreme northern Coastal Plain; otherwise, R. h. humilis occurs elsewhere across the state. | |
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| NC Map Map depicts all counties with a report (transient or resident) for the species. | Click on county for list of all database records for species in that county. |