A game of cat-and-mouse: do habitat structure and fire history influence native rodent foraging behaviour

This paper aims to investigate the foraging strategies of two native rodents in respect to microhabitat structure and vegetation fire history. The authors studied the foraging behaviour of Mitchell's hopping mouse and the sandy inland mouse at Charles Darwin Reserve in the northern Wheatbelt of Western Australia. Artificial foraging patches and the GUD technique were used to measure foraging activity. Feeding activity was monitored for six to eight nights in February 2013 and April 2013. The data pooled across both months indicated that both species prefer to forage in bush microhabitat, rather than in the open. Terrestrial carnivores, the dingo and feral cat, occur in the study area, as do other predators like the barn owl, albeit less commonly.