Food Habits of Sympatric Peromyscus leucopus and Peromyscus maniculatus

The white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis ) and the cloudland deermouse (P. maniculatus nubiterrae ) occur sympatrically in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. In a series of experiments to test for competition between these species. The authors have found that they exploit similar microhabitats, use similar nest sites are intra- and inter-specifically territorial, and under some conditions are food-limited. In this paper, they provide further evidence for their ecological similarity by comparing their seasonal diets. The study was conducted at Mountain Lake Biological Station, Giles Co., in southwestern Virginia. The vegetation is oak-maple-hickory forest with scattered rhododendron thickets and an understory of ferns (primarily Osmundia spp.) and blueberry (Vaccinium spp.).