SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Digital Commons @ ESF Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletins The Roosevelt Wild Life Station 1930 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin Charles E. Johnson SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.esf.edu/rwlsbulletin Part of the Animal Sciences Commons, Biodiversity Commons, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, and the Natural Resources and Conservation Commons Recommended Citation Johnson, Charles E., "Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin" (1930). Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletins. 16. https://digitalcommons.esf.edu/rwlsbulletin/16 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the The Roosevelt Wild Life Station at Digital Commons @ ESF. It has been accepted for inclusion in Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletins by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ ESF. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. VOL. Ill AUGUST. 1930 No. 2c BULLETIN OF The New York State College of Forestry AT Syracuse University HUGH P. BAKER, Dean Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin VOLUME 5 NUMBER 4 OF THE Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station '-THE BIOLOGY OF THE VOLES OF NEW YORK / - ' jHE RELATION OF MAMMALS TO THE HARVARD FOREST CONTENTS OF RECENT ROOSEVELT WILD LIFE BULLETINS (To obtain these publications see announcement on back of title page.) Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, Vol. i, No. 3. March, 1923. 1. The Summer Birds of the Allegany State Park. .Aretas A. Saunders. 2. The Ruffed Grouse, with Special Reference to its Drumming Edmund J. Sawyer. 3. Current Station Notes The Director and Editor. Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, Vol. i. No. 4. March, 1923. 1. Relation of Summer Birds to the Western Adirondack Forest Perley M. Silloway. 2. Notes on the Relation of Birds to Adirondack Forest Vegetation Dr. Charles C. Adams. 3. The Summer Birds of the Adirondacks in Franklin County, N. Y Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., and H. D. Minot. (Reprinted: original date of publication, 1877.) 4. Current Station Notes The Director and Editor. Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. i. October, 1923. 1. The Control of Blood-sucking Leeches, with an Account of the Leeches of Palisades Interstate Park Dr. J. Percy Moore. 2. Preliminary Report on the Parasitic Worms of Oneida Lake, New York Dr. Henry S. Pratt. 3. Acanthocephala from the Fishes of Oneida Lake, New York Dr. Harley J. Van Cleave. 4. Current Station Notes The Director and Editor. Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 2. February, 1924. I. Ecology of the Plankton Algae in the Palisades Interstate Park, Including the Relation of Control Methods to Fish Culture Dr. Gilbert M. Smith. Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 3. March, 1924. 1. The Status of Fish Culture in Our Inland Public Waters, and the Role of Investigation in the Maintenance of Fish Resources Dr. William C. Kendall. 2. Current Station Notes The Director and Editor. Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 4. February, 1925. 1. The Relation of Wild Life to the Public in National and State Parks Dr. Charles C. Adams. 2. The Big Game Animals of Yellowstone National Park. .Edmund Heller. 3. The Food of Trout in Yellowstone National Park Dr. Richard A. Muttkowski. 4. Current Station Notes The Director and Editor. VOL. Ill The RoOS€ Rooseve mth tine compliments of THE BDOSBVELT 771 LD LIFS lOSEST EXPERIMENT STATION Syracuse, New Yorlc Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/rooseveltwildlif05unse_2 VOL. Ill AUGUST, 1930 No. 2c BULLETIN OF The New York State College of Forestry AT Syracuse University HUGH P. BAKER. Dean Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin VOLUME 5 NUMBER 4 OF THE Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station Entered as second-class matter October 18, 1927, at the Post Office at Syracuse, N. Y., under the Act of August 24, 1912. : ANNOUNCEMENT The serial publications of the Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station consist of the following 1. Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin. 2. Roosevelt Wild Life Annals. The Bulletin is intended to include papers of general and popular interest on the various phases of forest wild life, and the Annals those of a more technical nature or having a less widespread interest. The editions of these publications are limited and do not permit of general free distribution. Exchanges are invited. The sub- scription price of the Bulletin is $4.00 per volume of four numljers. or $1.00 per single number. The price of the Annals is $5.00 per volume of four num])ers, or $1.25 per single number. All communi- cations concerning publications should be addressed to The Director and Editor, Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station, Syracuse. New York. Copyright, 1930. bv Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF FORESTRY Ex Officio Dr. Chari.es \\". Flixt, Chancellor Syracuse University Dr. Frank P. Graves, Coiiuiiissinncr of Education Albany, N. Y. Hon. Alexander ^Lm doxai.d, Conservation Comin'er . Albany, N. Y. Hon. Heri!ERt H. Lehman, Liriitenaiit-Goz'ernor Albany, N. Y. Appointed uv the Governor Hon. John R. Clancy Syracuse, N. Y. Hon. Harold D. Cornwall Glenfield, N. Y. Hon. George W. Driscoll Syracuse, N. Y. Hon. Alfred E. Smith New York City Hon. William H. Kelley Syracuse, N. Y. Hon. Edward H. O'Hara Syracuse, N. Y. Hon. Charles A. Upson Lockport, N. Y. Hon. J. Henry Walters New York City Hon. Edmund H. Lewis Syracuse, N. Y. Officers of the Board Hon. Alfred E. Smith President Hon. John R. Clancy I'ice-Prcsident HONORARY ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE ROOSEVELT WILD LIFE STATION American Members Mrs. Corinne Roosevelt Roisinson New York City Hon. Theodore Roosevelt New York City Mr. Kermit Roosevelt New York City Dr. George Bird Grinnell New York City Hon. Gifford Pinchot Milford, Pa. Mr. Chauncey J. Hamlin Buffalo, N. Y. Dr. George Shiras, 3rd Washington, D. C. Dr. Frank M. Chapman New York City Dean Henrv S. Graves New Haven, Conn. European Member Viscount Grey Fallodon, England [507] ROOSEVELT WILD LIFE STATION STAFF Hu(;h p. Baker, M.F., IJ.Oec Dean of the College Chaklks E. Johnson, A.M., Ph.D Director of the Station WiLFOKi) A. Dence. B.S Ichtliyologist and Ass't Director Miriam S. Mockford Secretary Temporary Appointments* Robert T. Hatt, A.M Field Naturalist Myron T. Tovvnsexd, Ph.D Field Naturalist M. W. Smith, M.A Field Naturalist Justus F. Muller, Ph.D Field Naturalist Dayton Stoner, Ph.D Field Ornithologist Charles J. Spiker, A.B Field Naturalist LeRoy Stegemax, ?iI.S Field Naturalist H. J. Van Cleave, Ph.D Field Naturalist * Including only those who liave made field investigations and whose reports are now in preparation. [SoS] ; GENERAL CONTENTS PACE 1. The Biology of the Voles of New York Rohert T. Hatt 513 2. The Relation of Mammals to the Harvard Forest Robert T. Hatt 625 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES Plate. 2- THE VOLES OF NEW YORK. I, Meadow mouse, Microtus p. pennsylvaniciis ; 2, Red-backed mouse, Clethrionomys g. gapperi; 3, Pine mouse, Pitymys pinctortim scalopsoides 4, Lemming vole, Synaptomys c. coupcri. .facing 513 FIGURES (All photographs by the author unless otherwise stated) Fig. 161. Poses of the meadow mouse {Microtus pennsylvaniciis) . Photo- grai)hs by Richard Archbold, H. B. Sherman and Robert Hatt. 517 Fig. 162. Hummock growth at the border of a hardwood swamp. Bed- ford, N. Y. Microtus were uncommon here 518 Fig. 163. Hummock growth in a swamp at Bedford, New York. Microtus and Za pits were common here 518 Fig. 164. The efTect of burning in a typical meadow mouse habitat of Westchester County, N. Y. The annual fires often burn more thoroughly than shown here. April 8, 1928 5^5 Fig. 165. Hoar frost in the swamp in winter. The inhospitable winter conditions in these areas are a major factor in keeping down the mouse populations, and in causing them to move to the uplands in the winter. Bedford, N. Y. December, 1928 525 Fig. 166. Rank herbaceous growth at the swamp border. Here Microtus is very abundant. Bedford, N. Y 526 Fig. 167. Wet upland field inhabited by Microtus. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 526 Fig. 168. Dry pastured field, Bedford, N. Y. Grazing and aridity are responsible for keeping meadow mice from such a field as this. 537 Fig. 169. Fields, Bedford, N. Y. The fields in the extreme distance that are unpastured support a meadow mouse population. Those in the foreground and to the right are uninhabited 537 Fig. 170. Mouse runways in a small dry field exposed by burning. The grass here had not been cut in three years, and the mice did great damage in the nearby garden. Bedford, N. Y 538 Fig. 171. Excavated earth marking the course of burrows used by meadow mice in a Bedford, N. Y., marsh 538 Fig. 172. Three nests of meadow mice, unusually close together. Bedford, N. Y. April 27, 1929 547 Fig. 173. A nest of Microtus, lifted from its site. Bedford, N. Y. April 27, 1929 547 Fig. 174. A typical nest of Microtus, Bedford, N. Y. April 27, 1929 548 Fig. 175. Microtus nest in the center of a hummock. Bedford, N. Y 548 Fig. 176. Sloop Island, Lake Champlain, N. Y., occupied by seven Microtus. August 23, 1926 557 Fig. 177. Small apple tree girdled by mice that flourished in the uncut grass nearby. Bedford, N. Y 557 Fig. 178. Hummock, the site of a meadow mouse nest containing young. This hummock is completely surrounded by water. Bedford, N. Y. April 27, 1929 558 [509] 5IO Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin PAGE Fig. 179. Meadow mice, one to two days old, in their opened nest. Bed- ford, N.