State of California Natural Resources Agency Department of Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Branch Captive Breeding, Anti-Predator Behavior and Reintroduction of the Pacific Pocket Mouse (Perognathus longimembris pacificus) 2012-2014 By Dr. Debra Shier _______________________________________________________ Nongame Wildlife Program, 2014-03 Final Report To State of California Department of Fish and Wildlife South Coast Region 3883 Ruffin Road San Diego, CA 92123 Captive Breeding, Anti-Predator Behavior and Reintroduction of the Pacific Pocket Mouse (Perognathus longimembris pacificus) For the period June 15, 2012 – June 14, 2014 Dr. Debra M. Shier San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research Division of Applied Animal Ecology Escondido, CA 92027 Prepared June 11, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 7 Objectives .................................................................................................................................... 8 PERSONNEL ................................................................................................................................. 8 CAPTURING FOUNDERS ............................................................................................................ 9 Methods ....................................................................................................................................... 9 General trapping protocol ........................................................................................................ 9 Processing ................................................................................................................................ 9 Dana Point ............................................................................................................................... 9 Santa Margarita ...................................................................................................................... 10 South San Mateo .................................................................................................................... 10 Dana Point ............................................................................................................................. 16 Santa Margarita ...................................................................................................................... 18 South San Mateo .................................................................................................................... 20 Final Collection from Santa Margarita .................................................................................. 20 Transfer to PPM Facility ....................................................................................................... 23 Quarantine ............................................................................................................................. 24 HEALTH AND DISEASE ............................................................................................................ 25 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................. 25 PPM CAPTIVE PROPAGATION AND RESEARCH ................................................................ 26 General Methods ....................................................................................................................... 26 Housing .................................................................................................................................. 26 Social Cages .......................................................................................................................... 26 Data Collection ...................................................................................................................... 26 Weight as an indicator of physical condition in captivity ......................................................... 27 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 27 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................. 27 Estrus Cycling ........................................................................................................................... 29 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 29 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................. 29 Mate Choice Tests ..................................................................................................................... 29 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................. 30 Mate Pairings, Copulations, Pregancies, and Litters ................................................................. 31 Litters ........................................................................................................................................ 32 ANTIPREDATOR EXPERIMENTS ........................................................................................... 33 Antipredator behavior of wild-caught PPM in the presence of Owls ....................................... 34 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 34 Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 35 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 36 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................. 36 Antipredator behavior of wild-caught PPM in the presence of Snakes..................................... 38 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 38 Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 38 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 38 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................. 39 INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION EXPERIMENTS ................................................................. 42 Trapping .................................................................................................................................... 43 Methods for Paired Interactions ................................................................................................ 45 Cache Pilfering ...................................................................................................................... 46 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................. 47 Paired Interactions ................................................................................................................. 47 Cache Pilfering ...................................................................................................................... 49 FORAGING EXPERIMENTS...................................................................................................... 50 Foraging under Predation Pressure ............................................................................................ 50 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 51 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................. 51 GENETICS ................................................................................................................................... 53 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 53 Sampling ................................................................................................................................ 53 DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, and microsatellites .......................................... 53 Basic summary statistics ........................................................................................................ 54 Population genetics ................................................................................................................ 54 Relatedness ............................................................................................................................ 56 Studbook Pedigree .......................................................................................................................