Discover Life | All Living Things | IDnature guides | Mammalia | Muridae | Ochrotomys nuttalli

Species Description

• Adult total length: 5 1/2 - 8 in. (140 - 200 mm)

• Tail: 2 3/8 - 4 in. (60 - 100 mm)

• Hind foot: 3/4 - 7/8 in. (18 - 20 mm)

• Weight: 1/2 - 4/5 oz. (15 - 25 g)

• Physical Characteristics: The golden mouse is one of the most beautiful and unique mice in the park. Its name comes from its bright golden fur. The feet and underparts are creamy-white to cinnamon-orange. The tail is pale golden-brown above and creamy below.

  Unlike most mice, the golden mouse is semi-arboreal. Its semi- prehensile tail serves as a balancing and stabilizing organ. As the mouse travels along vines and branches, the tail is used for balance. When the mouse pauses, the tail encircles the branch or vine.

left lateral view of skull and mandible	dorsal view of skull	ventral view of skull

An intensive study of this species in the park was conducted by ( Linzey, 1966; 1968; Linzey and Linzey, 1967a, 1967b). Golden mice occur in highly localized populations, usually inhabiting wooded areas having an extensive understory of greenbrier (Smilax sp.) or honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.). The Komareks recorded them along the edges of broomsedge fields, brier patches, and old fences in the park. As ecological succession proceeds and more and more of the park reverts to forest, such disturbed areas are becoming scarcer.

Index

Natural History

• Reproduction
  The breeding season extends from mid-March to early October with peaks occurring in late spring and early fall. This determination is based on data obtained from juvenile and immature mice obseved in the field, the presence or absence of embryos and placental scars in autopsied females, the presence of males in breeding condition and from data gathered from the birth of 145 litters in captivity (Linzey, 1966; Linzey and Linzey, 1967b). Litters consist of an average of 2.6 young. Growth and development as well as seasonal variation in growth are discussed in Linzey and Linzey (1967b).

• Longevity
  Several marked individuals in the park lived longer than one year (Linzey, 1968). In captivity, one female lived for eight years, five months (Linzey and Packard, 1977), the longest life span recorded for any native North American murid rodent.

• Terrestrial Ecology
  Golden mice spend considerable time above ground. They build spherical nests of leaves, shredded bark, and grasses that are six to eight inches in diameter. Nest locations range from 2 to 25 feet above ground in the fork of a tree or in greenbrier, honeysuckle, or wild grapevines against the trunk of a tree.

  Golden mice are sociable with up to eight having been found in a single nest. They are nocturnal and are active during all seasons.

  Seeds (Smilax and Rubus) and insects were the most frequent food items identified in the stomachs and intestinal tracts of 54 golden mice. Prunus, Cornus, and Smilax seeds were most frequently found in an examination of 44 nests of this species (Linzey, 1966, 1968).

• Predators and Defense
  Since Ochrotomys was formerly classified as Peromyscus, all instances of predation involving Peromyscus sp. are reported in this account of Ochrotomys nuttalli, because remains of mice of this genus found in the stomachs of predators have not been identified to species. Three timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) taken near Laurel Creek, Trillium Gap, and Gregory Bald had eaten Peromyscus sp. (Stupka, 1945, 1947, 1954). Peromyscus were recorded in the stomachs of 21 of 44 timber rattlesnakes examined by Savage (1967). The stomachs of two screech owls (Otus asio) found at the Townsend Y and near park headquarters also contained remains of these mice (Stupka, 1938, 1949). A long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata) seen on Mt. LeConte near LeConte Lodge was carrying a Peromyscus. A specimen was removed from the stomach of a bobcat (Lynx rufus) killed along the Newfound Gap Road in Tennessee (Stupka, 1952).

• Parasites
  The following parasites have been recorded from this species by Linzey (1966, 1968).
  • Bacteria- Grahamella sp.; Escherichia coli

  • Cestoda- Taenia rileyi.

  • Nematoda- Longistriata sp.; Rictularia sp.

  • Mites- Eulaelaps stabularis; Androlaelaps glasgowi; Androlaelaps casalis; Labidophorus sp.; Lasioseius sp.; Melichares dentriticum; Myocoptes musculinus; Laelaps alaskensis.

  • Fleas- Epitedia wenmanni; Orchopeas leucopus; Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes; Doratopsylla blarinae.

  • Lice- Hoplopleura hesperomydis.

  • Ticks- Dermacentor variabilis.

  • Diptera- Cuterebra sp.

• University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology
• eNature

Index

Acknowledgements

• Text
  • Dr. Donald W. Linzey, Wytheville Community College - wclinzd@wcc.vccs.edu
  • Christy Brecht, Wytheville Community College - wcbrecc@wcc.vccs.edu

• Photographs
  • Roger Barbour

• Map development
  • Richard Schulz, Great Smoky Mountains National Park - richard_schulz@nps.gov

• Web page design & coding
  • Denise Lim, University of Georgia, Athens
  • John Pickering, University of Georgia, Athens

• Komarek, E. V. and R. Komarek. 1938. Mammals of the Great Smoky Mountains. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 5 (6): 137 - 162.

• Linzey, A.V. and D.W. Linzey. 1967a. Maturational and seasonal molts in the golden mouse, Ochrotomys nuttalli. Journal of Mammalogy 48 (2): 236-241.

• Linzey, A.V. and D.W. Linzey. 1967b. Growth and development of the golden mouse, Ochrotomys nuttalli. Journal of Mammalogy 48 (3): 445-458.

• Linzey, D.W. 1968. An ecological study of the golden mouse, Ochrotomys nuttalli, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. American Midland Naturalist 79(2): 320-345.

• Linzey, A.V. and D.W. Linzey. 1973. Notes on food of small mammals from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee-North Carolina. J. Elisha Mitchell Science Society 89 (1 and 2): 6-14.

• Linzey, D.W. 1966. The life history, ecology and behavior of the golden mouse, Ochrotomys nuttalli, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

• Linzey, D. W. 1995a. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Blacksburg, Virginia: The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Inc.

• Linzey, D. W. 1995b. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park-1995 Update. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 111(1):1-81.

• Linzey, D. W. 1998. The Mammals of Virginia. Blacksburg, Virginia: The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Inc.

• Linzey, D.W. and R.L. Packard. 1977. Ochrotomys nuttalli. Mammalian Species No. 75: 1-6. American Society of Mammalogists.

• Pagels, J. F. 1999. Golden mouse. Pages 584 - 586. In: D.E. Wilson, and S. Ruff (eds.). The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.