Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Meadow jump­ing mice may be found through­out north­ern North Amer­ica. They are found from the At­lantic Coast to the Great Plains in the United States, north­ward through­out the north east­ern and north cen­tral states to the arc­tic tree-line of Alaska and Canada, and as far south as Geor­gia, Al­abama, Ari­zona, and New Mex­ico. They have the widest known dis­tri­b­u­tion of mice in the sub­fam­ily Za­po­d­i­nae.

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • native

Habi­tat

Meadow jump­ing mice may live in var­i­ous habi­tats that have some herba­cious cover, but moist grass­land is pre­ferred and heav­ily wooded areas are avoided. Grassy fields and thick veg­e­tated areas bor­der­ing streams, ponds, or marshes gen­er­ally sup­port greater num­bers. It is pos­si­ble that these mice pre­fer habi­tats with high hu­mid­ity.

• Habitat Regions
• temperate
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• savanna or grassland
• mountains

• Wetlands
• marsh

• Other Habitat Features
• riparian

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Meadow jump­ing mice range in length from 180 to 240 mm, with the tail ac­count­ing for 108 to 165 mm. The hind feet are 28 to 35 mm long.

Mass varies sub­stan­tially with the sea­son. Sum­mer weights range be­tween 11.15 and 24.8 grams, av­er­ag­ing be­tween 16 and 19 g. Prior to hi­ber­na­tion, meadow jump­ing mice may at­tain weights up to, or greater than, 35 g.

Meadow jump­ing mice are rec­og­nized for their ex­tremely long tails and long hind feet. Small and slen­der, they dif­fer from wood­land jump­ing mice in that they do not have a white-tipped tail and are gen­er­ally duller in color. Adults have a dor­sal dark or olive brown band, which is paler in ju­ve­niles. The sides are a pale yel­low­ish-brown, with black hairs lin­ing the flanks, and the un­der­parts are white or buffy-white. The tail is sparsely haired, dark brown on top and yel­low-white on the bot­tom, and ex­ceeds the body length. The pelage is short, thick, and pre­dom­i­nantly coarse. These mice un­dergo an an­nual molt that usu­ally com­mences after mid-June for adults or in Au­gust for the ju­ve­niles and lasts for about three weeks. Meadow jump­ing mice have small and del­i­cate fore­limbs with four toes on each foot. The hind limbs are longer and have five toes. The feet have naked soles. The head is small, nar­row, and rel­a­tively high crowned. The nose is short and pointed. These mice have large in­fra­or­bital fora­men. Den­tal for­mula is 1/1, 0/0, 1/0, 3/3. Meadow jump­ing mice are the only mam­mal with eigh­teen teeth. The upper jaw is char­ac­ter­ized as fol­lows: short, nar­row, and lon­gi­tu­di­nally grooved in­cisors; small cheek teeth; and a small peg-like pre­moloar that gen­er­ally pre­cedes the mo­lars. These mice have 8 mam­mary glands, 4 in­guinal, 1 pec­toral, and 1 ab­dom­i­nal. Fe­males may some­times be slightly larger and weigh more than males.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• female larger

• Range mass

  12 to 30 g

  0.42 to 1.06 oz

• Average mass

  18.25 g

  0.64 oz

• Range length

  180 to 240 mm

  7.09 to 9.45 in

• Average basal metabolic rate

  0.219 W

  AnAge

Re­pro­duc­tion

No in­for­ma­tion is avail­able on the mat­ing sys­tem of meadow jump­ing mice.

The breed­ing sea­son of meadow jump­ing mice oc­curs shortly after hi­ber­na­tion in late April or May. Males emerge from hi­ber­na­tion slightly prior to fe­males and are re­pro­duc­tively ac­tive when the fe­males emerge. Within two weeks after emer­gence, the ma­jor­ity of fe­males are preg­nant and ges­ta­tion be­gins. Ges­ta­tion is usu­ally about 18 days, but may be longer for lac­tat­ing fe­males. A fe­male may have 2 to 3 lit­ters in a year. The av­er­age lit­ter size is 5.3, though the num­ber of young varies be­tween 2 and 9. In the north, most young are born and weaned be­tween June and Au­gust. Small and weigh­ing about 0.8 g, the neonates are naked, pink, blind, claw­less and deaf, but squeak au­di­bly at birth. In the first week, their ear pin­nae un­fold, fur be­gins to cover their backs, and their claws ap­pear. They begin crawl­ing be­tween the first and sec­ond weeks, and by the third week they can hop, creep, and hear. Their in­cisors have erupted, and they have tawny coats. By the end of the fourth week, the young have adult pelage, and open eyes. Weaned, they are in­de­pen­dent be­tween the 28th and 33rd day. Those young fe­males born dur­ing the spring may re­pro­duce after two months.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• fertilization
• viviparous

• Breeding interval

  Females may have 2 to 3 litters during the warm part of the year.

• Breeding season

  The breeding season of meadow jumping mice occurs shortly after hibernation in late April or May.

• Range number of offspring

  2 to 9

• Average number of offspring

  5.6

• Average number of offspring

  5.5

  AnAge

• Average gestation period

  18 days

• Average gestation period

  19 days

  AnAge

• Range time to independence

  28 to 33 days

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  2 (low) months

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
  Sex: male

  61 days

  AnAge

Fe­male meadow jump­ing mice pro­vide all the care for their young, until they are weaned and in­de­pen­dent.

• Parental Investment
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-independence
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Most meadow jump­ing mice in the wild die in their first year; about 9% of those who live longer make it into their third year. Max­i­mum lifes­pan in cap­tiv­ity is five years. (Kurta, 1995)

• Range lifespan
  Status: wild

  3 (high) years

• Range lifespan
  Status: captivity

  5 (high) years

• Typical lifespan
  Status: wild

  1 (high) years

• Average lifespan
  Status: wild

  <1 years

• Average lifespan
  Status: captivity

  5.0 years

  Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Be­hav­ior

Meadow jump­ing mice are soli­tary, but not ag­gres­sive to­ward oth­ers of their kind. They are gen­er­ally noc­tur­nal (al­though oc­ca­sion­ally di­ur­nal), and usu­ally move in se­quen­tial short hops of about 2.5 to 15 cm or by crawl­ing along vole run­ways or in the grass. They are also great swim­mers and dig­gers and can climb. These mice are rel­a­tively no­madic, and may roam up to 1 km in search of moist habi­tat. Sum­mer nests are made of grass and are gen­er­ally placed in or under pro­tec­tive struc­tures or un­der­ground. Hi­ber­na­tion nests are made of grass and leaves and usu­ally lie in bur­rows 0.3 to 0.9 m below the ground. These an­i­mals begin to hi­ber­nate be­tween late Sep­tem­ber and early Oc­to­ber. Hi­ber­na­tion is not be­lieved to be syn­chro­nous, but de­pen­dent upon fat re­serves. Ju­ve­niles usu­ally start hi­ber­nat­ing later than adults. While in tor­por, body tem­per­a­ture may drop as low as 2 de­grees cel­sius. These mice reemerge in mid to late spring.

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• saltatorial
• nocturnal
• motile
• nomadic
• hibernation
• solitary

• Range territory size

  0.0015 to 0.011 km^2

Home Range

Home ranges vary be­tween 0.15 and 1.10 hectares and may over­lap. Pop­u­la­tion den­si­ties may reach up to 10 or more per acre, but 2 to 3 in­di­vid­u­als per acre is typ­i­cal in a high qual­ity habi­tat. There is some dis­agree­ment over the de­gree of pop­u­la­tion fluc­tu­a­tion in this species.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Meadow jump­ing mice make few sounds, ex­cept the squeak­ing of young. Adults may call in clucks, chat­ter their teeth, and drum the ground with their tails. They have a keen sense of smell and prob­a­bly use scent to com­mu­ni­cate as well.

Meadow jump­ing mice per­ceive their en­vi­ron­ment using their eyes, their ears, their nose, and their whiskers.

• Communication Channels
• acoustic
• chemical

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

Meadow jump­ing mice pri­mar­ily eat seeds, but also feed on berries, fruit, and in­sects. Grasses may be cut in sec­tions to reach the seed heads. These mice may leave these piles of grass de­bris with rachis and glumes on the sur­face. In the spring, one half of the diet may con­sist of an­i­mal foods after emer­gence from hi­ber­na­tion. Es­pe­cially im­por­tant are Lep­i­doptera lar­vae and bee­tles of the fa­milia Cara­bidae and Cur­culion­idae. Later, seeds and the sporo­carps of hy­po­geous fungi (e.g. En­do­gone). Weight gen­er­ally in­creases to­ward the be­gin­ning of the fall, es­pe­cially two weeks be­fore hi­ber­na­tion be­gins, as suf­fi­cient ac­cu­mu­lated fat is re­quired for hi­ber­na­tion.

• Primary Diet
• herbivore
  • granivore

• Animal Foods
• insects

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• seeds, grains, and nuts
• fruit

• Other Foods
• fungus

Pre­da­tion

Preda­tors of meadow jump­ing mice in­clude great horned owls, screech owls, red-tailed hawks, weasels, and foxes. If star­tled, these mice leap up to 1 m high in the air (hence, their com­mon name) and then ei­ther short hop or crouch, flat­ten­ing their brighter un­der­parts against the ground. This still­ness is ap­par­ently their pri­mary de­fense against preda­tors. (Kurta, 1995)

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic

• Known Predators

  • great horned owls
  • screech owls
  • red-tailed hawks
  • weasels
  • foxes

Ecosys­tem Roles

Meadow jump­ing mice are an im­por­tant food source for many preda­tors, and may play a role in spread­ing the seeds of some of the plants they eat. They have few par­a­sites.

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Meadow jump­ing mice may eat grain, but num­bers aren't gen­er­ally high enough to have a sub­stan­tial im­pact.

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Meadow jump­ing mice are not cur­rently threat­ened, al­though local pop­u­la­tions may be af­fected by changes in land use and habi­tat de­struc­tion.

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

• State of Michigan List

  No special status

Other Com­ments

There are three species of the genus Zapus: Zapus hud­so­nius, Zapus prin­ceps, and Zapus trino­ta­tus. Eleven sub­species of Zapus hud­so­nius are listed by Whitaker, Jr. (1972).

Con­trib­u­tors

Al­li­son Poor (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Jo­ce­lyn Smith (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Ref­er­ences

Baker, R. H. 1983. Michi­gan Mam­mals. Michi­gan State Uni­ver­sity Press, Michi­gan.

Knox, Jr., J.J. and E. C. Bir­ney. 1988. Hand­book of Mam­mals of the North-Cen­tral States. Uni­ver­sity of Min­nesota Press, Min­neapo­lis.

Nowalk, R. M., and J. L. Par­adiso. 1983. Walker's Mam­mals of the World. The John Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press, Bal­ti­more.

Whitaker, Jr. J. O. 1972. Mam­malian Species. No. 11 (pp. 1-7). The Amer­i­can So­ci­ety of Mam­mal­o­gists, New York.

William, A. 1974. The Mam­mals of Canada. Uni­ver­sity of Toronto Press, Toronto.

"An­i­mal Life His­to­ries Data­base" (On-line).

Kurta, A. 1995. Mam­mals of the Great Lakes Re­gion. Ann Arbor: Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan Press.

Ruff, S., D. Wil­son. 1999. The Smith­son­ian book of North Amer­i­can Mam­mals. Wash­ing­ton [D.C.]: Smith­son­ian In­sti­tu­tion Press in as­so­ci­a­tion with the Amer­i­can So­ci­ety of Mam­mal­o­gists.