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Jumping Mice
THE FAMILY: Zapodidae
Packing a kick that will send it nearly three metres through the air, the jumping mouse could be, for its size, the long-jump champion of Yukon wildlife. Of the four species that live in North America, two are found in the Yukon. The meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius) is the most common and is widespread throughout south-central Yukon. The western jumping mouse (Zapus princeps) is only found in extreme southern Yukon.
CHARACTERISTICS
If you are lucky enough to flush a jumping mouse from its shrubby home, you will have no difficulty identifying this tawny colored critter. Leaping away with a kangaroo gait, it could only be mistaken for a frog or grasshopper -- both poor alternatives. However, the jumping mouse is usually a surprise and after taking a few long leaps, it will hunch down in the grass again and remain motionless. It is the kind of animal that leaves one wondering what was that?. Unless you move too close again, the jumping mouse is likely to sneak away through the grass with no chance for the mystery animal to be seen a second time.
Adding to the slim chance of seeing a jumping mouse is the fact that it is a solitary creature and seldom abundant anywhere. It is usually active in the evening hours; although, in the Yukon, that time can still be light enough for observation.
A jumping mouse is small, only slightly larger than the deer mouse, but here the similarities end. Built like a kangaroo, it has a very long tail -- an asset for balance while leaping -- and kangaroo-like hind feet. Both features allow it to jump with great vigor and speed. When jumping, this mouse can move as fast as three metres per second.
Unless you are making a careful study of jumping mice, it is unlikely that you will be able to distinguish between the two species. Both have similar habits and characteristics, with skull measurement being the only definite way to separate them. However, because the western jumping mouse is so rare in the Yukon, the one you see will likely be the meadow jumping mouse.
Jumping mice are found in moist, usually shrubby or wooded locations near streams or lakes. Unlike the voles, jumping mice do not make runways through the grass. They are superb swimmers and divers, kicking like frogs though the water.
Food takes the form of a wide variety of seeds that are stored in cheek pouches until the mouse finds a suitable location for feeding. Berries are also enjoyed as is the occasional insect.
JUMPING THROUGH THE SEASONS
Jumping mice are among the few species of mice living in the north that hibernate. Many small rodents and shrews do not have the capacity to store up energy in the form of fat. This is essential for hibernation because, although body temperature and activity levels drop, the animal must still have a source of fuel for life to continue. The jumping mouse begins to store this energy supply in early summer and, by hibernation time in early September, it is a fat little butterball. It will weigh nearly double its early summer weight of about 16 grams.
When our Yukon autumn arrives with its brightly colored leaves and nippy nights, the jumping mouse is curled up in a tight little ball in its nest of hair and grass. With its tail wrapped around its small body, it is oblivious to the happenings going on a metre above its underground burrow. By spring, up to one-third of the hibernating population may have died due to insufficient energy reserves. Those that have made it show up only when greenery has become well established and is able to support their need to put on weight.
With summers arrival, the female jumping mouse gives birth to as many as six hairless young in a grass-lined nest under a log or in some other secluded location. Within a month the young are molting into adult pelage and fattening up for the long winter sleep.
JUMPING MICE AND PEOPLE
The jumping mouse has little significance to humans and therefore goes about its business with no known interference. For the interested observer however, the sight of this leaping rodent is a memorable experience. By keeping a sharp eye while walking brushy lakeshores and stream banks, you have a reasonable chance of a sighting.