Strictly nocturnal, this hyperactive mouse lives in the deep forest and has found food left for the Flying Squirrels and makes fast dashes for food when the squirrels aren't there - rarely lingering in the open as it is on the low end of the food chain. The exact species of mouse is unclear as even generic house mice live in forests. The nighttime sounds of the forest echo in the background.
Lucky break while staking out Flying Squirrels I apparently captured the only known video on the "Web" or at least in the Google World of a Woodland Jumping Mouse in the wild. Of course the individual mice are very small in this night-vision video captured using a Bushnell HD Trail Cam, but what one can see - are the amazing jumps and that of course, is what is the key attribute of this species. Able to jump well over several meters in a single bound, the Woodland Jumping Mouse is an amazing member of the rodent family, rarely, if ever, filmed at night in its natural environment.
In the video they can be seen making easy jumps of 5 to 6 feet. They do very little "walking". Nocturnal, this wild and crazy group of jumping mice live at nearly 4000 feet elevation in an Eastern Hemlock grove on the banks of a small stream in the Great Smoky Mountains - a choice habitat for them. There is leftover seed on the ground from daytime feeding of birds that they are after. A Flying Squirrel is also in the mix - you will note how the jump of the squirrel is not even comparable. The tails of the Woodland Jumping Mice are much longer than their bodies and their rear feet are large. They are more often found in eastern Canada, but populations remain at the higher elevations of the southern Appalachians. They apparently relish the colder winters as they are hibernators and only active during the warmer months. Here are some links to more information: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/pdf/woodlandjumpingmousem.pdf http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=207
Possums (Opossums), Raccoons and Armadillos are the Screech Owl's Companions at Night and clean up any left over birdseed and enjoy clean fresh water.
We're expecting the return of nesting Eastern Screech Owls within 3 to 5 weeks and I'm testing out a new "nightvision" camera (more on that in a future blog) to hopefully get more action footage of the screech owls flying around the backyard at night. When all the other birds roost for the night the owls are just getting started, but there are many other creatures that come out at night and are part of the same suburban ecosystem. The video above shows a Raccoon and a Possum cleaning up leftover seed around one of the bird feeding areas and partaking of the fresh water from a small birdbath. This is a regular stop at night for many creatures. In this case, the Raccoon and the Possum come to terms with each other and coexist rather peacefully, although the smaller Possum seems a little less trusting than the Raccoon who goes out of his way to avoid direct eye contact. The top predators in this environment are likely Bobcats and Foxes, but I have not seen any. They undoubtedly have a much farther ranging territory and do not stop by daily. I hope to document whatever chased the Armadillo and scared the Raccoon and Possum at the end of the video. It looks like the nightvision camera is going to work - more to come.
