 DESCRIPTION:
Wt=0.75-1.0 oz (22-30g); L without tail = 4.6-6.4" (119-163mm), tail
= 1.25-2.6" (32-68mm). Overall grayish or cinnamon above and white
below. Tail is short (between 1/3 and 1/2 of body length), bicolored,
and thick.
NATURAL HISTORY: Mostly carnivorous. The parents actually teach their
offspring how to successfully capture and eat Pinacate
Beetles (stick their abdomen in the soil before being squirt and then
do not eat the glands at the base of the abdomen) and scorpions
(remove stinger). Male remains with female and offspring, using a high-pitched
howl to signal other males to stay out of his territory. Thus, grasshopper
mice can be thought of as the wolf of the rodent world (carnivorous, travel
in groups, howl, and teach their offspring how to hunt). Grasshopper mice
are mostly nocturnal, staying in a burrow during the day. |
