Activity patterns of deer mice in tallgrass and mixed grass prairie. Ryan L. Rehmeier, Glennis A. Kaufman, and Donald W. Kaufman. Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.

Little is known about the activity patterns of cryptic, nocturnal small mammals in the wild and how these might be affected by reproductive status, social context, or productivity of the environment. Since June 2003, the activity of >80 deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) has been monitored at artificial burrows outfitted with automatic monitoring systems in tallgrass (Konza Prairie Biological Station, near Manhattan) and mixed grass prairie (Watts Prairie, near Lucas). We report on general activity patterns; compare activity of individuals under different social contexts; and characterize differences in activity patterns between deer mice in two different grasslands. So far, this system has been used to characterize and quantify nightly activity patterns for individual males, individual females, male-female pairs, pregnant females, lactating females with young, as well as to acquire continuous sequences of nightly activity by females from parturition through mobility and weaning of young. In addition, we have observed pup-moving by mothers, infanticide by non-related males, and potential reproductive (genetic) polygyny where only social monogamy had been observed previously. These results are preliminary but represent the first study to characterize activity patterns of deer mice in situ, under natural conditions in habitats that differ in primary productivity. Continued research should yield insights into how productivity influences the reproductive conflict between the sexes.