Two distinctive maturational pelages are seen in our material—juvenal and post-juvenal or subadult, which generally resembles adult pelage (of season) in texture but is duller of color. Collins (1918) for P. maniculatus, Hoffmeister (1951) for P. truei, and Brown (1963) for P. boylii, among others, have described maturational pelages and sequence of maturational molts similar to those observed in our specimens.
Deer mice from Harding County clearly are referable to P. m. nebrascensis (rather than to the smaller and paler P. m. luteus, which occurs to the east and southeast), even though adults average somewhat paler than adults of typical populations of that subspecies. A tick of the Ixodes ochotonae-angustus complex was obtained from one specimen.
Onychomys leucogaster missouriensis (Audubon and Bachman, 1851)
Northern Grasshopper Mouse
Specimens examined (4).—NE 1/4 sec. 22, R. 1 E, T. 22 N, 2; 2 mi. N, 5 mi. W Ludlow, 1; 14 mi. S, 4 mi. W Reva, 1.
We found the grasshopper mouse uncommon in Harding County. All four of the mice listed as examined were trapped in areas supporting sage and short grasses, with relatively little ground cover.
Three of our four specimens are immature—two males collected on May 31 (testes 10, 12) and a female taken on June 25. An adult male trapped on June 18 was in winter pelage, but molt was underway on the crown, between the ears, and over the upper back and shoulders.
Neotoma cinerea rupicola J. A. Allen, 1894
Bushy-tailed Wood Rat
Specimens examined (8).—2 mi. N, 5 mi. W Ludlow, 5; 12 mi. N Buffalo, 1 (USNM); 7 mi. N, 2-1/2 mi. W Camp Crook, 3300 ft., 1; 2 mi. S, 5 mi. E Harding, 1.