Alcorn, like Rand (1945:43), found the mouse in almost every habitat along the Alaska Highway. On the east side of the Minaker River, one mile west of Trutch, Alcorn took 26 Peromyscus and four Microtus in 70 museum special traps baited with chewed rolled oats, set in a grassy area where there were birches and clumps of willows. Peromyscus was usually abundant in old construction camps along the highway; on July 27 in 50 traps set under abandoned buildings at Summit Pass, Alcorn took 21 Peromyscus. Apparently, as Swarth (1936:402) notes, the white-footed mouse makes itself at home in such buildings, and local populations probably increase as a result of the artificial environment that provides favorable conditions for existence.
Neotoma cinerea drummondii (Richardson)
Bushy-tailed Wood Rat
Myoxus drummondii Richardson, Zool. Jour., 3:517, 1828. (Type probably from near Jasper House, Alberta, Canada.)
Neotoma cinerea drummondii Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 7:25, April 13, 1892.
Specimens examined.—Total 4, as follows: British Columbia: Summit Pass, 4500 ft., 10 mi. S and 70 mi. W of Fort Nelson, 1; 5 mi. W and 3 mi. N Fort St. John, 3.
Remarks.—Wood rats were obtained at only two locations, Alcorn's field notes indicating that the animals were rare and spotty in distribution. Rand (1944:44) comments that the rats were "scarce north of the Lower Liard Crossing."
At both localities where specimens were taken, Alcorn noted first their characteristic droppings. At Summit Pass, droppings were found in a rock slide at the upper limit of timber line; one rat was taken. At the trapping station five miles west and three miles north of Fort St. John, droppings were found in and under an old abandoned building; four young (two prepared) and one adult were obtained.
Synaptomys borealis dalli Merriam
Northern Bog Lemming