From: itannman@dogbert.ucdavis.edu (Ann Mansker)
Subject: Critter of the Week: Basiliscus basiliscus
Date: 1999/03/02
Newsgroups: ucd.life

The Northern Grasshopper Mouse ( http://sevilleta.unm.edu/data/species/
mammal/socorro/profile/northern-grasshopper-mouse-photo.html ) is a stocky,
short-tailed rodent, grey or pinkish-cinnamon on the back and white on the
belly.  They are widespread in prarie and high desert areas in the US and
central Canada where the soil is sandy or gravelly, suitable for burrowing and
dust-bathing.  The closely related Southern Grasshopper Mouse (and its
subspecies, the endangered Tulare Grasshopper Mouse http://arnica.csustan.edu/
esrpp/tghm.htm ) lives in sandy, shrubby low desert and arid plains.

All grasshopper mice are aggressive nocturnal carnivores.  Though seeds and
other plant materials form a small portion of their diet, grasshopper mice
live primarily on insects, scorpions, lizards and other mice.  They can subdue
and kill creatures larger than themselves.  They are highly territorial; males
will kill a same-gender rival if it refuses to vacate the defender's several-
acre range.  Grasshopper mice are unusually vocal, and calling may be one of
the ways they mark territory.  Most calls are given standing on their hind
legs, with the nose pointed skyward, as if howling at the moon.  Though some
calls are audible to humans, others are ultrasonic.