Some Population Aspects of Cricetid Rodents in a Central Oklahoma Tall Grass Prairie

Population parameters of cricetid rodents were investigated with a livetrap study in a tall grass prairie in central Oklahoma between June 1973, and March 1975. The hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) represented 60.5% of the captures and 69.7% of all recaptures. The deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) and the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) represented 22.2% and 8.0% of the captures respectively. The P. maniculatus population was most abundant in February and had been 95% replaced within 11 months. Survival rates of P. leucopus were similar to those of P. maniculatus. Sigmodon adults were most abundant in the winter; juveniles and old adults were most numerous in the spring and fall. The survivorship curves were greater than those reported in other investigations of Sigmodon and may have been influnced by the unusually heavy precipitation in 1973.