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$Unique_ID{QAD00256}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Rice Meadow-Mouse (Marsh Rice Rat)}
$Subject{Rice Meadow-Mouse (Marsh Rice Rat); Arvicola; Oryzivora}
$Journal{Quadrupeds of North America: Volume III}
$Volume{Vol. 3:214-216}
$Genus{Arvicola}
$Species{Oryzivora}
$Common_Name{Rice Meadow-Mouse}
$Log{
Plate CXLIV--Right.*00254P1.scf
Genus*00064.txt}
Portions copyright (c) Creative Multimedia Corp., 1990-91, 1992
A U D U B O N ' S M A M M A L S
By John James Audubon, F. R. S., &c. &c.
AND
The Rev. John Bachman, D. D., &c. &c.
-------------------------------------------
VOL. III.
--------------------------------
ARVICOLA ORYZIVORA.--BACH.
[Oryzomys palustris]
RICE MEADOW-MOUSE.
[Marsh Rice Rat]
PLATE CXLIV. FIG. 3
A. Pennsylvanicam equans, capite longo, rostro acuto, corpore gracili,
auriculis prominulis, cauda longitudine trunci; supra ferruginea rufus, subtus
subalbida.
CHARACTERS.
Size of Arvicola Pennsylvanica; head, long; nose, sharp; body, slender;
ears, prominent; tail, the length of the body, without including the head;
colour, rusty brown above, beneath whitish.
DESCRIPTION.
In form this species bears a distant resemblance to the cotton rat
(Sigmodon hispidum); it is, however, a much smaller species. The ears, which
are half the length of the head, are rounded, and are thickly clothed with hair
on both surfaces; the feet are rather small; there is a short blunt nail in
place of a thumb; under surface of palms, and tarsus, naked; toes on the
hind-feet, long, the three middle ones of nearly an equal length; tail, rather
long, thickly clothed on both surfaces with short hairs; whiskers, short,
scarcely reaching the ears.
COLOUR.
The fur on the upper surface is slate colour, tipped with light brown and
black, giving it on the dorsal aspect a dark grayish-brown tint, fading into
lighter on the sides, and into whitish-gray on the belly and under surface; the
ears are of the colour of the sides; feet, whitish; tail, brown on the upper
surface, lighter beneath; whiskers, black and white.
DIMENSIONS.
Inches. Lines.
Length of head and body, . . . . . . . . 5 2
Length of tail, . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0
From end of heel to point of longest nail, . . 1 2
From point of nose to ear,. . . . . . . . 1 0
Height of ear,. . . . . . . . . . . . 0 5 1/2
HABITS.
The Rice Meadow-Mouse, as its name implies, is found in particular
localities in the banks of the rice-fields of Carolina and Georgia. It burrows
in the dykes or dams a few inches above the line of the usual rise of the water.
Its burrow is seldom much beyond a foot in depth. It has a compact nest at the
extremity, where it produces its young in April. They are usually four or five.
In spring this Mouse is in the habit of sitting on the dams near the water, and
is so immoveable, and so much resembles the colour of the surrounding earth,
that it is seldom noticed until it moves off to its retreat in the banks. We
have observed it scratching up the rice when newly planted and before it had
been overflowed by the water. When the rice is in its milky state this animal
commences feeding on it, and continues during the autumn and winter, gleaning
the fields of the scattered grains. We have also seen its burrows in old banks
on deserted rice-fields, and observed that it had been feeding on the large
seeds of the Gama grass (Tripsicum dactyloides), and on those of the wild rye
(Elymus Virginicus). A singular part of the history of the Rice Mouse is the
fact that in the extensive salt-marshes along the borders of Ashley and Cooper
rivers, this species is frequently found a quarter of a mile from the dry
ground. Its nest is suspended on a bunch of interlaced marsh grass. In this
situation we observed one with five young. At certain seasons this little
animal feeds on the seeds of the marsh grass (Spartina glabra). When these fail
it sometimes retires to the shore for food, but has no disrelish to the small
crustacea and mollusks that remain on the mud at the subsiding of the tide.
This species swims rapidly, and dives in the manner of the European
water-rat (Arvicola amphibia), or of our Arvicola Pennsylvanica. In an attempt
at capturing some alive, they swam so actively, and dived so far from us, that
the majority escaped. Those we kept in captivity produced young in May and
September; they were fed on grains of various kinds, but always gave the
preference to small pieces of meat.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.
We obtained several specimens of this Mouse through the aid of our friend
Dr. ALEXANDER MOULTRIE, who assisted us in capturing them on his rice plantation
in St. John's parish, South Carolina. We procured a considerable number on the
salt marshes near Charleston, saw several on the eastern banks of the Savannah
river, and near Savannah; and the late Dr. LEITNER brought us a specimen
obtained in the Everglades of Florida. This Arvicola is said to exist as far to
the north as New Jersey.
GENERAL REMARKS.
We obtained specimens of Arvicola Oryzivora in the winter of 1816, but did
not describe it until May 1836, when we designated it by the above name. Having
occasion to send descriptions of several, then undescribed, species to the
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, we sent a specimen of this animal
to Dr. PICKERING, requesting him and Dr. HARLAN to compare it with the Arvicola
riparia of ORD, a species which we had not seen, stating our reasons why we
regarded it as distinct. In searching in the Academy, a specimen of this
species was found, and Dr. HARLAN, in opposition to the views of PICKERING, felt
himself authorized to publish it in SILLIMAN's American Journal (vol. xxxi.),
bestowing on it the name of Mus palustris, making use of the head of our
specimen for an examination of the teeth.
The teeth and general appearance of this species, the form of its body, and
especially its ears and tail being thickly clothed with hair, render it apparent
that it does not belong to the genus Mus, but is more nearly allied to Arvicola.
As the name "Arvicola palustris" is preoccupied (HARLAN's Fauna, p. 136), we are
favoured with an opportunity of extricating it from the confusion of synonymes
in which it would otherwise be involved, and of restoring it to its true genus
under the name given by its legitimate describer.