A case of arboreal nest building in the small Japanese field mouse (Apodemus argenteus)

Hayato Kikuchi; Tatsuo Oshida

doi:10.1515/mammalia-2022-0036

Article

A case of arboreal nest building in the small Japanese field mouse (Apodemus argenteus)

Hayato Kikuchi and Tatsuo Oshida

Published/Copyright: February 9, 2023

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From the journal Mammalia Volume 87 Issue 3

Abstract

To better understand the arboreal activity of small mammals, we focused on the arboreal nest-building behaviour of Apodemus argenteus. Using a camera trap, we found that a mouse took 18 days to build a nest in a tree cavity. For a few days during the nest building period, the mouse intensively carried nesting materials (leaves) to the cavity, though not regularly. The mouse did not constantly carry nesting materials, but rather showed two peaks working activities at 02:00 and 22:00. Judging from the uneven working pattern, its nest-building behaviour may depend on environmental condition such as meteorological factors.

Keywords: Apodemus ; camera trap; nest materials; semi-arboreal; tree cavity

Corresponding author: Tatsuo Oshida, Laboratory of Wildlife Biology, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro 080-8555, Hokkaido, Japan, E-mail: oshidata@obihiro.ac.jp

Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
Research ethics: We followed the “Guidelines for the procedure of obtaining mammal specimens as approved by the Mammal Society of Japan (revised in 2009)” (Mammal Society of Japan 2015). In this study, we did not capture animals, and also, did not handle animals at all. Therefore, we did not need to obtain any permission in Japan. In addition, to avoid disturbance to animals, we used video camera trap with an infrared motion sensor, which does not give animals any stimulations.

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Received: 2022-03-27

Accepted: 2023-01-23

Published Online: 2023-02-09

Published in Print: 2023-05-25

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2022-0036

Keywords for this article

Apodemus; camera trap; nest materials; semi-arboreal; tree cavity