NATURE NOTES FROM ACADIA

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

Jumping Mice. - On the afternoon of December 11 a crew of CCC worker s in charge of supervisor W. Knowles came upon two hibernating Jumping Mice (Zapus hudsonius) at about 14 inches below the surface of a clay bank, not far from the Kebo Valley Golf Links. The mice occupied separate hibernacula within a few feet of each other. One was placed close to a nearby fire and began to show signs of reviving after about an hour's time; the other, kept in the cold out-doors, continued its long sleep. Upon being brought to me I found that the mouse which had awakened was in a kind of stupor; the condition of the other was apparently unchanged. The body of this latter mouse was bent in the position a sleeping fur-bearer would naturally assume in order to escupe the cold - the back curved, the short fore-feet tucked under the head, the eyes tightly closed, and the tail curved around to form an ellipse, in outline, with the curvature of the back. The animal was quite fat and its attractive fur in very good condition. In all probability these mice sleep the long sleep of hibernation for fully six months of the year in the region of Acadia National Park.

Snowy Owls. - On December 20 my wife and I had the rare experience of seeing two Snowy Owls in the field. Having driven to the summit of Cadillac Mountain we left our car to make a survey of conditions there, but the cold wind which blew was so strong that we did not remain long. We had come back almost to where our car was parked when a big white bird took wing from the ground about 150 yards distant. After remaining in the air but a moment, the bird settled on the bare rocky ground (no snow persisting anywhere at the time) and we were delighted with the sight of our first Snowy Owl in the wild. But greater still was our joy when we beheld another of these beautiful white owls within 100 feet of the first.

We had gone but a short d stance in the direction of the birds when the first one which we sighted again took wing and settled some distance away on the very crest of the mountain. The second owl, however, allowed us to approach within about 50 yards before showing any great concern. In the meantime we made frequent stops to view the bird through our binoculars, admiring its big white round head, its large yellow eyes, and its heavily barred wings. Concluding that there was something on the ground which accounted for the owl's reluctance to leave, we finally saw the bird, its back turned toward us, partly extend its wings as though to shield some object before it. Suddenly, upon launching itself into the air, the bird was seen lifting the body of a varying hare from the ground. But the prey was carried only five or six feet up when it dropped from the owl's talons and the bird then flew off in the direction of the circuit trail on the summit where it settled and watched us examine the remains of its meal. By this time the first owl had disappeared. Examination of the hare's remains showed that it had been killed that morning. The animal's viscera had been removed while most of the fore-parts aside from skull, ears, and fore-feet, had been eaten. The posterior half, that which the owl endeavored to carry off, was practically untouched.

-A. S.