plains pocket mouse estimated population

From it, a long tunnel leads down to the rather larger nesting chamber. The central chamber is usually less than 20 cm (8 in) below the main entrance and is 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) in diameter. There are usually several entrances to the burrow and a complex system of tunnels and rooms. Tracks in the dusty sand have been found leading to and from nearby seed-laden plants such as Helianthus, other composite plants and Croton. In Colorado, entrances to the burrows are often at the foot of a prickly pear, yucca or low shrub, while in New Mexico they are often underneath Artemisia, Chrysothamnus or Atriplex, dug into the low mounds of soil that often accumulate there. Silky pocket mouse burrows may be open or closed (with the entrance blocked loosely with soil) in different parts of the range. Abandoned pocket gopher mounds are often tunnelled by the silky pocket mouse. The silky pocket mouse often uses a burrow excavated by the banner-tailed kangaroo rat ( Dipodomys spectabilis), whether it is occupied or empty, or sometimes shares a burrow made by a Phillips' kangaroo rat ( Dipodomys phillipsii). In between these it eats some of its stored seeds in the afternoon before emerging from its burrow to forage in the evening before temperature falls too low. When the ambient temperature is low (below 5 ☌ (41 ☏)), it allows its body temperature to fall by about 6 ☌ (43 ☏) and enters short periods of torpor. It requires no water at relative humidities between 25 and 60%, obtaining its moisture needs from its food. When it moves fast, the silky pocket mouse proceeds with short, kangaroo-like bounds, but at slower speed it walks. The silky pocket mouse has a home range that extends to a distance of about 60 meters (200 ft) from its burrow, with males often having larger ranges than females. In cold weather it occasionally forages by day, and in really bad weather it may not come out of the burrow for several days. When a pile of 25 g (0.88 oz) was deposited near a burrow (sufficient for maintenance for up to 10 days), the pocket mouse collected and stored it all in one night, and still emerged to forage on succeeding nights. A silky pocket mouse collects an average of. It takes the husks off the seeds before storing them in its cheek pouches and carrying them back to its burrow where they are cached.

It mostly collects grass and weed seeds but also eats some green leafy material.

In warmer weather it consumes cached food in the afternoon before emerging on the surface to forage in the evening. The silky pocket mouse is mainly nocturnal and lives in a burrow by day. The silky pocket mouse occurs in arid and semiarid grassland, sandy and rocky places, Pinus - Juniper areas, Artemisia flats, shrublands and areas with Yucca and cactus. In Mexico, it is present in most of the central plateau. It is present in the states of South Dakota, Nebraska, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma and possibly Wyoming (where it may be extinct). The silky pocket mouse is endemic to the southern United States and Mexico. The species exhibits little sexual dimorphism, but the male tends to have a slightly longer tail. Behind the ears there are clear buff patches without black-tipped hairs and there is a narrow strip of plain buff between the dorsal coloring and the underparts. The underparts and the forelegs are white. The upper parts are ochre or yellowish-buff, with many black-tipped hairs. Its relatively short tail, which is buff or dusky colored above and white below, does not have a tuft of hair at the tip and is always shorter than the combined length of the head and body, which average about 60 mm (2.4 in). The silky pocket mouse is the smallest pocket mouse in the family Heteromyidae, though otherwise is very similar in appearance to the other members of the genus Perognathus. The species is more tolerant of harsh habitat conditions than other pocket mice. It lives in low valley bottoms with soft soils, among weeds and shrubs, where it burrows in the sand to bury seed caches. The silky pocket mouse eats seeds, succulent parts of plants and nuts, and carries food in its cheek pouches. It is a species of least concern, according to the IUCN, with no known major threats. It is found in northern and central Mexico and the southwest region of the United States. The silky pocket mouse ( Perognathus flavus) is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae.

Plains pocket mouse estimated population