Relation of Tick and Chigger Infestations to Home Areas of California Meadow Mice

Abstract

An analysis was made of the relation of infestation by certain ticks and chiggers to area occupied as home range by California meadow mice, and to distances between live traps in which the mice were caught successively. The latter measurement is an approximation of the distances the hosts travel within their home areas. The first measurement is of the area (home range) within which the traveling is done. The larger mice harbored more chiggers than the smaller ones. Those which maintained the larger ranges supported more than those which maintained smaller ranges. The differences are attributed to size of host and area “swept” in the course of the host's travels. Ticks however infested more of the smaller mice, possibly because most of the smaller mice were young and less adept at self-cleansing.