Trails of Deer Mice (Peromyscus Maniculatus) Traveling on the Snow While Homing

Abstract

Some individual Peromyscus maniculatus, displaced far from their homesites and released on snow, produced long trails showing their actual route while moving away from the release point. An analysis of these trails shows that, although the mice involved traveled zig-zagging routes and actually covered more than twice the displacement distance before reaching home, they did not travel at random but followed a homeward-oriented route. The significance of these results to some major theories about orientation in homing mice is discussed.