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site), date, names of observers, time of observations, weather (temperature,
<br /> precipitation, wind), station, identification to species, sex, reproductive condition,
<br /> measurements (to be taken on all individuals of Zapus hudsonius captured, on
<br /> individuals of other species as possible or as needed to allow identification), fur-clip
<br /> mark, and comment (if any). Procedures were outlined and equipment supplied for
<br /> collection of parasites, but that was found to be impractical. Procedures also were
<br /> outlined for location and description of burrows of meadow jumping mice, but the
<br /> procedures could not be followed consistently under field conditions (although some
<br /> anecdotal data were gathered). To accommodate possible genetic studies of DNA in
<br /> follicles, samples of hair and attached follicular tissue were collected from each live
<br /> individual mouse captured. These were placed in separate, labeled vials of 70%
<br /> ethanol.
<br /> All completed field data sheets are on file with the senior author and will be archived
<br /> along with specimens and field notes in the Zoological Collections of the University of
<br /> Colorado Museum.
<br /> Site Selection.—A total of 13 different Open Space tracts were surveyed over a total of
<br /> 15 field-weeks, as indicated in Table 1. (Two parcels, Tracy Collins and VanVleet, were
<br /> sampled on two different occasions.) The final week of fieldwork supported by the
<br /> present grant from the Fish and Wildlife Service was the week of 12-15 September.
<br /> Most early records of Z hudsonius from Colorado were from Boulder County
<br /> (Armstrong, 1972). Most of those specimens are labeled imprecisely (e. g., "Boulder"),
<br /> so exact localities of capture are indeterminable. However, based on known habitat
<br /> preferences of the meadow jumping mouse (mesic and seasonally wet habitats typical
<br /> of floodplains of perennial streams) it is likely that many of those historical specimens
<br /> were captured on lands that now are Boulder City or County Open Space holdings. In
<br /> the past three decades, Boulder County records are from the mouth of Lefthand
<br /> Canyon and Sawhill Ponds (Cruzan, 1968), the Tracy Collins Parcel (Dawson, 1989),
<br /> the VanVleet Parcel (Compton, 1992), and Dowdy Draw (Lindsey Parcel, Pague et al.,
<br /> 1994). Of those recent historical localities, all but the first-mentioned are on City of
<br /> Boulder lands. We have re-sampled all of the recent historical sites of capture that are
<br /> on public properties; Ryon (1996) surveyed historical localities of meadow jumping
<br /> mice on private lands in Boulder County.
<br /> Additional sites for survey were selected from review of maps (topographic, wetland,
<br /> irrigation, land use), aerial photographs, interviews with knowledgeable managers (in
<br /> particular Clint Miller, Wildlife Biologist, City of Boulder Open Space and Real Estate
<br /> Department, and Michael Sanders, Resource Manager, Boulder County Parks and
<br /> Open Space), driving survey of potential sites, and preliminary reconnaissance ground
<br /> survey. Several of these sites were at or near localities from which meadow jumping
<br /> mice had been reported previously from Boulder County (listed by Armstrong, 1972), to
<br /> the extent that those historical localities could be relocated.
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