Activity and Orientational Responses of White-footed Mice to Light

Abstract

The behaviour of white-footed mice in response to changes in illumination suggests that nocturnal mice in the wild use the Moon, twilight Sun and landmarks as navigational aids, and also “keep close track” of their absolute position and distance from the nest and other points of retreat. This implies that the mice immediately flee for known cover when threatened by a predator, without the need to “get their bearings” first—a behaviour of obvious adaptive significance.