Woodland jumping mouse

Woodland jumping mice leap through the forest in bounds, using their long tails for balance. They feed at night along streams and on the forest floor, eating seeds, fruit, insects and underground fungi.

They hibernate deeply for about half the year in underground nests, after fattening up in late summer and early autumn.

Like red-backed voles, woodland jumping mice eat underground fungi and spread their spores, helping the fungi that grow with tree roots.

In Georgia they are rare and found only in the cool, moist forests of the northeastern mountains, part of the northern wildlife that survives on the high ridges.

Breeding — late spring and summer, one or two litters
Gestation — about 23 to 29 days
Litter — usually three to six young
Weaning — at about five weeks old
Hibernation — from autumn to spring, about six months
Lifespan — a year or two

• Keeping forest along mountain streams intact keeps their habitat.
• A jumping mouse found in winter is hibernating and should be left undisturbed.

• Mice cannot jump far. Woodland jumping mice bound through the forest in long leaps.
• Georgia is too far south for northern mammals. Its highest mountains still hold some.

• Meadow jumping mouse
• Eastern deer mouse
• Southern red-backed vole