The Ecology of Hydric Hammocks - USGS National Wetlands ...

not take place in years of mast fail -ure. Deaths due to starvation or diseasehave not been recordea In tnlshabitat.The eastern woodrat is most abundantin the ecotone between mesic and hydric hammocks (Pearson 1952). Breedingoccurs year-round. Nests aremarked only by very small piles ofsticks, and they are found in barns,hot 1 ow 1 ogs, and subterranean chambersunder stumps or the bases or roots oftrees.The golden mouse is most plentifulin areas having a dense thicket orshrub layer and a sparse herbaceousground cover. Nests are in denseshrubs or subterranean chambers.Golden mice use shrubs, hollow logs,and underground tunnels as escapecover (Pearson 1954). It is importantto note that although Pearson (1954)found golden mice only in adjacentrnesic hammocks, the Florida Game andFresh Water Fish Commission (1976) andthe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service[1980] found them in hydric hammock.The cotton mouse is the most abundantmammal in Gulf Hammock (Pearson1953, 1954). Cover and nest sites aremore common in hydric hammock than inadjacent mesic hammock. Males havelarger home ranges than females. Homeranges of males overlap one another,but those of females do not. Homeranges are small er when populationdensity is high than when it is low.Breeding takes place during most ofthe year, but females seldom are pregnantin summer (May through August).Nests are in logs, stumps, and basesof trees; often they contain caches of1 ive oak and swamp l aurel oak acorns.The most important factor affectingpopulations probably i s the quantityof acorn mast--high densities of cottonmice decline after a mast failure.Potential competitors in poor mastyears include wild turkeys, blue jays,common grackles, gray squirrel s, easternwoodrats, opossums, whi te-taileddeer and (most importantly) feralhogs.bobcats,Potent i a1 predatorsbarred owl s, andincludeseveralspecies of snake. Parasitism bycuterebrid f1 y 1 arvae (Cuterebridae)in this habitat is heavy and may befatal. Cotton mice readily swim,climb vegetation, and jump to theground from considerable heights.The raccoon is an opportunist andgeneralist in both habitat and diet.Raccoons occur in every terrestrialand wetland habitat within their overallrange. Plants (most1 y nuts,drupes, and berries) make up 50%-80%of the raccoon diet. The drupes andberries have seeds that probably aredispersed rather than destroyed, includingbeautyberry, blackberry, bl ueberies,cabbage palm, palmettos, el -derberry, grapes, greenbri ars, hol -lies, pepper vine, persimmon, redcedar, sugarberry, swamp tupelo, andviburnum (F. Ctarper 1927; Ivey 1947;Caldwell 1963; Johnson 1970; Hal 1 s1977).Ihe black bear populat~on of witHammock was exterminated by about1950, because the local people consideredbears destroyers of property(Pearson 1954). The remaining fragmentsof bear distribution include extensiveareas of hydric hammock alongthe gulf coast of Pasco and HernandoCounties and Taylor and Wakulla Counties(Brady and Maehr 1985). Extantpopulations in the Osceola and OcalaNat io~ldl Tot ests also itiiltide tiiialhydric hammocks in their ranges. Likeother large mammals, the black bearhas broad habitat requirements and can1 ive wherever sufficient foraging areas,denning sites, and escape coverare available. Areas in Florida occupiedby black bears consist of largetracts of undeveloped forests containingdiverse vegetation types (Harlow1961). No seasonal movements amonghabitats by Florida black bear areknown, but they probably occur, especiallyin spring when mast suppliesare exhausted.The black bear is an omnivore, butmost of its diet is plant material,and mast is the prominent component.Examinat ion of stomach contents andscats of black bears in a variety ofFlorida habitats (Maehr and Brady1984) showed that the diet of black