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OBSERVATIONS ON THE RANGE AND MOVEMENTS OF A
Author(s) -
BABINGTON JOY F. SHILLITO
Publication year - 1963
Publication title -
proceedings of the zoological society of london
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0370-2774
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1963.tb01872.x
Subject(s) - range (aeronautics) , woodland , juvenile , home range , biology , shrew , geography , spring (device) , zoology , ecology , habitat , mechanical engineering , materials science , engineering , composite material
A programme of marking, releasing and recapturing common shrews in an area of mixed woodland in Devon, from April 1958‐April 1960 has shown the extent of movements and the range of these animals. It was found that juveniles generally remained within a small area of average length 37 metres, but some dispersed more widely (119 metres recorded). The juvenile ranges were well spaced in the wood and maintained by over‐wintering or subadult shrews although they were slightly decreased in size (average length 28.4 metres). Breeding females mostly extended the subadult range to an average length of 39.6 metres without changing the location of the range, but some moved prior to breeding when 112 metres movement was recorded. Males moved extensively in spring with intense activity (up to 144 metres recorded) and as a result unmarked males entered the wood and marked males left. The ranges of common shrews are on average smaller than those of the short tailed shrew Blarina brevicauda and several of the woodland rodents.