dark kangaroo mouse

The dark kangaroo mouse (Microdipodops megacephalus) is one of two species of leaping, bipedal rodents found in the deserts of the western United States. These small mammals, weighing 10 to 17 grams, have large ears, large heads, and short forelimbs, but their hind limbs and feet are long, enabling them to move by leaps and bounds. Their soft, silky coat is typically buff or brownish with black tints on the upperparts and gray or whitish underparts.1

Kangaroo mice inhabit sandy soils in the Great Basin region. They are nocturnal, foraging at night and storing food in fur-lined cheek pouches. To conserve water, they produce concentrated urine and dry feces, and they obtain necessary moisture from their diet of seeds and occasional insects, meaning they do not need to drink water. They hibernate from November to March. The tail, used for balance, stores fat that serves as an energy source during hibernation. Kangaroo mice are distinct from true mice and are related to kangaroo rats and pocket mice.12