The population density varies between seasons and years.San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (Mouse’s photo) / AFP-Jiji photos Longevity averages about 3.3 months, but some individuals live for twenty months, and in captivity some have survived for five years. The young open their eyes after about 15 days and are weaned 15 days later. A typical litter of three or four young (range one to six) is born after a gestation period of 22 to 26 days. Reproduction takes place during most of the year in New Mexico in Arizona it peaks in February and May. About eight tunnels radiate from the nesting chamber, some of which terminate in a storage room in which seeds or husks are cached and hidden behind loose soil. A typical nest is about 6.5 cm (2.6 in) in diameter. The nest is situated there and is globular and made of dried grasses and surrounded by seed hulls. From it, a long tunnel leads down to the rather larger nesting chamber. ![]() The central chamber is usually less than 20 cm (8 in) below the main entrance and is 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) in diameter. There are usually several entrances to the burrow and a complex system of tunnels and rooms. Tracks in the dusty sand have been found leading to and from nearby seed-laden plants such as Helianthus, other composite plants and Croton. In Colorado, entrances to the burrows are often at the foot of a prickly pear, yucca or low shrub, while in New Mexico they are often underneath Artemisia, Chrysothamnus or Atriplex, dug into the low mounds of soil that often accumulate there. Silky pocket mouse burrows may be open or closed (with the entrance blocked loosely with soil) in different parts of the range. Abandoned pocket gopher mounds are often tunnelled by the silky pocket mouse. The silky pocket mouse often uses a burrow excavated by the banner-tailed kangaroo rat ( Dipodomys spectabilis ), whether it is occupied or empty, or sometimes shares a burrow made by a Phillips' kangaroo rat ( Dipodomys phillipsii ). In between these it eats some of its stored seeds in the afternoon before emerging from its burrow to forage in the evening before temperature falls too low. When the ambient temperature is low (below 5 ☌ (41 ☏)), it allows its body temperature to fall by about 6 ☌ (43 ☏) and enters short periods of torpor. It requires no water at relative humidities between 25 and 60%, obtaining its moisture needs from its food. When it moves fast, the silky pocket mouse proceeds with short, kangaroo-like bounds, but at slower speed it walks. The silky pocket mouse has a home range that extends to a distance of about 60 meters (200 ft) from its burrow, with males often having larger ranges than females. In cold weather it occasionally forages by day, and in really bad weather it may not come out of the burrow for several days. When a pile of 25 g (0.88 oz) was deposited near a burrow (sufficient for maintenance for up to 10 days), the pocket mouse collected and stored it all in one night, and still emerged to forage on succeeding nights. ![]() A silky pocket mouse collects an average of.154 g (0.01 oz) of seed on each sortie. It takes the husks off the seeds before storing them in its cheek pouches and carrying them back to its burrow where they are cached. It mostly collects grass and weed seeds but also eats some green leafy material. In warmer weather it consumes cached food in the afternoon before emerging on the surface to forage in the evening. ![]() The silky pocket mouse is mainly nocturnal and lives in a burrow by day.
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