Squirrels Reference library
The Encyclopedia of Mammals (3 ed.)
...defense is most intensive close to the midden, where the stakes are highest, and most evident in the autumn, when new cones are ready to harvest and dispersing juveniles are attempting to establish territories of their own. The area defended around “primary” middens varies in size between years. When cone crops are good, juvenile recruitment is high, because territories of adults shrink and there is plenty to eat. Young, transient animals can temporarily reside between territories centered on primary middens. When cone crops fail, however, juvenile...
Rodents Reference library
The Encyclopedia of Mammals (3 ed.)
...These include some that live in arid grasslands and deserts – hamsters and some desert mice – and also species such as the North American red squirrel ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ), which lives in northern coniferous forests and stores cones in large central caches called middens. The Norway or brown rat ( Rattus norvegicus ) is a miscreant species that originated in Southeast Asia but has spread right around the globe in company with humans. Its social structure is central to the species' ecology and hence to the effectiveness of control measures. Socially...
Whales & Dolphins Reference library
The Encyclopedia of Mammals (3 ed.)
...percent in females). Whales and Man An Historical Overview Man has interacted with whales for almost as long as we have archaeological evidence of human activity. Carvings showing whaling activities have been found in Norse settlements from 4,000 years ago, and Alaskan Eskimo middens 3,500 years old contain the remains of whales. It is quite possible, of course, that at this time whales were not so much actively hunted as taken primarily when entering nearshore waters to strand. However, with the likely seasonal abundance of whales in the polar regions as the...
