Diets of two syntopic small mammals in the Inyanga National Park, Zimbabwe

Abstract

A study was made of the diets of the dark-footed forest shrew, Myosorex cafer, and the striped mouse, Rhabdomys pumilio,inhabiting montane grassland in the Inyanga National Park, eastern Zimbabwe in August 1983 using livetraps, break-back traps and faecal analysis. A wide variety of invertebrates was eaten by M. cafer, but 44% of dietary occurrences comprised Insects, mostly adult coleopterans, isopterans and lepidopteran larvae. Other important prey items were araneids, isopods, lithobiomorphs and lumbricids. The major dietary items of R. pumilio were leaves and stems of grasses and dicotyledon seeds, but insects, mostly isopterans, were also taken.