The presence of the mushroom Hebeloma radicosum, which grows specifically on mole latrines, led to the discovery in the montane area of Kyoto in October 1984, of a mole nest and a case of unusually late breeding in Japanese Talpinae. The nest was excavated near the latrines under the mushroom, and three juvenile Mogera kobeae were collected in and around the nest. These moles presumably belonged to the same litter, aged between four and six weeks old, and appeared to be almost ready for natal dispersal. This is the first published report of talpine moles at such a developmental stage being collected in autumn, in Japan, at their own nesting site. These juveniles might have been the result of delayed breeding but not a second litter, as the early part of that year, i. e. the mole's normal breeding season, was unusually cold. The nest and its surrounding features are also described.

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The chromosomes of twelve Japanese giant flying squirrels Petaurista leucogenys from five localities on Honshu, Japan were examined paying particular attention to their karyotypes and C-banding patterns. The diploid chromosome and autosomal arm numbers were 38 and 72, respectively. The conventional karyotype of all twelve specimens examined was essentially identical with that described previously. However, individual variation, characterized by an additional telomeric C-band, was found on the short arm of a submetacentric pair, probably no. 5, of one female specimen from Aomori Prefecture. Whether the additional telomeric C-band is polymorphic, or merely variable from individual to individual, remains to be ascertained.

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A total of 43 sounds of three types of Sika deer call instruments were tape-recorded and sonagraphically analyzed. These sonagrams were compared with 620 sonagrams of vocal sounds produced by Sika deer Cervus nippon. Deer call instruments produced clear tonal sounds with some harmonics and with little frequency change. Wide variation in the amplitude, the duration of the sound, and the fundamental frequency was found. Sonagrams of instrumental sounds could be classified into five groups. Of these five, two resembled male rutting calls, two resembled a call type given mainly by females, and fifth group resembled contact calls given by both sexes. Males were attracted to the sounds produced by deer call instruments which can thus be used for detecting, locating and attracting deer, and for studying the responses of males towards mimicked male or female sounds.

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The effects of the perimeter length of removal plots on the dispersal of grey red-backed voles Clethrionomys rufocanus bedfordiae was tested by using two plots that had the same area but different length perimeters in a large outdoor enclosure (3 ha). We removed voles from plots in the center or from the corner of the enclosure. It was predicted that a center removal plot would be more easily entered by voles than a corner removal plot, because the center removal plot had four directions from which voles could immigrate, whereas a corner plot had only two directions of possible immigration. Recovery ratio (immigrants/removed voles) did not differ between the center and corner removal plots when the plot size was small (0.3 ha). The ratio for corner plots, however, became significantly lower than that on center plots, when plot size was increased to 0.56 ha. A multiple regression analysis showed that the perimeter, and the ratio of the number of removed voles to the size of the source population providing immigrants, were significant in explaining the variance in the recovery ratio.

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Size and spatial distribution of home ranges of the Japanese shrew-mole Urotrichus talpoides were studied by live-trapping in a mature mixed (broadleaved and coniferous) forest in Chiba Prefecture, Honshu. During the non-breeding season, no significant differences in home range size were found between sexes. The home ranges of breeding males were significantly larger than those of non-breeding males, while no significant differences were found in range size between non-breeding and breeding females. During the nonbreeding season, home ranges were mutually exclusive among individuals of the same sex, but overlapped extensively with those of the opposite sex. In the breeding season, male ranges largely overlapped each other. Female ranges also overlapped each other, but to a lesser extent. The tolerance between the sexes during the non-breeding season is unusual in comparison with other mole and shrew species, whose individual ranges are exclusive to each other irrespective of sex.

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