The Preble's meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) is a shy, tiny rodent with a body approximately three inches long, and a roughly six-inch long tail. This species has large hind feet, long hind legs, and is capable of impressive athletic feats. Using its long tail as a rudder, a Preble's meadow jumping mouse can launch itself 18 inches into the air and switch direction mid-flight. It can travel three feet in a single jump, and can also swim. The mouse has a distinct dark, broad stripe on its back that runs from head to tail and is bordered on either side by gray to orange-brown fur. This shy, largely nocturnal mouse spends most of its time out of sight, foraging beneath long grasses for seeds, fruit, fungi, and insects.

Biologists believe that the species arrived in Colorado and Wyoming during the last ice age and remained after the glaciers receded. In the drier post-glacial climate, the mouse was confined to riparian ecosystems where moisture was more plentiful. Its range now stretches from the foothills of southeastern Wyoming southward along the eastern edge of the Front Range to Colorado Springs.

Widespread habitat loss and fragmentation due to development, water diversions, and gravel and sand mining have resulted in a rapid decline in Preble's populations. These threats continue to increase due to rapid residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial development within nearly all of the mouse's range. These threats led to federal listing of the mouse as Threatened in May of 1998.

CNE is working to see that the Endangered Species Act protections for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse are enforced and that adequate Critical Habitat is designated. In addition, we are working to protect the wildlife values of the proposed Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, which the mouse inhabits.  You can read a background paper of ours about recent attempts to removed Endangered Species Act protection from the Preble's meadow jumping mouse.