Effects of endrin feeding on survival and reproduction in the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus

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Abstract
The effects of endrin on parental survival and fertility, litter size, and young survival to weaning, of field-captured Peromyscus maniculatus osgoodi were studied. Five test groups were used, each containing 13–14 pairs of known-aged mice. The reproductive performance of each group was recorded over a 6-month period from August, 1966, to January, 1967, before endrin feeding. Endrin feeding was at intervals over a 7-month period from February to August, 1967, with standard mouse pellets containing approximately 0, 1, 2, 4, and 7 p.p.m. endrin. All groups were subjected to starvation periods of short duration during the experiment. The experiment was terminated by exposing selected mice from each group to cold stress at 0°F until the mice were dead. Adult mortality during feeding, starvation, and cold stress periods were directly proportional to the level of endrin supplied in food. Within each group, litter production frequency and mean litter size before and during experimental feeding were similar. Evidence is presented that at higher endrin levels postnatal mortality of young before weaning occurs. Suggestions about the mechanism of this effect are proposed.

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