Serpentine geologic formations have soils high in nickel. Nickel exerts deleterious effects on several body systems, and often accumulates in organs of laboratory animals exposed to nickel. To establish if deer mice Peromyscus maniculatus Wagner, 1845 and dusky-footed woodrats Neotoma fuscipes Baird, 1858 of serpentine areas ingest nickel, and to determine if nickel accumulates in body tissues, I measured nickel in several organs and tissues of animals from serpentine and nonserpentine sites in southern Oregon. Nickel was present in significantly greater concentrations in the contents of the stomachs and small intestines of P. maniculatus and N. fuscipes from serpentine areas than in those of animals from nonserpentine areas. Nickel was not detected, or was present in only trace amounts, in the livers, kidneys, spleens, hearts, lungs, brains, skeletal muscles, and bones of both species from both serpentine and nonserpentine sites. P. maniculatus from serpentine areas had significantly greater concentrations of nickel in the seminal vesicles, testes, and uteri and ovaries than did P. maniculatus from nonserpentine areas.
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