Most harvest mice prefer wetlands for their nesting habitats. Harvest mice typically like using monocotyledons for their nest-building, especially the common reed ( Phragmites australis) and Siberian iris ( Iris sibirica). Harvest mice seem to have an affinity for all types of cereal heads, except for maize ( Zea mays). Harvest mice reside in a large variety of habitats, from hedgerows to railway banks. It also inhabits less favourable habitats, such as woodlands and forests in the west. The harvest mouse is common in all east coast counties of England, reaching the North York Moors. Its tail is also used for balance.Įcology Habitat and distribution The mouse's rather broad feet are adapted specifically for climbing, with a somewhat opposable, large outermost toe, allowing it to grip stems with each hindfoot and its tail, thus freeing the mouse's forepaws for food collection. It has a prehensile tail which is usually bicoloured and furless at the tip. The upper part of the body is brown, sometimes with a yellow or red tinge the under-parts range from white to cream coloured. It has a small nose, with short, stubble-like whiskers, and thick, soft fur, somewhat thicker in winter than in summer. The harvest mouse ranges from 55 to 75 mm (2.2 to 3.0 in) long, and its tail from 50 to 75 mm (2.0 to 3.0 in) long it weighs from 4 to 11 g (0.14 to 0.39 oz), or about half the weight of the house mouse ( Mus musculus). Tennis balls used in play at Wimbledon have been recycled to create artificial nests for harvest mice. It was so compact and well-filled, that it would roll across the table without being discomposed, though it contained eight little mice that were naked and blind. One of these nests I procured this autumn, most artificially platted, and composed of the blades of wheat perfectly round, and about the size of a cricket-ball. They breed as many as eight at a litter, in a little round nest composed of the blades of grass or wheat. They never enter into houses are carried into ricks and barns with the sheaves abound in harvest and build their nests amidst the straws of the corn above the ground, and sometimes in thistles. īefore the harvest mouse had been formally described, Gilbert White reported their nests in Selborne, Hampshire: Other evidence suggests that Micromys minutus could have been introduced accidentally through agricultural activities during Neolithic times. This suggests that they spread towards Asia when the ice sheets started to melt. During the mid-Pleistocene, Micromys minutus specimens also lived in parts of Asia. They underwent a reduction in range during glacial periods, and were confined to areas in Europe that were free of ice. Micromys first emerged in the fossil record in the late Pliocene, with Micromys minutus being recorded from the Early Pleistocene in Germany. The genus Micromys most likely evolved in Asia and is closely related to the long-tailed climbing mouse ( Vandeleuria) and the pencil-tailed tree mouse ( Chiropodomys). Breeding nests are spherical constructions carefully woven from grass and attached to stems well above the ground. It eats chiefly seeds and insects, but also nectar and fruit. It is the smallest European rodent an adult may weigh as little as 4 grams (0.14 oz). It has reddish-brown fur with white underparts and a naked, highly prehensile tail, which it uses for climbing. It is typically found in fields of cereal crops, such as wheat and oats, in reed beds and in other tall ground vegetation, such as long grass and hedgerows. The harvest mouse ( Micromys minutus) is a small rodent native to Europe and Asia.
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