During the week, I was working on my computer in the evening and watching my live streams which run from another computer. A mouse appeared in Clay Cavern and straight away I noticed it did not look like the usual mice that visit. For a brief moment I thought it was a young rat, before I realised how small it was. This mouse was slightly smaller, darker in colour, it’s face was more pointed, eyes smaller and its ears were smaller in realtion to its head. The wood mouse has a longer more curved face, paler fur and much larger eyes.
I found this picture on the Internet which illustrates it quite well…..
On the left is the wood mouse and on the right, the house mouse.
The name ‘house mouse’ is a little misleading. They do sometimes come inot houses in the winter, but, as this extract from the Arkive website explains, they are found all over….
‘As a commensal species, the house mouse lives in close association with humans.In addition to houses, it has been found in a range of urban situations, including shops, mills, warehouses, factories, coal mines and even cold stores. In rural areas it occurs in farm buildings, rubbish tips, piggeries, poultry houses, granaries and open fields. They nest in woodpiles, beneath floors, behind rafters and in other concealed locations. In the wild state, the house mouse lives in crevices in rocks or in underground burrows.’
Here is a clip I took of the house mouse….
and one of a wood mouse….
TRY RUNNING BOTH OF THESE CLIPS AT THE SAME TIME FOR COMPARISON! To me, it is quite obvious… I watch them all the time… keep watching my cams… you can now see wood mouse, house mouse, vole and shrew!