Eurasian Harvest Mouse
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The harvest mouse (''Micromys minutus'') is a small
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
native to
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
and
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
. It is typically found in fields of
cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...
crops, such as
wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
and oats, in
reed bed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...
s and in other tall ground vegetation, such as long
grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
and hedgerows. It has reddish-brown fur with white underparts and a naked, highly
prehensile tail A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has Adaptation (biology), adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully Prehensility, prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and ...
, which it uses for climbing. It is the smallest European rodent; an adult may weigh as little as . It eats chiefly
seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
s and
insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...
, but also nectar and fruit. Breeding nests are spherical constructions carefully woven from
grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
and attached to stems well above the ground.


History

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''). ''Micromys'' first emerged in the fossil record in the late
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
in Germany. They underwent a reduction in range during glacial periods, and were confined to areas in Europe that were free of ice. During the mid-Pleistocene, ''Micromys minutus'' specimens also lived in parts of Asia. This suggests that they spread towards Asia when the ice sheets started to melt. Other evidence suggests that ''Micromys minutus'' could have been introduced accidentally through agricultural activities during
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
times. Before the harvest mouse had been formally described, Gilbert White reported their nests in Selborne, Hampshire:
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
thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...
s. They breed as many as eight at a litter, in a little round nest composed of the blades of grass or wheat. 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. 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.
Tennis balls used in play at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
have been recycled to create artificial nests for harvest mice.


Description

The harvest mouse ranges from long, and its tail from long; it weighs from , or about half the weight of the
house mouse The house mouse (''Mus musculus'') is a small mammal of the rodent family Muridae, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus '' Mus''. A ...
(''Mus musculus''). Its eyes and ears are relatively large. It has a small nose, with short, stubble-like whiskers, and thick, soft fur, somewhat thicker in winter than in summer. 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 prehensile tail which is usually bicoloured and furless at the tip. 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. Its tail is also used for balance.


Ecology


Habitat and distribution

The harvest mouse is common in all east coast counties of England, reaching the
North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...
. It also inhabits less favourable habitats, such as woodlands and forests in the west. Harvest mice reside in a large variety of habitats, from hedgerows to railway banks. Harvest mice seem to have an affinity for all types of cereal heads, except for
maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
(''Zea mays''). Harvest mice typically like using
monocotyledon Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, ( Lilianae '' sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but with various ranks ...
s for their nest-building, especially the common reed (''Phragmites australis'') and Siberian iris (''Iris sibirica''). Most harvest mice prefer wetlands for their nesting habitats. Harvest mice in Japan like making wintering nests near the ground from grasses that are dried, which indicates that they require vegetative cover in the winter, as well as in the warmer seasons. Grasslands with a mix of perennials and annual grasses are required to balance the increases in nesting periods and the mice's need to secure nutrients. Habitat selection might be the result of differences in the structure of the landscape of grasslands and wetlands in the area.


Behaviour

Harvest mice have a short lactation period of 15–16 days. They spend most of their life in long grass and other vegetation such as reedbeds, rushes, ditches, cereals and legumes. They are very skilled at climbing among grasses due to their tail. They grasp leaves and stems with their feet and tail, which leaves their hands free for other tasks. These tasks can include grooming and feeding. Harvest mice have a prehensile tail that functions as an extra limb during climbing. During the lactation period, the pups are able to climb a vertical bar by the time they first emerge from their nest. At 3–7 days they learn hand grasping, and at 6–9 days they learn food grasping. Between 6–11 days, they adopt a quadrupedal stance, and at 10-11 there is tail prehension, and righting at 10–12 days. The righting response in harvest mice develops earlier, but takes longer to master than the other skills the pups learn. They cannot climb horizontally by the time they are weaned, suggesting that horizontal climbing is not as essential as vertical climbing.


Predators

Their predators include domesticated cats,
barn owl The barn owls, owls in the genus '' Tyto'', are the most widely distributed genus of owls in the world. They are medium-sized owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs with powerful talons. The ter ...
s,
tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is a stocky, medium-sized owl in the family Strigidae. It is commonly found in woodlands across Europe, as well as western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. The tawny owl' ...
s,
long-eared owl The long-eared owl (''Asio otus''), also known as the northern long-eared owlOlsen, P.D. & Marks, J.S. (2019). ''Northern Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)''. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook o ...
s, little owls, and
kestrel The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover ...
s.


Reproduction

In most rodent species, females prefer familiar males to unfamiliar ones. The adaptive preference of mating with familiar males is not uncommon as familiarity is a proxy for quality that is seen in many solitary animals. Harvest mice are thought to be solitary, and the females prefer for familiar males over unfamiliar.Brandt, R.; Macdonald, D.W. 2011. To know him is to love him? Familiarity and female preference in the harvest mouse, ''Micromys minutus''. In: ''Animal Behaviour'', 82(2):353-358. There is no size dimorphism between the sexes so the females are considered dominant over the males. Females do not show interest in the male's odor. When females are in oestrus they spend more time with familiar males, and prefer the one that is heavier. While in dioestrus, the female spends more time with unfamiliar males. In most years in Britain, harvest mice build their first breeding nests in June or July; occasional nests are built earlier in April or early May. They prefer building their breeding nests above ground. In Russia, harvest mouse breeding occurs in November and December in cereal ricks, buckwheat, and other cereal heads.


Conservation

Due to their habitat, in Japan harvest mice are threatened by a number of anthropogenic effects such as farming,
pesticide Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...
use, crop rotation,
habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...
, fragmentation, and wetland draining. Grasslands in that country are rapidly decreasing in area, and are also becoming increasingly fragmented. The first survey of the harvest mouse in Britain was conducted by the
Mammal Society The Mammal Society is a British charity devoted to the research and conservation of British mammals. The Mammal Society was formed in 1954, and the inaugural spring conference took place the following year at University of Exeter, The University ...
in the 1970s, and later followed up by the National Harvest Mouse survey in the late 1990s. These surveys indicated that harvest mouse nests were on a decline with 85% of the suitable habitat no longer available for the mice.Sargent, G. (1997), Harvest mouse in trouble. ''Mammal News,'' 111, 1. As of 2019 the harvest mouse is protected under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 and the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework: Implementation Plan.JNCC and Defra (on behalf of the Four Countries’ Biodiversity Group). 2012
UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework
July 2012.


References


External links


BBC WildfactsBBC News 'New Balls Please' For Mice Homes
{{Authority control Micromys Rats of Asia Rodents of Europe Mammals of East Asia Mammals of the Middle East Mammals of China Mammals of Azerbaijan Mammals of Japan Mammals of Central Asia Mammals of Mongolia Mammals of Russia Mammals of Korea Mammals of Turkey