Eurasian Harvest Mouse
Micromys minutus
- Class
- Mammal
- Rarity
- Rare
- Observations
- 768
- Most observed in
- 🇷🇺 Russia
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) is a small mouse native to Europe and Asia. It is typically found in fields of cereal crops, such as wheat, rice and oats, in reed beds and in other tall ground vegetation, such as long grass and hedgerows. It has reddish-brown fur with white underparts and a naked, highly prehensile tail, which it uses for climbing. It is the smallest European rodent; an adult may weigh as little as 4 grams (0.14 oz). It eats chiefly seeds and insects, but also nectar and fruit. Breeding nests are spherical constructions carefully woven from grass and attached to stems well above the ground.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Eurasian harvest mouse”.