"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 21/8/08 23:18, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


In article ,
Sacha writes:
|
| Neither of us who saw it - adults, that is - think it's a house mouse!
Its
| back was very dark and paled only very slightly on the flanks. Ray
suggests
| it might have been some kind of shrew but it was smaller than a house
mouse.

House mice vary considerably in colour. What was its tail like,
because that is the easiest way of distinguishing many of those
"mouse like" animals?

I barely saw the tail because when it went it went fast. The nose was not
that of a shrew, looking at a photos of those. Its back was rounded and
the separation between torso and head was very clear. The fur was very
dark, lightening just a bit down towards the belly but only a very little.

The only two British ones significantly smaller than the house mouse
are the pigmy shrew (common) and harvest mouse (rare and wrong colour),
but it could have been a young animal.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

It was curious in that it sat almost motionless in the creepers for
several
minutes, shivering from time to time so yes, it did cross my mind that it
might be a young something. Whatever it was, it was lovely for us and
especially for the girl to see it so closely. Our grand daughter is
already
becoming aware of birds swooping past her face and the noise and movement
of
wildlife around us here. It's an extraordinarily valuable part of growing
up, IMO.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon



Young House Mouse attracted by the fallen bird seed because we have had
exactly the same problem.