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Very small rodent ID
Looking out of the kitchen window today the children saw a tiny mouse
climbing, sitting for at least ten minutes in and then disappearing from, some ivy and jasmine climbing that wall. When they called me to see it, I thought they were going to show me an 'ordinary' mouse but this was tiny with a very dark brown back and - given I had only a quick glimpse of it moving - what I thought were quite large ears. The location it was in is right up against the kitchen chimney wall where the Aga gives out some warmth and where sparrows roost in various plants, too. There is plenty of cover there and birdseed too, from time to time. If anyone can suggest what this little thing is or point me at some pics, I'd love to show them to the children. TIA. -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.com South Devon |
Very small rodent ID
"Sacha" wrote in message ... Looking out of the kitchen window today the children saw a tiny mouse climbing, sitting for at least ten minutes in and then disappearing from, some ivy and jasmine climbing that wall. When they called me to see it, I thought they were going to show me an 'ordinary' mouse but this was tiny with a very dark brown back and - given I had only a quick glimpse of it moving - what I thought were quite large ears. The location it was in is right up against the kitchen chimney wall where the Aga gives out some warmth and where sparrows roost in various plants, too. There is plenty of cover there and birdseed too, from time to time. If anyone can suggest what this little thing is or point me at some pics, I'd love to show them to the children. TIA. -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.com South Devon House Mouse |
Very small rodent ID
The message
from Sacha contains these words: If anyone can suggest what this little thing is or point me at some pics, I'd love to show them to the children. TIA. Probably a juvenile. (Mouse!) -- Rusty Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk Separator in search of a sig |
Very small rodent ID
In article , Sacha writes: | | This is a possible. The others are.........not! Indeed. But "wood mouse" is a synonym for "field mouse", which are the bigger ones (though marginally smaller than the yellow necked one). You are almost certainly correct that it was a house mouse, unless we have a new species in the UK! Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Very small rodent ID
On 21/8/08 21:52, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote: In article , Sacha writes: | | This is a possible. The others are.........not! Indeed. But "wood mouse" is a synonym for "field mouse", which are the bigger ones (though marginally smaller than the yellow necked one). You are almost certainly correct that it was a house mouse, unless we have a new species in the UK! 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. -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.com South Devon |
Very small rodent ID
On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:55:48 +0100, Sacha wrote
(in article ): Looking out of the kitchen window today the children saw a tiny mouse climbing, sitting for at least ten minutes in and then disappearing from, some ivy and jasmine climbing that wall. When they called me to see it, I thought they were going to show me an 'ordinary' mouse but this was tiny with a very dark brown back and - given I had only a quick glimpse of it moving - what I thought were quite large ears. The location it was in is right up against the kitchen chimney wall where the Aga gives out some warmth and where sparrows roost in various plants, too. There is plenty of cover there and birdseed too, from time to time. If anyone can suggest what this little thing is or point me at some pics, I'd love to show them to the children. TIA. Dormouse? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Dormouse_on_hand.jpg -- Sally in Shropshire, UK Posted through the usenet newsgroup uk.rec.gardening |
Very small rodent ID
On 21/8/08 22:14, in article
, "Sally Thompson" wrote: On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:55:48 +0100, Sacha wrote (in article ): Looking out of the kitchen window today the children saw a tiny mouse climbing, sitting for at least ten minutes in and then disappearing from, some ivy and jasmine climbing that wall. When they called me to see it, I thought they were going to show me an 'ordinary' mouse but this was tiny with a very dark brown back and - given I had only a quick glimpse of it moving - what I thought were quite large ears. The location it was in is right up against the kitchen chimney wall where the Aga gives out some warmth and where sparrows roost in various plants, too. There is plenty of cover there and birdseed too, from time to time. If anyone can suggest what this little thing is or point me at some pics, I'd love to show them to the children. TIA. Dormouse? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Dormouse_on_hand.jpg I hoped it would be, Sally but R and I think the tail was wrong - admittedly we saw little of the tail because when it moved it was like greased lightning! What was so charming about this whole thing was that the girls (aged 7) spotted the little creature first, 3 inches away from them on the other side of the window. They were just so excited by the proximity and the fact they had seen it first, along with a spider and a squashed snail - talk about nature red in tooth and claw...... In that very corner we had a blackbird nesting about 5 years or so ago. The growth of ivy and jasmine was thicker then and she must have felt very safe and quite warm. We put up notices warning anyone visiting the house not to open the window by her nest and she never seemed to be upset or worried by humans peering at her and her young through the closed window. In such circumstances I'll go for a submarine type kitchen and nesting blackbirds over my personal preference for lots of lights and sun! -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.com South Devon |
Very small rodent ID
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? 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. |
Very small rodent ID
"Sacha" wrote Looking out of the kitchen window today the children saw a tiny mouse climbing, sitting for at least ten minutes in and then disappearing from, some ivy and jasmine climbing that wall. When they called me to see it, I thought they were going to show me an 'ordinary' mouse but this was tiny with a very dark brown back and - given I had only a quick glimpse of it moving - what I thought were quite large ears. The location it was in is right up against the kitchen chimney wall where the Aga gives out some warmth and where sparrows roost in various plants, too. There is plenty of cover there and birdseed too, from time to time. If anyone can suggest what this little thing is or point me at some pics, I'd love to show them to the children. TIA. Just a long shot.. could this be your Mouse? http://images.google.com/images?q=Ha...m=1 &ct=title -- Regards Bob Hobden |
Very small rodent ID
On 21/8/08 23:18, in article , "Bob Hobden"
wrote: "Sacha" wrote Looking out of the kitchen window today the children saw a tiny mouse climbing, sitting for at least ten minutes in and then disappearing from, some ivy and jasmine climbing that wall. When they called me to see it, I thought they were going to show me an 'ordinary' mouse but this was tiny with a very dark brown back and - given I had only a quick glimpse of it moving - what I thought were quite large ears. The location it was in is right up against the kitchen chimney wall where the Aga gives out some warmth and where sparrows roost in various plants, too. There is plenty of cover there and birdseed too, from time to time. If anyone can suggest what this little thing is or point me at some pics, I'd love to show them to the children. TIA. Just a long shot.. could this be your Mouse? http://images.google.com/images?q=Ha...om.micros oft :en-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&um=1&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1 &ct=title Size looks right but not colour. Ours was very dark as to fur. -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.com South Devon |
Very small rodent ID
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 |
Very small rodent ID
On 21/8/08 23:48, in article ,
"Stephen Wolstenholme" wrote: On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:55:48 +0100, Sacha wrote: Looking out of the kitchen window today the children saw a tiny mouse climbing, sitting for at least ten minutes in and then disappearing from, some ivy and jasmine climbing that wall. When they called me to see it, I thought they were going to show me an 'ordinary' mouse but this was tiny with a very dark brown back and - given I had only a quick glimpse of it moving - what I thought were quite large ears. It would probably be a harvest mouse. They are tiny, have large ears and vary in colour, including dark brown. Steve Very probable, I think. I've found one dark coated pic on Google but the rest of those pages won't load. It was certainly not the honey coloured coat type. -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.com South Devon |
Very small rodent ID
"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. |
Very small rodent ID
Sacha writes
On 21/8/08 21:52, in article , "Nick Maclaren" wrote: In article , Sacha writes: | | This is a possible. The others are.........not! Indeed. But "wood mouse" is a synonym for "field mouse", which are the bigger ones (though marginally smaller than the yellow necked one). You are almost certainly correct that it was a house mouse, unless we have a new species in the UK! 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. You would have remarked upon the pointed nose of the shrew. Voles do not have prominent ears. Harvest mice are tiny but distinctly orange, like a miniature red squirrel. Gerbil? (Our cats brought us one once - no one claimed it so we kept it for years - can't remember how big they are though). Juvenile of almost anything? - young mice have big ears, because the ears don't grow as much during their lifetime as other bits of them. -- Kay |
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