Harvest mice build a spherical nest of tightly woven grass, high-up in the tall grasses, in which the female will give birth to around six young. The harvest mouse has pale, ginger or yellow fur, and a white belly. Its tail is almost hairless and nearly as long as its body. Found in England, south of Yorkshire. Did you know?

Harvest mice typically like using monocotyledons for their nest-building, especially the common reed (Phragmites australis) and Siberian iris (Iris sibirica). [7] Most harvest mice prefer wetlands for their nesting habitats.

One of the most obvious signs of a harvest mouse is a breeding nest. As we said the harvest mouse is the only British mammal to build nests just above the ground. A Harvest Mouse builds its nests in dense vegetation such as grasses, rushes, …

harvest mouse. However, we found that nests built on the ground occur after farmers burn away grasslands domi-nated by native grass Miscanthus sinensis and Pleioblastus chino. The aim of this study was to determine whether the harvest mouse habitually builds this type of nest and, if so, when it occurs. Because it was difficult to locate nests on

Once temperatures reach a certain degree, the western harvest mouse goes into torpor, but scientists have yet to determine if it goes into true hibernation. This mouse builds spherical nests that are about 125mm in diameter. These nests can be found on the ground or under trees, logs, or plants that aid in protection from predators.

Harvest mice usually have two or three litters a year between late May and October, most being between August and September. There are usually around six young in a litter, which are born in carefully woven grass nests, roughly the size of a tennis ball.

The Harvest Mouse is Britain’s smallest rodent. They are rarely seen in the wild but their summer breeding nests are easily recognised, being balls of woven, living grass built off the ground among the stalks. The mice themselves are tiny, with golden brown fur.

Harvest mice build a spherical breeding nest that is suspended above the ground in their favoured grassy habitats. Grass leaves have parallel veins and this enables the mouse to split the terminal ends into multiple fine threads that can be woven into the fabric of the nest while the leaf base stays intact and securely attached to the stems.

How do you identify a harvest mouse nest? Harvest mice will build their nests in many different habitats, the most common being rough grass often arable field margins and wet areas such as ditches, dykes, reed beds and pond or river edges.

If you don’t know whether you have harvest mice, the objective is to find a nest. Look for woven grass spheres, ranging in size from clementine to tennis ball, or even orange. They may have a hole, but often don’t – the mice close it up on exit.