Wild Mouse ID Please!

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Kodiak Qc

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French Canadian living in Europe since 1989!
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Close to my favourite shooting position at the marsh,
there are very large trees with their roots exposed.
This is the place, under roots tunnels, that these mice
have as home. 16 were counted this morning.

Does anyone knows what kind of mice they are?


E1422%201Dpp.jpg
 
Yep.











:)
 
From the photo it looks like a wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), which years ago used to be know as a field mouse.
 
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The left one (wood mouse) has a regular
pavillon colour… like the one I posted I think!​
wood mouse • house mouse
wood-mouse-apodemus-sylvaticus-alamy-ga4wpx-290x325.jpg
house-mouse-mus-musculus-alamy-f00a2p-290x335.jpg



​
 
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It would seem more likely to be a field mouse.

Anyway, they probably taste the same.
 
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kendo1 said:
seem more likely to be a field mouse.
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Other sources show the wood/field mouse
has a single colour coat as the house one
has a darker back!

Thank you Mr Badger. :)

… and Ken too of course, though I had to
threaten you to get the info! :cool:
 
No problem; sorry about the Nikon banter but it was too good a chance to resist! :D I'm always a bit cautious when identifying an animal from a single photo as perspective, colour rendition/reproduction, combined with the natural colour variations between individuals, etc. can sometimes play tricks. Ideally a wood mouse would have a fairly even-coloured, chestnut brown coloured upper coat, with lighter creamy coloured belly fur, rather prominent and 'bulging' eyes and quite large ears... but when hunched up and at an angle like the one in the photo things become a little bit less obvious. So probably best to suspect wood mouse until proven otherwise (or someone who regularly works with both species in the wild, and can tell them apart at 20 paces, comes along to tell us definitively!)? :)
 
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Kodiak Qc said:
I can live with that! :cool: …but I know you are not!
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Well, sorry-ish anyway! :D Despite the Nikon/Canon rivalry thing, I don't think you can go too far wrong with either make, and it's whatever suits the individual and gives them results they're happy with that matters. I doubt either make would be as good as they are without the competition and rivalry they've faced over the years from each other. So long may both Nikon and Canon continue to prosper, and we photographers benefit from that. (y)
 
Kodiak Qc said:
Reveal it's name
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kendo1 said:
Barney.:D
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I had it as a Minnie, although it could be Mickey or Jerry.

More helpfully, http://www.dkgpestcontrol.co.uk/mouse-control-berkshire/ although there may be a French language site similar. Shame the tail's cropped off in the photos since that seems to be the easiest way to tell between the species "in the field" - colour is always hard to judge, especially as a man (because we don't really know exactly where brown changes from medium to dark or pale!!!)
 
Nod said:
I had it as a Minnie
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I knew nothing of Ken's Barney so I didn't un-
derstand the link…but yours I know!

Pest control? No way… in their own habitat
but in my house there would be no discussion.

Thanks for the info!
 
Nod said:
Shame the tail's cropped off in the photos since that seems to be the easiest way to tell between the species "in the field" - colour is always hard to judge, especially as a man (because we don't really know exactly where brown changes from medium to dark or pale!!!)
Click to expand...

According to my wife, it's not brown, it's more of a cappuccino colour, with a hint of stone.... To me it's a browny grey....
 
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Looking at the muscles in those back legs it could be 'Mighty Mouse' !
Now who remembers him?
 
Kodiak Qc said:
I knew nothing of Ken's Barney so I didn't un-
derstand the link…but yours I know!

Pest control? No way… in their own habitat
but in my house there would be no discussion.

Thanks for the info!
Click to expand...
Just the first name that popped into my head :)
 
Jelster said:
According to my wife, it's not brown, it's more of a cappuccino colour, with a hint of stone
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Ladies do have a way with descriptions… don't they?
 
wontolla said:
Looking at the muscles in those back legs it could be 'Mighty Mouse' !
Now who remembers him?
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Shamefully, I do!
…so ugly and boring with today's eyes!
 
Kodiak Qc said:
Pest control? No way… in their own habitat
but in my house there would be no discussion.

Thanks for the info!
Click to expand...

A slight misunderstanding here, I think! The link to the pest control company's site was to the ID page, not a suggestion that they should be killed off! Even when we've had a house mouse problem in the loft, we used humane traps and released any captures unharmed (but with a Snickers addiction!)
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•



The left one (wood mouse) has a regular
pavillon colour… like the one I posted I think!​
wood mouse • house mouse
wood-mouse-apodemus-sylvaticus-alamy-ga4wpx-290x325.jpg
house-mouse-mus-musculus-alamy-f00a2p-290x335.jpg



​
Click to expand...


Buddy is the source of those two images utterly reliable the second also looks like a wood mouse to me,not a house mouse. Daniel,I am NO mouse expert,but I am familiar with our house mouse and woodmouse, here in the UK I have both species here at home. along with a couple of vole species too ha and the odd shrew kicking around rarely seen but here

I really wonder if what you have showed us is not actually here in the UK,and is a species residing in France that doesn't live here. I've been doing a bit of digging mate I wonder if the Algerian mouse also known as the western mediteranean mouse (Mus spretus) is a possibility????

Daniel our wood mouse is that reddish chestnut type of colour and also it has pretty big ears,your little chap doesn't look right to me, colour is tricky as we both know from photos. The ears are too small,for me in your pic ,which as with Ken made me lean towards house mouse,but that one doesn't quite stack up(add up/ work for me) to me either.

Daniel,I must stress I am unsure here the Algerian looks most likely to me,it occurs in your part of the world I believe, and is close enough to a house mouse to inter breed and produce non sterile offspring if the cross happens the right way round(doesn't seen to happen in the wild though). So it sort of fits my initial feelings of....... it looks like a house mouse,but not quite like the one's I've seen here .

Cool post mate cheers for sharing(y) I've learnt a bit from the digging and also feel you have shown me a little guy I knew nothing of and have probably never seen an image of before today. I may well be completely wrong here Daniel as before I know little on mice,but me being me I have come across most of our brit mainland natives apart from harvest mice (whom I've wanted to see since childhood) . The little guy in you pic just doesn't feel right for the ones I know here. Harvest mice are small gorgeous little things,Daniel they build a nest up in the wheat and are sadly in decline,I have a friend that breeds then,a wonderful photographer too,they don't fit the image either.

Something to ponder buddy,sorry can't help more,I would also love to know what exactly the species is in your pic,with 100%certainty, I can't give you that!!

seeya

Stu
 
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