Harvest Mouse

The Harvest Mouse, Micromys minutus, is a small rodent native to Europe and Asia. It is typically found in fields of cereal crops such as wheat 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.
The Harvest Mouse ranges from 55 to 75 millimetres (2.2 to 3.0 in) long, and its tail from 50 to 75 millimetres (2.0 to 3.0 in) long; it weighs from 4 to 11 grams (0.14 to 0.39 oz), or about half the weight of the House Mouse (Mus musculus). Its eyes and ears are relatively large. It has a small nose, with short, stubble-like whiskers, and thick, soft fur, somewhat thicker in winter than in summer.