Of course, some people are scared of mice. For ways to deter house mice, read the post on how to humanely deter unwelcome critters. This post focuses on our two native ‘outdoor mice’ who likely won’t come anywhere near you, but are more likely to live in woods and farmland.
England’s wood mice are very commonly found in woods, though not by you as they are very shy and nocturnal But while they live on seeds and nuts, earthworms, caterpillars and centipedes, they have many predators including owls, kestrels, foxes, stoats and weasels. Uniquely, they can shed their skin to try to escape predators (but only once). You can tell the difference as grey-brown house mice will likely live indoors. But wood mice (also called field mice) live outdoors and have brown fur with large black eyes and bigger ears.
Yellow-necked mice are our other species of outdoor wild mice. Very good at leaping away from predators, these are only really found in southern England and some areas of the Midlands. As the name suggests, these mice have a yellow band of fur around their necks, and are smaller than wood mice. Like wood mice, these little creatures don’t live very long either.
Woodland mice spend time grooming themselves and each other, wiping their face and ears with their feet, then using their mouths to wipe their tails clean!
how to help wood & yellow-necked mice
It’s common sense really. Both mice are woodland species. So buy recycled bathroom tissue, paper tissues, notebooks etc and even furniture if you can. Anything to help preserve our woodlands, and stop chopping down trees. England used to be a heavily wooded country, but today we’ve lost nearly all our native woodland.
Other ways to help are the obvious ones: don’t drop litter if in the woods, live simply, leave only footprints and never drop cigarette butts (could cause woodland forest fires). Elsewhere, don’t drop or release anything either – released balloons to fire lanterns can all end up somewhere else. The best way to help all native wildlife is simply to live a simple sustainable life, and leave it alone.
As for hedgehogs, be careful to inspect buildings before knocking down old sheds and outbuildings, as many woodland and yellow-necked mice especially sometimes come inside during winter, although in summer they are mostly found in hedgerows and fruit orchards.
Wild mice often like to hide in birdboxes or birdhouses, another reason (also for birds) to only use RSPB-approved plain wooden boxes. Never choose bright-coloured or tin birdhouses, as they can attract predators and/or over-heat in warm weather.
what about tiny harvest mice?
Harvest mice are the third wild mouse species (tiny little creatures that are much smaller than house mice – our only other species of mouse). They have chestnut-coloured fur and a long tail to grip plants, but you’ll hardly ever see one as they are too small! They often live near farms with cereal crops or near reedbeds, to build nests.
Voles look similar to wild mice, so you may confuse the two. But voles are more easy to spot during the day and have smaller eyes and ears.
Due to a 70% reduction in harvest mouse numbers due to lack of habitat, a London rewilding project is reintroducing 150 harvest mice to an Ealing nature reserve, where they used to thrive in the 70s. Their new woodland home has lots of trees and reed beds, to make it harvest mouse heaven. The grass will also remain un-grazed to prevent harm and provide nesting material for the patter of tiny harvest mice babies!
